doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What are quail 1 quail 2 chokes?

Quoting from The Parker Story in the section on "Parker Reproductions by Winchester", on page 172 of Vol I, "New barrel choke designations - Quail 1 & Quail 2 - were added as an option on all gauges. Apparently these chokes were introduced to appeal to quail hunters. These choke designations were dropped, and Skeet 1 and Skeet 2 were offered in a revised brochure, circa 1988."

Isn't that true for any choke? Either we are not on the bird, or we shoot at a bird too far for the choke we're using. Our fault either way.

SRH

I briefly owned a 25"-ish bbl 101 "Quail Special". It had choke tubes, two of which were Q1 and Q2. Didn't have a bore gauge at the time, but doubt there was anything new and different about them.

I have one gun I'm sure is choked "goose 1" and "duck1". Another gun has been established as "rooster 1" and "hen 2" by actual field testing.

That latter one, I'd like to drill out the choke. But, I know the choke police will give me grief . Maybe I can sell it without that disclosure?

I remember the Quails Fargo. Stevens in slightly fancier clothes. Sort of like putting more makeup on an old hooker. And reinventing the wheel. There were short barreled, open choked versions of classic American doubles long before WWII. Some maybe before WWI. They aren't all that common, but I've seen a few Ithaca 20's--I think all Flues models--with 24" barrels and open chokes. Always figured the gun was ordered by someone either after quail or grouse and woodcock. And after the Quails Fargo, Browning came out with the Citori Upland Special with 24" barrels and a straight grip. For those who prefer snub-nosed OU's.

I have a Damascus 20ga by Wm. Sumners of Liverpool, 26"--no choke in either barrel. And it may have come that way from the maker, since neither barrel is marked "choke". My hunting friends call it my "area code"-choked gun . . . and I can still miss with it.

Why not just bob the barrels by a couple of inches - that'll keep the "choke police" at bay.

To the best of my knowledge,"Quails Fargo" guns were not Savage?Stevens guns.
JR

John, I believe you'll find there were two quails fargo shotguns sold by Simmons as was pointed out earlier. One was the Savage Fox built on the 311 action with a vent rib and straight stock and one was imported by Simmons and sold under the Dakin name. I believe it was one of the cheaper Dakins and not made by Union Armera as were some, if not all, of their sidelocks. Instead I believe it was made by Gaspar Arizaga.

I had a shop vac clearly marked '4Q2' in large stenciled letters. Does that count?

Must be the planetary alignment, or something;-) Not sure if we have entered the twilight zone or the silly season.

I'd think the better markings for a bird gun double might be 'galldarnit' and 'gotcha';-) For those hunting w/o dogs perhaps a 'WTF' choke might prove of more use. And then there is the 'whoa!' a specialty choke for those w/ill behaved covey busting dogs. It is more tightly constricted than the typical Q2.

Ever notice how some of these old double gun bird hunters have two extra cartridges stuck between their forearm hand fingers?

Kidding aside, if you are not going to the grease plate and firing a series of a couple of quickly mounted shots at a 'spot' &/or shooting some low gun skeet w/both barrels loaded, it doesn't matter in the least what the chokes are marked.

Joe Wood's 'crazy skeet' or something similar is as good a game as any to see if you can handle the gun well for bird hunting and that's all that really matters, assuming the shot size is adequate for the game.

Addendum: In a similar vein to the Q1 & Q2 markings; was a time you'd see trap shooters with double guns whose chokes had been 'specially regulated for trap doubles'. It was the more marketable way of saying the chokes had been opened.