Choke designations from stamped pellet counts - 1894 EE 16ga

[Canvasback]

I am helping an acquaintance who has a Model 1894 EE 16 gauge two barrels set.

The #1 barrels, 30", are stamped 293 & 287
The #2 barrels, 28", are stamped 267 & 168

What would choke designations be that relate to these pellet counts. Gun was produced in 1899.

Thanks.

[dieNusse1]

That's quite a gun he has. As this high grade was special order - the choice of chokes would have most likely been requested by the customer. There are no hang tags known for either 16 or 10 GA guns so the testing conditions aren't known. As for 12 GA, Remington's standard was 1 1/4 oz of #8 shot fired at a 30" circle from 40 yards. 1 /14 oz of #8 shot used contained 511 pellets.

Using the numbers you gave and 511 pellets, #1 barrel shows 57 and 56% in the circle while barrel #2 shows 52 and 33%. In my opinion, these chokes are fairly open and may not reflect the true story. However, this may be what the customer wanted.

[Canvasback]

Yes it is quite a gun. Not pristine by any means. Looks like it was used hard but well maintained for the first half of it's life. But it's pretty unique. Turkey in the engraving, 2 barrels set, POW grip, 16 gauge.

I don't think there is another like it.

[Researcher]

The heaviest 16-gauge load Union Metallic Cartridge Co. (or any of the other North American ammo companies for that matter) offered during the years Remington Arms Co. was making doubles was one ounce. In the NITRO CLUB shell the maximum load was 2 1/2 drams of bulk smokeless powder or 20-grains of dense smokeless powder such as Infallible or Ballistite pushing that one ounce of shot. In their top of the line ARROW shell the maximum load was 2 3/4 drams of bulk smokeless powder or 22-grains of dense smokeless powder such as Infallible or Ballistite pushing that one ounce of shot. So, assuming they used #8 chilled shot like they did in the 12-gauges, that would be 409 pellets to the load --

293/409 = 71.6%

287/409 = 70.2%

267/409 = 65.3%

168/409 = 41.1%

So probably what passed for full and full and then a tight modified and a cylinder. I say "what passed for full" because the Remington Arms Co. catalogues called 75% full choke, and to date I've not seen a pellet count on a 12-gauge that divided by 511 (1 1/4 ounce of #8 chilled) made 75%.

[dieNusse1]

Thanks for the input. 1 oz loads make more sense than 1 1/4 oz. The resulting calculated chokes are in line with what most people would pick.

[Canvasback]

Thanks guys. I'm working on getting accurate bore and choke measurements. Will be interesting to see how that lines up with the information/speculation here.

[Canvasback]

For those with an interest, this 16 gauge 1894 EE two barrel set sold in the May 2020 Morphy's auction for just a bit less than $10,000. Un-restored in the rough condition it was in when I was first contacted about it.