I purchased my first Parker about 3 years ago, a Trojan 12 ga. The chambers were either original 2 3/4 or someone had lengthened them. I was able to buy this Parker very reasonable due to the fact that there were some moderate pits in the forcing cones. I measured wall thickness and determined the pits (with gunsmith help) were safe to remove. I reamed/lengthened the forcing cones and polished the bores thoroughly. I never fired the gun untill work was complete. I can say that this gun shoots as well as anyone could ask for at longer ranges. It will grind targets from the 25-27 yard line, crush pheasents at 30-40 yards and I have shot barn ducks (pigeons) at great distances with it. I have patterned this gun with English 6's (my favorite) and both barrels are excellent with nice even patterns that appear to be dense. Sorry, but patterns are never "even." My theory (and it's only that) is a more gradual forcing cone with less violent taper doesn't necessarily help with actual pattern that can be seen on a board, but does however help with shot stringing. Don't think so. Shot flows within the barrel. When it encounters the forcing cone, it, following the venturi principle, accelerates at the expense of a pressure reduction. So, the shot flows nicely from the shell mouth, through the constriction of the forcing cone, and into the barrel in a very orderly fashion. There is no reason to expect this to reduce total recoil, "improve" patterns, or shorten shot strings. IE putting more pellets on target at the same time. Untill I have won the lottery so that I can afford split second camera ability, I will never be able to prove this. One subject that seems to be neglected in this forum from time to time is shot stringing, and how negative it can be. Do the math on target movement during shot string passage. Hint: it isn't a whole lot. I shudder every time one of my shooting companions talks about his pet receipe for 1 oz 28ga loads! How does heavy pay load create long shot string? What good do all those pellets do if they're strung out 30ft+? Where did you find the number of 30 ft? I believe that gradual cones allow the shot to travel at more even speeds rather than compressing the column and causing the (lead) pellets to slow down faster. Actually, the pellets will flow as a unified group, accelerating according to the pressure on the wad base and accelerating to maintain mass flow rate through the constrictions of the forcing cone and the choke cone. Cock-imammy it may be, but it's my theory. "Cock-imammy?" Naw, but this is where horse sense doesn't fit to science. Post back if something I said doesn't ring true for you.
