The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Hide > The Dave McCracken Memorial Shotgun Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old March 17, 2011, 09:47 PM   #1
DocSmokey
Junior Member
 
Join Date: April 21, 2009
Location: New Jersey (Unfortunately)
Posts: 4
largest shot you can fire through a fixed full choke 12 ga.

Hey all,
Pardon my ignorance, but I've been a life long rifle owner & untill reciently, I've never owned a shotgun.
So I need to find out, what is the largest pellet size shot I can safely fire through a 12 ga. single shot fixed choke shotgun?? I was told 000 Buck shot, but No Slugs!! Is this accurate??
Thanks for whatever info you all send me!!
DOCSMOKEY
DocSmokey is offline  
Old March 17, 2011, 11:21 PM   #2
mete
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 14, 2004
Location: NY State
Posts: 6,575
I would not want to use slugs or non-lead shot. Lead only , 000 shot.The pattern however might be terrible.
__________________
And Watson , bring your revolver !
mete is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 12:50 AM   #3
zippy13
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 23, 2008
Location: SoCal
Posts: 6,442
Just yesterday, I posted this comment about slugs:
Quote:
Think about it: Any contemporary 12-ga slug has to be safe to shoot in any modern 12-ga shotgun with any standard choke else the SAAMI standards are worthless and a lot of gun/ammo manufacturers' attorneys and insurance carriers would be very unhappy campers. (An exception is the use of steel shot may damage chokes not intended for steel.) All of the recommendations for using a specific slug with a certain choke are for optimum performance and in no way indicate that other applications are unsafe.
zippy13 is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 02:09 AM   #4
TheKlawMan
Junior member
 
Join Date: June 23, 2009
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 2,149
That you have a "fixed choke" only means your barrels choke or restriction is fixed and cannot be changed, as opposed to a barrel that is machine threaded to accept either external or internal screw on/in chokes that may be swapped for a tighrer or looser choke. Your barrel should be marked somewhere indicating its fixed restriction and it most likely is a fixed "modified" barrrel.

What is the make and model of you shotgun and how old is it?
TheKlawMan is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 02:22 AM   #5
DPris
Member Emeritus
 
Join Date: August 19, 2004
Posts: 7,133
As long as it's one of the standard chokes (Cyl, mod, full, etc.) you can shoot any size lead pellets & either lead or saboted slugs through it.
Denis
DPris is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 06:46 AM   #6
94bluerat
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 30, 2007
Location: South of Canada
Posts: 204
+1 DePris

Slugs are soft lead and hollow. They will form to the needed diameter.

However, a slug thru a single shot is not very comfortable to shoot!
__________________
"Got a shotgun, a rifle and a four wheel drive" - HW Jr.

Rifleman
BSA Eagle Scout
94bluerat is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 07:07 AM   #7
mo84
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 27, 2011
Location: Michigan
Posts: 257
If slugs were dangerious to shoot through full chokes than the box would have a giant warning lable on it saying not to shoot it through full chokes, just as some choke tubes tell you not to use steel shot on the side of them. I shoot slugs through my fixed full choke 410 with no problems.
mo84 is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 08:39 AM   #8
Old Grump
Member in memoriam
 
Join Date: April 9, 2009
Location: Blue River Wisconsin, in
Posts: 3,144
As a general rule I won't shoot slugs through a full choke but it can be done, never extra full choke, better with IM or light full.

As for buckshot you have to try it in your gun. I have a 12 gauge and a 10 gauge outfitted with full chokes, The 12 shots 00 and slugs just fine and the 10 is just terrible but shoots anything from #6 to #3 shot nice and tight so buck is out and slugs not more than 10 yards.
__________________
Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern will, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.
--Daniel Webster--
Old Grump is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 08:58 AM   #9
hogdogs
Staff In Memoriam
 
Join Date: October 31, 2007
Location: Western Florida panhandle
Posts: 11,069
klawman, You may not be aged enuff to remember but before threaded barrels were common, you could buy a gun with a fixed full choke from any hardware store that sold guns. It would be right beside the other guns and not a special order item. It was often called a "duck" or "goose" gun.

Brent
hogdogs is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 10:55 AM   #10
zippy13
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 23, 2008
Location: SoCal
Posts: 6,442
Brent,
Remember those broom handle long goose gun barrels?
zippy13 is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 11:17 AM   #11
hogdogs
Staff In Memoriam
 
Join Date: October 31, 2007
Location: Western Florida panhandle
Posts: 11,069
Zip, I seen a few but they were always gatherin' dust on racks... some were too long to fit in the meager display cabinets my folks owned...

You know... pre-safe days...

Brent
hogdogs is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 11:30 AM   #12
zippy13
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 23, 2008
Location: SoCal
Posts: 6,442
Yep, the good old days when every hardware store had guns and ammo.

