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<  16ga. Guns  ~  Belgian Sweet 16 with Polychoke?
Riflemeister
PostPosted: Sat Aug 14, 2021 3:54 pm  Reply with quote
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My brother-in-law dropped by today to talk about selling his guns as they downsize and simplify their lives to cope with the infirmities of aging. One of the guns we looked up the value of was a Belgian Sweet 16 with a factory installed Polychoke. I could not find this configuration in my Blue Book of Gun Values, and am wondering if this could be an aftermarket installation or was that Polychoke a factory option back then. If it was a factory option, how much would it add to the value? I've not seen the gun, but after looking at the examples of their gun grading system, he said he thought it would be a 95-98% gun. I recommended this website when he's ready to sell, so you Sweet 16 fans may have some eye candy in your future.

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win7stw
PostPosted: Sat Aug 14, 2021 5:21 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 30 Jul 2012
Posts: 316
Location: Central, ND

I would have to look at the Bible but I’m pretty sure that you could order them with a Polychoke. I think the gun would have been imported and the choke installed state side. Only way of know for sure is getting a letter from the Browning historian. Most people don’t care for the adjustable chokes so in my opinion it doesn’t add anything to the value. However I will be patiently waiting for it to go up for sale

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MatthewWyatt
PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2021 5:43 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 28 Apr 2017
Posts: 61
Location: Central Oklahoma

I personally like the Poly-Chokes. According to Browning Auto 5 Shotguns Book by H.M. Shirley, Jr. and Anthony Vanderlinden the poly-chokes were installed as an option here in the states. The shotgun would arrive here in the states and Browning would install them or a Cutts Compensator if ordered that way. They would even shorten some stocks or install a recoil pad at the customer's request.

Anyways, I like the poly-choke because it adjusts in just a second. Many people today are hunting with extended chokes sticking out of their barrel both ported and non-ported. These do not look any different in my book to those. I have a 16 gauge Remington Model 11 and a Browning Sweet 16 with them installed and they both pattern beautifully for me. They have taken a lot of ducks, doves, and crows in theirs and my lifetime.

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fn16ga
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 5:38 am  Reply with quote
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I have never seen a poly choke increase the value of a gun usually quite the opposite .
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RLR390
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 7:58 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Sep 2006
Posts: 334

I agree with fn16ga. If it was my gun I would cut the poly off if the barrel would be at least 26" w/o the choke. Would then have it rechoked by a competent barrel man.
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fn16ga
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 8:19 am  Reply with quote
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I don't think I would cut it off , I really like them , it just doesn't add value .


Last edited by fn16ga on Tue Aug 17, 2021 5:16 am; edited 1 time in total
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Byron Whitlock
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 11:30 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 27 Jan 2016
Posts: 488
Location: Oswego, Kansas

My rem M11 had the polychoke on it when i got it thirty years back. While they don't look so good it is easy to change chokes when needed, whether for hunting conditions or on a sporting clay course. And you don't have to worry about lposing choke tubes or that wrench that you can never find. Wink

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Ohio Wirehair
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 12:15 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 24 Jul 2016
Posts: 546
Location: Ohio

Put me in the pro Polychoke camp. My very favorite shotgun is a prewar Ithaca 37 R with a 26" barrel and a Polychoke. If I could only have one gun (Heaven forbid) it would be that old Ithaca.
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hayseed
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 12:29 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 14 Feb 2017
Posts: 401

I have a 1947 Sweet 16 that I got thru a member here. It too has the polychoke. Are they unsightly? Yes. Are they functional? Yes. And actually it’s a sign of the times and appropriate for the guns age.
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Brewster11
PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2021 10:57 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 1301
Location: Western WA

The first shotgun in our house was a 12 ga M12 with a Polychoke. Over the decades it took countless game of every stripe and feather, from dove to deer, largely made possible by the Polychoke.

Yes it merely pinches down the muzzle and the patterns can be blotchy, but the joy and satisfaction and memories it delivered can’t be measured in dollars and cents.


    October pheasants launching up from the fencerow
    Woodcock flushing at your feet in the tag alders
    The whistle of early dawn duck wings.
    Cottontails squirting out from the brush piles
    Ruffed grouse bursting from snow covered thornapples
    Bright Red Fox bounding across the snow
    The crunch of approaching deer hooves in frozen oak leaves


Might a Polychoke reduce the value of a gun? Maybe, but in time we might see similar disfavor on removable choke tube barrels as well. What counts is what matters to you.

B.
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Riflemeister
PostPosted: Tue Aug 17, 2021 6:23 am  Reply with quote
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Thanks everyone who responded. I guess the answer is that the Polychoke was an option on the Sweet 16 back in the day. Opinions on the desirability vary from butt ugly abomination to a desirable, useful relic from from the past. Added value to the gun is negligible, but could drive some potential buyers screaming and gnashing their their teeth up into the hills.

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oneeyednine1029
PostPosted: Tue Aug 17, 2021 4:15 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 28 Feb 2011
Posts: 385
Location: northeast

You may try posting the same question on shotgunworld.com
There is a gentleman who is a guru about all things shotguns that are older. His username is researcher01. I will ask him and let You know what I find. I dont mind external chokes , Powr pak , C lect , Poly chokes.... I looked in my most recent Blue Book and didnt see them as an option. Thats not to say they weren't. An external choke on a Sweet 16 certainly wouldn't deter me. I have probably 6 or 7 shotguns with "dial a duck" choke tubes on them. Wise old man once told me.......if it works ... it ain't stupid.

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kgb
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 5:25 am  Reply with quote
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Here's one to watch for potential interest.

https://www.gunbroker.com/Item/908550707

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case 1775
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 12:30 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 159

I have seen model 12s and model 42s sell for quite a bit more because of factory installed poly chokes. They are very rare, thus the value. If your friend's gun came from the factory with a poly choke, then there should not be any choke marked on the barrel.

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Riflemeister
PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 12:57 pm  Reply with quote
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case 1775 wrote:
I have seen model 12s and model 42s sell for quite a bit more because of factory installed poly chokes. They are very rare, thus the value. If your friend's gun came from the factory with a poly choke, then there should not be any choke marked on the barrel.


Thank you, that should pretty much settle the issue right there.

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