Let's back up a bit, for the sake of trying to reach a common understanding of what each other is saying, if you will.
Are you saying that, in the British gun trade, no care or forethought was ever put into having the proper amount of convergence so that the barrels will print the individual barrels' patterns perfectly atop each other? It seems you are by saying that they are positioned at the breech for the correct center to center distance, then all were brought together at the muzzle until they touch, and they "shoot where they shoot"? Asked another way ......... if the muzzles were always brought together until touching before soldering up, would no consideration have been given, to where each barrel shoots, when deciding the distance between centers at the breech?
Not trying to be argumentative here, gunman, just trying to understand your position. Most of my guns are touching at the muzzles, with uncut barrels. However I have a few that are decidedly apart, also with uncut barrels, nowhere near touching, but shoot patterns that are dead atop each other. This shows me that the makers knew that the gun would crossfire if the muzzles were touching and would not have shot regulated patterns, so they designed in the proper amount of convergence for the amount of recoil.
SRH
