In a fixed choked barrel

bspillman · February 11, 2014, 11:35 AM

In a barrel that has a fixed choke inside the barrel that doesn't screw in or out, where in the barrel is it located at the end of the barrel or closer to the center of the barrel. Sorry in advance if this is a dumb question.

g.willikers · February 11, 2014, 11:52 AM

The choke restriction is at the end or muzzle of the barrel.
Otherwise it wouldn't do its job.

Sharkbite · February 11, 2014, 12:02 PM

Usually about the last 1.5-2 inches are reduced in dia to provide "choke". The amount of restriction determines the amount of choke the barrel has.

Screw in chokes are just varying interchangeable parts that vary in dia

bspillman · February 11, 2014, 01:42 PM

Gwilikers, sharkbite thanks for your replies. My next question is as far as accuracy goes what's the best to have. Fixed or screw in?

Sharkbite · February 11, 2014, 02:19 PM

Screw in are great for a guy that is going to use the same gun for all kinds of stuff. Defense, upland game, waterfoul, deer.

Kind of like the universal holster though... Although it does fit a bunch of stuff it doesnt fit anything WELL.

As an example my Benelli M1 tactical has screw in tubes. Never changed em. Put the Mod tube in and never looked back. Great buckshot patterns. Good slug groups.

BigJimP · February 11, 2014, 02:40 PM

Screw in changeable chokes are the way to go in my opinion ....they're versatile / and well made...no reason to go with a fixed choke barrel these days ...if you want the gun to be useful for more than one thing ( Skeet, Trap, Sporting Clays, 5 stand, upland brids, waterfowl ....all are better when you can change your choke / to give you the optimum pattern at the kill range ).

Screw in chokes will give you every bit as accurate a pattern as a fixed choke barrel these days.

I use:
a. Skeet chokes for Skeet
b. Imp Cyclinder or Modified for Trap at 16 - 20 yds / 21 - 24 yds I go to Imp Mod / and 25- 27 yd Trap I go to a Full.

c. While I probably use Imp Cyclinder and Modified - 75% of the time on a Sporting Clays course....I may change them to anything from Skeet, IC, Mod, Imp Mod to Full ...depeding on the target presentation.

d. Upland birds....everything from a Skeet, to Imp Cyc, to Mod depending on what I'm doing...

e. Waterfowl ...Modified...( steel shot ).

f. If I wanted a shotgun for Defense....I'd put a Cyclinder choke in it probably.

Virginian · February 11, 2014, 06:36 PM

Fixed and screw in chokes have equal capabilities. You don't know what either one is really doing until you pattern it.

PetahW · February 11, 2014, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bspillman

My next question is as far as accuracy goes what's the best to have. Fixed or screw in?

For all practical purposes, there is no difference in accuracy between a fixed choke and a screw-in choke of the same constriction as the fixed choke.

The first thing that screw-in chokes do for the gun owner is to add a huge amount of flexibility to one gun - the choke tubes can be switched to change the pattern density ILO switching entire barrels or guns.

The second thing is that a screw-in choke, and it's attendant extra choke tubes, do is to add to the cost of manufacture - which makes such a gun generally more expensive to buy than a fixed choke gun.

.

zippy13 · February 11, 2014, 09:50 PM

For a single purpose gun, I prefer a fixed choke. I feel they perform better and they don't require the extra maintenance required with screw-ins; but, I'm probably in the minority on this.

jaguarxk120 · February 12, 2014, 09:29 AM

I'm with you on fixed choke barrels Zippy, the barrels are slimmer because there is no extra metal for the screw in choke tube. The guns with the fixed chokes usually handle differently. And there is no advantage to having the screw in chokes unless the shooting conditions change. In that case there is always a second gun with different chokes.

I haven't seen the bird that will wait until the shooter changes from IC to Full choke.

**44 AMP** · February 12, 2014, 12:13 PM

I grew up doing a lot of shotgun shooting, in the era just before screw in chokes. During my high school years, besides hunting, I averaged about 5 boxes of shells a week, shooting informal trap in my back yard.

Nearly all of my shooting was done with a 1920s made Winchester Model 12, 12ga, 30" full choke. The rest with my Grandfather's 1909 Ithaca double, 26", choked full & full. These guns were choked to deliver "full choke" patterns (70% in a 30" circle @ 40yds) with the old paper shotshells, with their card wads, roll crimp, and no shot cup.

By today's standards, they would be considered "extra full" or "super full" choke. When I started using a gun with a modified choke, my misses went up alarmingly. I suspected that my misses were because birds were getting through "holes" in the pattern that my full choke guns didn't have.

