Can anyone tell me if there is a 12 ga choke system that will fit in a barrel that has an O.D. of .810?

My 1912 Winchester originally had a 28 or 30 inch Modified barrel but somewhere along the line someone had a Lyman adjustable choke installed.

The barrel is very slightly bent ahead of the mag tube which I have been told may have been done to compensate for an incorrectly installed choke.

Anyway I was thinking of having it cut down to 18 or 20 inches which will make it very easy to pack once broken down.

Another option would be to replace the barrel, although they are really expensive. What is involved in putting a new barrel in the receiver extension?

A thinwall reamer for doubles and o/u's will work. Look in the Brownells book for the right one.

Thanks, I just checked and according to the "installation requirements" on p488 of the current catalog the Tru-choke thinwall tubes should just fit. They say you need at least .015 and I should have .0175

The normal thread diameter for most chokes is .812 which is the same diameter as the outside of your barrel. I know there are thinwall chokes but I don't think they go down that small. Will have to check.

Give Briley a call. They are the only people I trust when it comes to installing chokes on older guns.

There is a guy over near here in Toccoa, GA who is well known among Turkey hunters for his work but I just can't find the link I had to his site and I can't remember his name. I will probably end up having to search back through 5 or 6 years of emails.

I talked to him about straitening the barrel and I believe that he might have been the one who told me that it might be intentional.

With the OD of .810 you may be able to have “Thinwall” aka ‘Small Diameter” Tru-Choke tubes installed in the barrel. Other requirements for these tubes include that the bore diameter does not exceed .728” and the bore is reasonably concentric to the outside of the barrel (so one side of the barrel wall does not get too thin for safe threading)

Another option is an adapter for Winchokes that Brownell's sells. The barrel OD is turned down slightly and the adapter is silver soldered on. It adds a couple of inches to the barrel length and can be tapered so that it is barely noticeable. A competent gunsmith can easily install the adapter.