doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How despicable is choke change?

Geo's and Bladeswitcher's two BSAs are embodiment of the old saw about "buying the gun and not the name." Gil

FWIW, I have another BSA. It's as plain as plain can be. No ornament or embellishment at all but it handles and shoots great.

Somebody was proud of that gun when they built it!...Geo

I said it was.

Not really.

No, it would not.

I don't doubt that.

Congrats to him.
JR

Well Ted, you've hit on one significant difference between THIS particular BSA and a W&S 700: There are enough of the latter out there that you will find them in various conditions. Meanwhile, you don't see nearly as many BSA's period, and most of the ones you see are the very basic ones. In the case of Webley & Scott, the 700 is the basic model.

There are only two reasons not to alter choke: 1. You like them the way they are. 2. The gun is so rare and valuable that altering choke will significantly impact the value. This gun meets the "rare" part . . . but not the "valuable" part. Sure, it's a high grade BSA . . . but it's still a BSA. And the problem with a Brit gun and tight chokes is that, in order to get the most out of a tight choke, you need to use a relatively heavy load. At least 1 1/4 oz. And there aren't many 1 1/4 oz loads out there you'd want to put through a Brit gun, unless it's maybe a heavy wildfowl gun. So I'd say assess your shooting needs and alter that full choke however you want. I had a pair of Army & Navy 12's with one gun that was choked 005/015, which was pretty much perfect for my needs. The other one was .005/.040. I patterned the L barrel at 35 yards, and decided that unless I wanted to shoot turkeys with it, that choke had no use for my purposes. So I had it opened to .025, and used it as my late season pheasant gun. It could still do the job at 40 yards (which is a rare long shot for me on roosters) with my low pressure 1 1/8 oz reloads.

The gun is yours, do what you want with it. I personally don't believe taking .005 out of a side is going to change the value that much on anything other than a high end gun with documentation of what the gun was originally choked with. How else would anyone know if the chokes were altered ? Maybe a expert - I don't know for sure. JMHO

A gun that is not being used is just a piece of pipe. Art value aside if it is mine I am going to use it. If it needs proper chokes so be it.

People buy guns for all sorts of reasons. One of them is to display.

Would you shoot this??

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2011...ice-at-auction/

Larry,
Some people consider themselves caretakers of guns that are no longer available. You don't have to like it, but, they wouldn't think to alter a gun that was produced for a discipline that is outside their own use.
There are more than two reasons not to alter a gun.
This particular gun, with that engraving style, practically screams AA Brown at me, NOT BSA. I may be wrong, but, I'd be willing to bet it was finished by a shop known for better work. So, it may not be just a BSA after the dust settles.
I stand by what I said, earlier-that gun is a better example than what we normally see on this side of the pond, and is in better condition. 2 3/4" with ejectors is the icing on the frosting. I wouldn't be bothered with the guy who paid for the gun doing as he pleased, but, I wouldn't do it. I could make it work, right here in MN. just as it is.
I'm in good company with Mr. Snyder, it would seem.
I wouldn't screw with it. I wouldn't hunt grouse or woodcock with it, either, but, it is a fine pheasant, or prairie grouse gun just the way it is. I'd be willing to bet that 1 1/8th oz of 5s out of that left barrel would be wonderful for any ditch parrots betwixt 35-45 yards I hunt in December.


Best,
Ted

Given the results I got with my gun, after opening the very tight L barrel from .040 to .025, I had confidence in that gun at those ranges as well . . . even though I don't often find the need to take really long shots at pheasants.

What we need to remember is that .040--typical for full in Brit doubles--is no longer the industry standard. That's because modern shells with plastic wads have tightened patterns quite a bit. The result being more choke than you need, which can be pretty destructive if you do happen to center a bird with a quick 2nd shot. And again, the 2 3/4" chamber/ejector combination just isn't that rare on Brit guns seen in this country. Webley & Scott made about 30,000 guns in the 700 series which came out post-WWII, and most we see in this country were imported by companies like A&F, Harrington & Richardson, Navy Arms, Service Armament, etc. And whatever the engraving may or may not indicate, BSA's were ALWAYS--contrary to the British trade--machine-made guns. That's why they didn't sell for a lot of money. Engraving would certainly add to the cost, but that doesn't change what's inside the gun or how it was made.

And unless one has the factory records on a particular gun, there's no way of knowing--other than if the gun is marked "choke", which means some relatively minimal amount--how it was originally choked. Someone working carefully isn't going to leave any indication of an alteration--especially since someone looking at the gun is going to be comparing to the other barrel. Which, in this case, has no choke and thus offers no comparison of an original choke to a modified one. Maybe an English gunmaker would be able to notice. Otherwise, likely not.