CHAPTER XXXII. 



CHOKE-BORES THE THEORY OF THEIR ACTION ON 



THE CHARGE ; WITH TARGET PATTERNS. 



Various explanations have been attempted of the 

 laws which govern the action of choke-bores, or the 

 manner in which they act upon a charge of shot to so 

 concentrate the pellets in their flight, and while some 

 possess a slight degree of plausibility, many others are 

 without the slightest foundation in fact. I will not 

 weary my readers, however, with trying to ventilate 

 their special fallacies, though perhaps incurring an 

 equal risk of so doing in what I am about to write ; 

 but be that as it may, I shall endeavor to explain my 

 idea of the matter, differing as it does from any I have 

 seen heretofore advanced, and, simply giving the the- 

 ory and reasons for my belief, will leave it to such of 

 my readers as have the patience to see me through to 

 judge of its correctness. 



When a charge of shot, in its passage through the 

 barrel of a choke-bore, meets with the sudden resist- 

 ance caused by the constriction at the muzzle, the 



