doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Winchester model 42 chokes

I have an unmolested 42 made in 1954, with a 28" Full choke barrel. Choke measures .395" at the muzzle using a precision inside mike. My bore gauge will not adjust small enough for 410 barrels, but assuming a .410" diameter bore, that would make 15 points of constriction for Full. Silvers

It looks like it was original on this gun. I had it measured by a professional because my bore mic at the time would not work in a .410. Eightbore's comment that Win was not known for overchoking their barrels is consistent with my experience. My Mod 12's all seem to have less constriction than the barrel stamp would lead me to expect.

Thanks to all who replied.
My model 42 seems to be choked very tight but I have no way of measuring the choke.
But it seems strange that Researcher's modified barrel measures .009 and Replacement's full barrel is only .002 more. Silvers' full choke is about .015(assuming the bore is .410).
I wonder if Winchester changed the choke constrictions for the model 42 over it's production life.

sxsman, I also have a Remington 1100 for competition shooting. Its Skeet choked barrel measures .408" at the choke, and spare Modified choke barrel measures .402". Again, my bore mike will not adjust small enough to measure the bores. Silvers

I have a 1941 vintage Model 42 marked "Full" which mikes .015". I don't believe it has been modified. Some time ago I tested a Verney Carron SxS .410 miking .010" and .030". The shot actually did squeeze out of that .030" barrel, but I never patterned it. A friend made two honest 40 yard quail shots with it, so it must work.

Briley lists their idea of standard choke constrictions for each gauge. In .410 .010" is listed at Light Modified and .020" is called Xtra Full.

I have another 42 which has Briley screw chokes installed and one of them is .019". It puts out an effective Full pattern with 2-1/2" shells.

I made a rough measurement of the full choke on my model 42.
I took a piece of dry soap and pressed it into the barrel and then pushed it out with a cleaning rod. I measured that and came up with .387 or a constriction of .023. I know its a rough estimate but could it be close to right? maybe .020?

I've posted this before, and I promise this will be the last time...
I was told that someone did a pattern test of the various M42 chokes between Cyl and Full and could not discern a significant difference in performance. Who's got a full set of guns who could run that test?

From the wide differences in the constrictions of the full choke barrels I've seen, I'm beginning to think that a lot of these full choke model 42's were opened up at some point in their life.

Whoever gave life to this canard never actually patterned a .410. My full M-42 will put approx 67% of a 3" RP #6 payload into a 20" circle at 40 yds. If you fire a 1/2 oz #9 skeet load at just 20 yds through true .410 cylinder you will find target-sized holes at the exact pattern center at least 2 of 10 tries.

Sam

My 28" full choked 42 is .017. It throws a very tight pattern.

I have .410 guns as tight as .030" and all the way to cylinder. There is definitely a difference in the pattern. You're just dealing with a smaller pattern and less shot. My .030 barrel throws the tightest pattern of any .410 I have. IMO, the .410 is very sensitive to barrel irregularities, smoothness and in particular, the forcing cone and choke angles and smoothness. The forcing cone seems to have much effect on the pattern. My theory is that it's because the .410 has such a high percentage of shot in contact with the bore and shot is damaged as it passes thru the forcing cone, more with a standard cone than a long polished one.

A friend had a brand new Perazzi .410 that was choked over .030". It was very tight patterning as well.