John,
The first thing I would do is go out and pattern the gun. If there is some choke remaining find out how it patterns.
PeteM
Pete: A thousand would-be double gun pundits will beat on the branches of which $19.95 drop-in choke measuring device is the best way to intuit the
estimated pattern of a shotgun (not to mention automatically assuming that a cut-barrel gun needs choke fixing). The nicest shooting little 16-bore Parker I ever had (and sold to HC, alas!) had cut barrels. The BH that Destry bought from me had cut barrels, and he reported that it helped his scores at both trap and skeet. I shot ducks in Louisiana and Pigeons in the rings of PA with the BH. I wrote an article--"In Praise of Cut Barrels"--that ought to be required reading, but it seems that, for too many people, actually shooting a gun is not nearly so much fun as speculating about choke measurements and hand-wringing and soul-searching over non-standard barrel lengths.
PeteM is one out-of-the-ordinary person--an expert--who would actually go for the root and suggest that the gun be shot at a 30-inch circle at 40 yards, and the
actual pattern count and distribution be evaluated with different shot sizes and powder loads.
Thank you PeteM for a breath of fresh air. You win the Henry Thoreau Prize for "Not Beating on the Branches, but Going for the Root." The payoff is an invite to the farm on the IL/WI state-line north of Durand IL; the trap is set-up is behind the barn, the pheasants are squwaking, ParkerDog is primed, and opening day is next Saturday... EDM
