I'm writing an article on an 1897 H&H Paradox 12 bore hammer gun that I have to play with at the moment.
I took it on a duck flight last week at dusk and thought a report may interest one or two here.
Basically, ducks at 30-35 yards were not folding and hitting the deck. Ducks at 20-25 yards were. The former were planing down 100 yards away.
I picked six mallard- two dead and four crippled.
My contention is that the Paradox rifled choke messes with the pattern enough to weaken it much beyond 25 yards.
I will later pattern it with the Eley Maximum bismuth No.3 and No.4 shot 1 1/4oz ammo I was using. Also, with Gamebore Pure Gold 1oz of lead No.7 for comparison.
I may well try it on partridges for one drive on Wednesday and see if it does a job on them.
The gun is a back-action hammer nitro Paradox. Weighs around 8lbs and handles as a shotgun well enough.
