Side by side question

H

Harry Callahan

New member
'Mornin everyone,
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I was cleaning my guns the other night and was wondering about a shotgun I acquired from my wife's late grandfather. It is a Savage side by side 12 guage. Does each barrel have a different choke? The markings on the barrels don't seem to indicate any choke. Which is the tighter pattern usually, left or right? Thanks in advance.

Harry
 
Usually the right barrel is the open choke. Savage guns were usually IC/MOD or MOD/FULL. Check with a new dime, if it fits into the muzzle the choke is Mod or IC, if it does not fit the choke is probably full. This is NOT an exact method but usually works. 30" or 28" bbls are usually MOD/FULL, 26" often IC/MOD but not always. There are exceptions. A gunsmith will be able to tell you the chokes and the chamber length which is important to know.
 
My knowledge of SxS shotguns is limited to my Rossi Overland, the bottoms
of its barrels are clearly marked with its chokes, see if you can detach the
forearms from yours and look at the bottom of the breech.
 
My Ithaca 100, 26" barrels, is IC/MOD. At only 6lbs, it's good to carry for upland game hunting, but rather punishing to shoot often.

The Ithaca 200, with MOD/FULL 28" barrels, the recoil pad I had a smithy install, and at 7.5lbs, I can shoot at the range all day with no problem.

Just have to pick the right tool for the job.
 
some of the savage shotguns were really pretty good ones, some were just trade guns, or hardware store guns from the mid war period, some one somewhere should have a website with more details. Often the guns were marked in "code" meaning either a constriction number was stamped, or a * # type marking was used to denote the choke.

Some of the savage guns were the last runs of AH Fox shotguns, others were simply stamped FOX and were in no way connect to the great history of that name.

a brief history of the Fox company
http://www.connecticutshotgun.com/index/Fox/Fox1.html

worth checking up on...
 
Another way to look at the same thing...

The front trigger is the more open choke. The back trigger is the tighter choke.
 
Quick method for the older gun to check choke. If a dime doesn't fit in at the muzzle the choke is full. If the dime passes it is atleast modified.
The only real way to get the constriction is measure the bore and then subtract the choke.

A true 12 gauge bore measures .729 of an inch if the choke measures .700 you get a difference of .029 pionts of constriction or a fulll choke. To do this you will need a bore Mic or you local shop can do it for a few dollars.
 
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