Wow. What a rare find! 40 years and you still haven't shot it? Curiosity would get the best of me. Just curious, anyone know why are the majority of pinfires are cylinder choked?
Mark, all early pinfires are cylynder-bored because they pre-date the invention of choke-boring, which was first patented around 1866 if Im not mistaken. By the early 1870s choke-boring was widely used, but by then pinfires were obsolete, at least in Britain. You are more likely to find later Continental pinfires with choke-boring. Mind, the clever Victorians found other ways to extend the range of long shots, like wire cages around the pellets in the cartridge... and whether pre-choke barrels were truly cylynder-bored throughout their length is an interesting subject for study!