It might have been that because I had worked so much with my old guns that I just shot them better, but I felt I was shooting them all equally well, so my misses HAD to be because of the more open pattern. As a result, I never developed an interest in, or a good use for more open choke guns.

I know some people find the different chokes very useful, I just never did. Having the ability to change the chokes just further improves the versatility.

One thing to be aware of, you should remove the choke tube once in a while. Swap it for another one, or just take it out and put it back in, either is fine, but you ought to do it, once in a while. Not because you need to, and not for cleaning, but just to ensure that you can.

In the early days of screw in chokes, many guns showed a tendency for the choke tubes to become "hammer welded" into the barrel. One Browning I saw required the dedicated effort of a good gunsmith to get the choke tube out of it after only a single season of shooting.

Supposedly, this issue has been fixed in more recent guns. (I think they make the barrels and tubes a little thicker now days...) Anyway, can't hurt to check them once in a while. The time to find out you can't get the darn thing loose is at home, before you go afield.

Quote:

I haven't seen the bird that will wait until the shooter changes from IC to Full choke.

This is where the double barrel shines. Need a different choke for a particular shot? Just pull the correct trigger! Nothing is faster. Its the getting off a fast 3rd shot where the double tends to fall behind...

Bake · February 12, 2014, 12:34 PM

I'm with 44AMP on this one. Those old barrels were designed to shoot their company's standard shells very well. With today's shells they are super tight.

The only way to know is to pattern the combination in question.

Does anyone make a fixed choked barrel (besides Cyl.) today?

bspillman · February 12, 2014, 01:50 PM

Thanks for the information and replies. There's a lot of good information here.

BigJimP · February 12, 2014, 02:15 PM

If you wanted a fixed choke barrel....say for Skeet...companies like Krieghoff and Kolar will be happy to do that / and I would think Perazzi and Blaser would do that as well.

But once you make the decision to spend that kind of money on a shotgun (
$ 8,000 - $ 25,000 typically ......or a lot more when you get into engraving) but you will have any number of options when you place the order - on picking a specific wood for the stock and forend, rib style, engraving, stock dimensions, etc.
------------
I don't think Browning or Beretta would do it ....but big dealers like Joel Etchen and others could probably get a special order taken care of / or have their shops custom fit a fixed choke set of barrels....but it would be significantly more expensive than just buying a Beretta or Browning out of their catalog of models available.

Our buddy on the forum Zippy - likes his fixed choke barrels on his Skeet gun ...but he was a serious competition skeet shooter / and he knew that was what he wanted the gun specifically for.

Personally, I use my primary overall gun ....for Skeet, Sporting Clays, 5 Stand and some Upland bird hunting....( 12ga, 30" barrels, Browning Citori XS Skeet model ) so it wouldn't make any sense for me to have that gun with fixed Skeet chokes / when I can have it with changeable screw in chokes.

eastbank · February 13, 2014, 10:19 AM

i have a 70,s remington 870 tb with fixed choke and i changed barrels with a friend who,s 870tb was made in the 90,s with tubes and i shoot just as well with the different barrels and so does he, to me its about have the ability to change chokes making your shotgun more versital. eastbank.

February 11, 2014, 11:35 AM	#1
bspillman Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2011 Posts: 559	In a fixed choked barrel In a barrel that has a fixed choke inside the barrel that doesn't screw in or out, where in the barrel is it located at the end of the barrel or closer to the center of the barrel. Sorry in advance if this is a dumb question.

February 11, 2014, 11:52 AM	#2
g.willikers Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2008 Posts: 10,442	The choke restriction is at the end or muzzle of the barrel. Otherwise it wouldn't do its job. __________________ Walt Kelly, alias Pogo, sez: “Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.”

February 11, 2014, 06:36 PM	#7
Virginian Senior Member Join Date: February 11, 2012 Location: Williamsburg, Va. Posts: 1,528	Fixed and screw in chokes have equal capabilities. You don't know what either one is really doing until you pattern it. __________________ What could have happened... did.

February 12, 2014, 12:34 PM	#12
Bake Senior Member Join Date: November 11, 2012 Location: San Joaquin Valley, Calif. Posts: 482	I'm with 44AMP on this one. Those old barrels were designed to shoot their company's standard shells very well. With today's shells they are super tight. The only way to know is to pattern the combination in question. Does anyone make a fixed choked barrel (besides Cyl.) today? __________________ 1. The pattern board is your friend, use the Dam thing!!! 2. The maximum range of a firearm and/or cartridge, is usually measured in miles, and means nothing. 2a. The effective range of a firearm and/or cartridge, is usually (the ability of the shooter) measured in yards, and means everything.

