Ted;
The only part of my post meant specifically for this gun was the Not For Ball mark would date it as prior to 1887.
The rest was purely for general information that the "Not for Ball" simply indicates it should not be used with a bore filling ball. A ball can be fired from them as long as it is small enough to go through the choke. As I understand it the confusion resulting from the not for ball mark was why it was changed to the simple word "Choke". For this it really matters not how long it has been since this particular gun has been shot or if it will ever be shot again. It just may be something which a lot of folks still don't fully understand, perhaps you are one of them, I don't know.
perhaps you feel one could not imbed a .50 cal ball in the end of filler wad & fire it from a gun marked "NOT FOR BALL".
I just feel it is always nice to have a good understanding of what these old markings truly mean.