Raise your hand if you're old enough to remember life before the GCA of 1968!
zippy13 is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 01:51 PM   #13
oneounceload
Junior member
 
Join Date: April 18, 2008
Location: N. Central Florida
Posts: 8,518
*hand raised*
oneounceload is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 03:52 PM   #14
markj
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 27, 2005
Location: Crescent Iowa
Posts: 2,971
Quote:
Raise your hand if you're old enough to remember life before the GCA of 1968!
Hand raised, I was talking to the son of the original owner of Canfields here in Omaha. He recalls the days when we could walk in and buy a winchester 30-30. Was an Army Surplus store them days.

I had a winchester 1200 full choke, I shot deer slugs thru it as it was all I had at the time.
markj is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 04:09 PM   #15
Webleymkv
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 20, 2005
Location: Indiana
Posts: 10,435
I always chuckle when I hear people say that you can't shoot slugs through a full choke barrel because I've got a Sears & Roebuck (store-brand Hi Standard Flite King) 20ga pump that I inherited from my grandfather which has probably had thousands of slugs fired through it and it still patterns as tight as it ever did. A lead slug is going to give before a steel barrel does although the accuracy may suffer (though my 20ga shoots slugs very well).

The bigger issue, as I understand it, is that very coarse shot in barrels with tight chokes often won't pattern very well because the degree of constriction will cause the pellets to bounce off of each other.
Webleymkv is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 05:49 PM   #16
hogdogs
Staff In Memoriam
 
Join Date: October 31, 2007
Location: Western Florida panhandle
Posts: 11,069
Webley, i wouldn't worry with "bouncing" it is the flat spot deformation that will create some radical fliers...

Brent
hogdogs is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 09:34 PM   #17
Webleymkv
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 20, 2005
Location: Indiana
Posts: 10,435
Quote:
Webley, i wouldn't worry with "bouncing" it is the flat spot deformation that will create some radical fliers...
Depends on what kind of shot you're using. Steel shot, as I understand it, doesn't pattern well with lots of constriction because the pellets bounce off each other. I should have been more precise in my initial post.
Webleymkv is offline  
Old March 18, 2011, 09:38 PM   #18
hogdogs
Staff In Memoriam
 
Join Date: October 31, 2007
Location: Western Florida panhandle
Posts: 11,069
Tight "old" choke and steel shot is a great way to give your barrel that unique bulge so many folks loves to see...

Brent
hogdogs is offline  
Old March 19, 2011, 01:06 AM   #19
TheKlawMan
Junior member
 
Join Date: June 23, 2009
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 2,149
hotdogs, Unfortunatley I am old enough to remember but was doing other things back then.
TheKlawMan is offline  
Old March 24, 2011, 04:35 PM   #20
RMcL
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 7, 2006
Location: Alabama
Posts: 273
Since you asked...

...what is the largest shot that can be fired through a fixed full choke.

There is the ultra-tight patterning Dixie Tri-Ball buckshot factory round with three .60" 315 grain hard cast pellets in the load. This one patterns best in full to extra full chokes.

000B pellets run .345 to .350" in diameter.
RMcL is offline  
Old March 24, 2011, 05:18 PM   #21
Stevie-Ray
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 22, 2007
Location: The shores of Lake Huron
Posts: 4,783
Quote:
Yep, the good old days when every hardware store had guns and ammo.
I was giddy to discover that where I am moving, the hardware store sells guns and ammo.
__________________
Stevie-Ray
Join the NRA/ILA
I am the weapon; my gun is a tool. It's regrettable that with some people those descriptors are reversed.
Stevie-Ray is offline  
Old March 25, 2011, 02:55 PM   #22
markj
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 27, 2005
Location: Crescent Iowa
Posts: 2,971
Quote:
I was giddy to discover that where I am moving, the hardware store sells guns and ammo
Let us in so we can visit and reminice
markj is offline  
Old March 25, 2011, 03:43 PM   #23
oneounceload
Junior member
 
Join Date: April 18, 2008
Location: N. Central Florida
Posts: 8,518
Quote:
Yep, the good old days when every hardware store had guns and ammo.
And if you were a kid, they would sell you the ammo by the round so you didn't have to buy the whole box...............
oneounceload is offline  
Old March 25, 2011, 05:17 PM   #24
Old Grump
Member in memoriam
 
Join Date: April 9, 2009
Location: Blue River Wisconsin, in
Posts: 3,144
Bought my first two guns at a Coast to Coast Hardware store. Now the store is out of business and the local Tru-Valu and Ace Hardware stores stopped selling ammunition about 6 or 7 years ago.

As for OP I should have mentioned that modern chokes are built with a longer taper than some of the old chokes we had so they can handle steel shot.

Nobody can tell you what your gun can and cannot shoot well without you trying it. the manufacturers suggestions give you a good start but every gun is a law unto itself and what shoots good in my gun may not shoot good in your gun even though they both may be the same choke size and gauge. Even your choice of brands and types will affect you. Buy a few boxes in different load weights and sizes and brands and find out what you and your gun like the most then remember it, mark it down, tattoo it on your forehead so the clerk can read it..............no scratch that last, if it isn't in text speak and the clerk is young they won't understand it.
__________________
Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern will, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.
--Daniel Webster--
Old Grump is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:21 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.06681 seconds with 10 queries