Jug Choking

[CharlesHarris]

My point was only to point out that long tapers seem to perform better than abrupt ones, and that after some orientation, you can learn to discern the older drilled and reamed barrels by visual inspection. It may also be the case that some makes of hammer forged barrels might have longer forcing cones. If you have access to a lathe, Brownells sells "long forcing cone" reamers, which are popular in producing speciallized turkey and predator shooting barrels. There are also "back boring" hones which do as precisely controlled job of jug choking, which can be used to enlarge the entire bore ahead of the forcing cone, stopping a few inches behind the muzzle.

The custom turkey shoot barrels around here are reamed to provide a 6" long forcing cone, with the rest of the bore opened to .740" behind the muzzle.