February 11, 2014, 12:02 PM	#3
Sharkbite Senior Member Join Date: November 4, 2013 Location: Western slope of Colorado Posts: 3,679	Usually about the last 1.5-2 inches are reduced in dia to provide "choke". The amount of restriction determines the amount of choke the barrel has. Screw in chokes are just varying interchangeable parts that vary in dia

February 11, 2014, 01:42 PM	#4
bspillman Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2011 Posts: 559	Gwilikers, sharkbite thanks for your replies. My next question is as far as accuracy goes what's the best to have. Fixed or screw in?

February 11, 2014, 02:19 PM	#5
Sharkbite Senior Member Join Date: November 4, 2013 Location: Western slope of Colorado Posts: 3,679	Screw in are great for a guy that is going to use the same gun for all kinds of stuff. Defense, upland game, waterfoul, deer. Kind of like the universal holster though... Although it does fit a bunch of stuff it doesnt fit anything WELL. As an example my Benelli M1 tactical has screw in tubes. Never changed em. Put the Mod tube in and never looked back. Great buckshot patterns. Good slug groups.

February 11, 2014, 02:40 PM	#6
BigJimP Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2005 Posts: 13,195	Screw in changeable chokes are the way to go in my opinion ....they're versatile / and well made...no reason to go with a fixed choke barrel these days ...if you want the gun to be useful for more than one thing ( Skeet, Trap, Sporting Clays, 5 stand, upland brids, waterfowl ....all are better when you can change your choke / to give you the optimum pattern at the kill range ). Screw in chokes will give you every bit as accurate a pattern as a fixed choke barrel these days. I use: a. Skeet chokes for Skeet b. Imp Cyclinder or Modified for Trap at 16 - 20 yds / 21 - 24 yds I go to Imp Mod / and 25- 27 yd Trap I go to a Full. c. While I probably use Imp Cyclinder and Modified - 75% of the time on a Sporting Clays course....I may change them to anything from Skeet, IC, Mod, Imp Mod to Full ...depeding on the target presentation. d. Upland birds....everything from a Skeet, to Imp Cyc, to Mod depending on what I'm doing... e. Waterfowl ...Modified...( steel shot ). f. If I wanted a shotgun for Defense....I'd put a Cyclinder choke in it probably.

February 11, 2014, 09:50 PM	#9
zippy13 Senior Member Join Date: August 23, 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 6,442	For a single purpose gun, I prefer a fixed choke. I feel they perform better and they don't require the extra maintenance required with screw-ins; but, I'm probably in the minority on this.

February 12, 2014, 09:29 AM	#10
jaguarxk120 Senior Member Join Date: February 28, 2008 Location: Michigan Posts: 2,619	I'm with you on fixed choke barrels Zippy, the barrels are slimmer because there is no extra metal for the screw in choke tube. The guns with the fixed chokes usually handle differently. And there is no advantage to having the screw in chokes unless the shooting conditions change. In that case there is always a second gun with different chokes. I haven't seen the bird that will wait until the shooter changes from IC to Full choke.

February 12, 2014, 01:50 PM	#13
bspillman Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2011 Posts: 559	Thanks for the information and replies. There's a lot of good information here.

February 12, 2014, 02:15 PM	#14
BigJimP Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2005 Posts: 13,195	If you wanted a fixed choke barrel....say for Skeet...companies like Krieghoff and Kolar will be happy to do that / and I would think Perazzi and Blaser would do that as well. But once you make the decision to spend that kind of money on a shotgun ( $ 8,000 - $ 25,000 typically ......or a lot more when you get into engraving) but you will have any number of options when you place the order - on picking a specific wood for the stock and forend, rib style, engraving, stock dimensions, etc. ------------ I don't think Browning or Beretta would do it ....but big dealers like Joel Etchen and others could probably get a special order taken care of / or have their shops custom fit a fixed choke set of barrels....but it would be significantly more expensive than just buying a Beretta or Browning out of their catalog of models available. Our buddy on the forum Zippy - likes his fixed choke barrels on his Skeet gun ...but he was a serious competition skeet shooter / and he knew that was what he wanted the gun specifically for. Personally, I use my primary overall gun ....for Skeet, Sporting Clays, 5 Stand and some Upland bird hunting....( 12ga, 30" barrels, Browning Citori XS Skeet model ) so it wouldn't make any sense for me to have that gun with fixed Skeet chokes / when I can have it with changeable screw in chokes.

February 13, 2014, 10:19 AM	#15
eastbank Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2008 Location: pa. Posts: 2,450	i have a 70,s remington 870 tb with fixed choke and i changed barrels with a friend who,s 870tb was made in the 90,s with tubes and i shoot just as well with the different barrels and so does he, to me its about have the ability to change chokes making your shotgun more versital. eastbank.