 The first known patents for choke boring were granted Sylvester H. Roper, an American inventor and gunsmith.This was followed by a patent claim in London by W.R. Pape, an English gun maker, whose patent application was six weeks too late to the 1866 Roper patent.While American gunsmiths were the pioneers of the choke boring system, they had not really progressed beyond the elementary stage and their choked shotguns would lead, throw irregular patterns, and not shoot straight.