doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Dickinson Chokes

Has anyone who owns a Dickinson 20 gauge Estate bothered to measure the screw in chokes.
According to their website the bore diameter of their 20 gauge is .617" and here is what my chokes measure out to.
Full.601"
IM .606"
M .611"
IC .621"
C .630"
What the #%@&k were they thinking !

Well now I guess I'll have to measure mine.
But I will add, I am perfectly happy with how mine shoots.

TM

I have toyed with the idea of getting a 410 in this gun. After reading some of the post here I may be reconsidering. But it seems that the guys that have them love them.
Would also like to hear opinions on these guns.

Have you verified that the bores are indeed .617"? I wouldn't have gone to the effort to measure the tubes and not measured the bores at the same time. Without that information the other measurements mean nothing. They may well be what the website says, but not necessarily so.

Mine is a wonderful little .410, but I wanted fixed chokes in it, and that's what I bought.

SRH

Measuring the tubes with calipers was not an effort whatsoever and if i had the proper tool to measure the bore i would have done so but I don't and there are no gunsmiths in my area.
I realize knowing the bore diameter is crucial but why would they provide an incorrect measurement on their website ? The bore would have to be .630" for the choke tubes to make any sense and that's at the extreme range by any manufacturer's standard
Mine "looks" wonderful too but it also has other issues not to mention the horrible trigger pulls but I'd rather not publicize until my dealer resolves them !

My little Estate .410/28 combo has been a very good gun for the money. They had to fix the triggers (on their dime), but the fix has held up very well. The .410 tubes are fixed choke, but the 28s are so-equipped and they are a bit off (by my measurements). Don't have those numbers handy but if I remember correctly, cylinder was a negative 0.02 thou. Also, changing the tubes can be a dicey proposition after a while (uses a "friction-fit" tool system) so either lube them up heavily upon installation, or make good choices up-front.

I totally forgot to measure mine.

I have a 20 gauge with 28" barrels, and a straight stock, and splinter forearm.

As far as how it handles I love mine, I love the way it looks, but that doesn't make a shotgun now does it, it handles just as a good double should, it finds the pocket of my should effortlessly, and it hits where I point it!

I had the presence of mind to check the triggers before I bought it, they are as light as I want them, better than my Beretta.

Everything works!

TM

Have you patterned them to see if the pattern % are correct to the tube markings?

That is, of course, the proof of the pudding. However, if the bores are indeed what the website claims, I can see no way a tube with an I.D. that is .004" larger than the bore is going to throw an IC pattern. The F, IM and M tubes might pattern close to what they should, but not the IC.

That said, I wouldn't get upset too quickly. If I liked the gun I would pattern all the tubes, see what looks to be the most useful, and stick with them. Screw in chokes are way overrated anyway, IMO.

SRH

Oh, it can Stan.

The effective constriction of a screw in choke is very much affected by the length of the choke 'throat'.

It acts as a jug section, and depending on it's length and diameter can essentially redefine the barrel ID.

'Cylinder' screw in chokes generally do not throw a true cylinder pattern, and 'most' screw in chokes throw tighter than marked.

One exception I've seen to that rule is Krieghoff, where the choke leade returns to barrel I.D. in a very short distance. At least it does in my K-20.

If that 'IC' has a measurable section at .630 in front of it, it could very well print IC.