I didn't want to take anything away from claycrusher's post so I started this.
I often wonder if choke length makes a difference. The reason I say this is I bid on a set of Grade 1 L.C. Smith barrels that were 30". I asked the seller if he could give me the constriction of the barrels. He said he had no way of measuring them. I then emailed our records keeper and he confirmed these barrels left the factory at 32". I was the high bidder and no one bid higher so I was stuck with them. These were Fine Damascus and when I checked for constriction, the last 1/2" had .008 and .009. Most L.C. Smith chokes were 1" parallel and then 1 9/16" taper to bore.
These barrels circa 1899 were fit to a F grade hammer gun circa 1908 and are my go to barrels for sporting clays. I have never pattered them, but they reach out there and have no problem breaking targets with the 3/4 oz. loads I use.
So how much does length of choke matter.
