chokes?

[SPUSCG]

i keep hearing about different chokes for hunting, and have no idea what one is so i get lost hearing about turkey chokes, deer hunting chockes, ect.

[rem870hunter]

deleted by me. couldn't answer the question without putting foot in mouth.

[gotguns?]

A full choke will give you a tighter pattern for shooting longer distances, modified is slightly more open for a wider pattern, and cylinder bore/improved cylinder is no choke at all. for turkey chokes i think they are tighter than full but ive not been around them much. you dont want to shoot a slug through a full choke it wont fit, rule of thumb if you can drop a dime through the barrel you can shoot a slug through it as well.

[RoscoeC]

If you can drop a dime through a barrel, it proves 2 things:
1. You have a dime.
2. You have a shotgun.

[Scattergun Bob]

Yes, chokes are part of the voodoo magic of scattergun barrels, there is also back boring and lengthening the forcing cone. I have purchased many 18" rem police barrels, patterned them, kept 1 or 2 and sold the rest. No 2 ever seem to shoot the same.

So what is your question?

Good Luck & Be Safe

[rantingredneck]

If you can drop a dime through a barrel, it proves 2 things:
1. You have a dime.
2. You have a shotgun.
__________________

Indeed.

Lead = softer than steel. Lead slugs will swage down to fit through a full choke. You may not get good accuracy, but it will fit.

Usually, slugs see best accuracy with IC choke if you're not using a rifled choke or fully rifled barrel, but they will fit through a full choke.

Most Turkey chokes on the other hand will say "not for use with slugs or steel shot" on them as that is a little too tight.

As Scattergun Bob so elloquently put it, no two barrels or chokes will pattern the same. There are general rules, but for the most part there is a lot of voodoo involved.

From most open to tightest chokes are: (I think this is correct, I can never remember where to put skeet)

Cyl bore (no choke)
Skeet
Improved Cylinder
Modified
Improved Modified
Full
XFull Steel
XFull Turkey
XXFull Turkey

[RoscoeC]

I can never remember where to put skeet)


That is a tough one. For some manufacturers +.005 is called skeet. For some the bore -.005 is skeet. IC is generally +.010. According to Carlson:

ITEM CONST
Cyl .730 +0.0
Skeet .725 +.005
I.C. .720 +.010
Modified .710 +.020
Imp.Mod. .705 +.025
Full .700 +.030
X-Full .690 +.040
Turkey .680 +.050

Go to this link for Briley's take (http://www.briley.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=97).

Remington's specs. (http://www.remington.com/products/accessories/gun_parts/remchoke_specs.asp)

Notice that Remington calls .005" larger than the barrel bore "Skeet".

[skeeter1]

If in doubt (and a barrel without interchangeable chokes are out of the question), go with a modified choke. Between my couple of fixed-choke doubles, I've got I/C, Mod, and Full. Of the three, modified is the most useful. It works well in the field (and has taken down many a waterfowl) and works well at the trap range, too.

If you have a single-barrel scattergun, you might also want to consider a

http://www.poly-choke.com/

Poly-Choke as well. Some people don't like the looks of them, but I don't find them ugly at all, and very useful. After 80 years, they must be doing something right.

[rantingredneck]

My father in law has an old Sears branded automatic. I think it's actually a Winchester 1200. It has a poly choke. Of all the shotguns in his case when we head to the dove fields in the fall that is the one he most often grabs.

[SPUSCG]

so are chockes necesscary?

[SPUSCG]

if its any help, i need shotgun to be good at hd, turkey hunting skeet and bird hunting

[rem870hunter]

yes chokes are important.

shooting at 40 yards with cyl. bore won't put much lead on target. but full at 15 yards will give you a 50/50 shot of missing or blowing a giant hole in the target.

for HD a cyl. bore or imp. cyl. should be suffice. deer with buckshot imp. cyl. or modified. turkey full,extra full,super full. other animals would be depending on distance and shot size. so a barrel with interchangable tubes or a polychoke would be needed. unless you have several barrels with fixed chokes.

i have 3 for my 870 express magnum. a 20" fully rifled barrel for sabots, a 20" smoothbore barrel imp. cyl. choked for slugs and buckshot for deer and black bear and a 28" vent rib barrel that uses rem. choke tubes. i have imp. cyl.,mod.,full and extra full turkey.


the key thing to do is pattern the shotgun with different chokes and shot loads at a variety of distances. keeping in mind what your local game code laws are on shot sizes and shot type. steel,lead,etc.

[olddrum1]

When someone says choke they are talking about the barrel being constricted at the outlet end. The reason for this is that a certain constriction will give a certain pattern at 30 yards. The pattern being how big a circle of shot you get. This translates into how can you shoot with reasonable certainty that you will hit what you are shooting at. The theory goes that a full choke will have a greater effect further out and a cylinder bore good for close up work. A good way to understand this is to go to a site that explains how a steam nozzle works on a steam turbine.
Like RoscoeC said that it proves that you have a dime and a shotgun is entirely true. I had an 870TC that had a target barrel. In this gun if I remember correctly an improved choke measured out to be a full choke in the Remington target barrels becuse of the difference of the cylinder bore and the constriction of the choke tubes. The best way to know your gun is to use a patterning board that some ranges may have available. It will tell you what your pattern is at a given distance with a given load. Another good way is your Sunday newspaper and half of a sheet of sheetrock proped up.
Not all chokes are created equal.

[gotguns?]

rantingredneck,

what good is shooting a slug through a full choke if its innaccurate?
I stand by my dime.

[Lavid2002]

In the beginning I hear someone ask what a choke is...now im hearing some ranting about dimes.....

A choke is a part of the barrel on a shotgun. It can either be the way the barrel is shaped, or it can be a peice that can be swapped out of the end of a shotgun. This cylindrical peice screws into the very end of the shotgun. It is basically a cone. This cone controlls the spread of the bbs a shotgun shoots. Making whats called a "Pattern" Thats the circle that the bbs fall into. This can either be smaller for accurate shooting like some clay shooting, or long distance shotgunning....Or it can be a very wide funnelt hat throws a open pattern. The military uses this for room clearing because the distances are normaly very close. That being said most shotguns are carried to open doors or blow off locks, not for people. Although they do get the job done very well at close quarters. HOPE THIS HELPS!
dave

[rantingredneck]

what good is shooting a slug through a full choke if its innaccurate?

depends if you are trying to stop an animal or person charging at 10 ft or trying to kill an animal at 100 yds. Accuracy is relative to distance after all.

Besides, your original contention wasn't that it was inaccurate, but that it wouldn't fit. It will fit as it will swage to fit.

[b.thomas]

Can't talk about chokes without talking about ammo that goes with it, so read the the whole page!:cool:

Good info on both: http://www.shotgunworld.com/amm.html :D