miller,
What you mentioned about the choke acting as a sort of "check" seems to the logical mind to be so. However, we have been told that small shot acts like a liquid, and that as it enters the choke it actually speeds up, being subject to the venturi effect. We see other applications of the venturi effect around us, carburetors, cooling towers at nuclear reactors, why airplanes and hydrofoils fly, etc.
I, however, am not convinced that a load of shot acts the same as a moisture laden gas, and will continue to believe that great stresses occur when the shot enters the choke constriction area. Would you not describe the passage of shot through the reloader as flow? Probably, shot doesn't act exactly as a fluid, but it certainly does so in many ways. If the choke is not responsible for a venturi effect reduction of pressure within the shot column, then to what do you ascribe choke effect?
The greater the constriction the greater the stresses, I believe. This line of logic should lead you to believe that the sharper the choke taper the higher the stress. However, choke taper angle is not much of a concern in choke performance. Rather, it is the total constriction. In a very sharply tapered choke, the shot charge could be aware of the total constriction. However, in a shallow taper, the shot charge could all be contained within the choke section and have no idea of the final diameter.
What I would find interesting is how the bulged barrels in question were choked.
Stan
Stan
