doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Opening chokes

I took the leap of faith this year and hunted pheasants with a prewar Merkel 200E 12 gauge choked Cyl & IC. I must not be as good as I thought I was because my Drahts brought back a higher percentage of dead birds from the first shot of that Cyl barrel this year then the past few years. I must have been fringing close birds with a tighter choke. I worked up a load for the IC barrel that patterns like a modified.

I'm with Ted.....Yikes!

I have three guns with choke tubes. Two waterfowl that I have never removed the mod choke in, and a citori lightning 20ga. that shoots sporting clays, and grouse, and phez....and have never changed the skt1 and lm choke configuration.

In the field I have never seen anyone change their chokes. Now changing the load....is another story.

Plus the wife knows that one NEEDS different guns for different types of sport shooting and different types of prey....ergo my twelve guns!!!

Never, ever, seen a choke tube change in the field. Maybe Stan can comment? Most, not all, but most of the guys I hunt with use a double of some sort, and two chokes is, in itself, changing, I guess.
I'd bet we all hunt within .020 of choke range. Some good hunting combinations from .000-.020.

Best,
Ted

Yes, I have seen chokes changed a few times on a dove field, but very seldom. I shoot a Beretta 687 SPII Sporting 20 ga. for doves a good bit, and have been known to change one of the chokes in it shooting doves. I played with the chokes in Argentina on this gun, and soon decided I liked a IM/LM combination in it for doves ........ MOST of the time. Early season I like a bit more open first barrel, as the doves are less wary and you get a lot closer shots.

If I were limited to nothing but this one gun, with my box of extended Comp-N-Chokes, I could do well on anything I hunt, with the exception of, maybe, the "tall ones" over the cypresses. But, glad I ain't.

SRH

A two trigger gun with cylinder or skeet in the right barrel and mod or full in the left is pretty versatile.

I believe that I just heard old Bob Brister, standing up in his grave and applauding. From "Shotgunning: The Art and the Science": " . . . I do know that at 25 yards a pure-cylinder barrel will throw one of the deadliest game-getting patterns you ever looked at . . . " If you figure that cyl will pattern 70% at 25 yards, which seems to be pretty much the standard "book" figure, and if you assume that your pattern % decreases by 10% for every additional 5 yards, that still puts you at 60% at 30 yards (same as mod at 40 yards). So if you're shooting something like 1 1/8 oz 6 shot, you ought to have one heck of a deadly pheasant slayer, at least out to 30 yards. And with good dogs in decent pheasant country, you should get quite a few chances at pheasants no farther out than that.

Well, after reading some insightful thoughts on opening chokes on my Ugartecha and some soul searching, I ended up having the MOD/FULL opened to Skeet 1 (.005) and Imp. Cyl. (.010). I've found that using BPI Brush wads and lead 7.5's gives me true 005/010 patterns that should be just the ticket for early season forest grouse. If I switch to Red PC's and nickel 7.5's I get something approaching Imp. Cyl./Mod. patterns. Perfect for what I was looking for. My latest gun is usually my current favorite and will get extensive use on blue grouse/prairie grouse/woodcock and ruffs this coming Sept./Oct. And yes, Ted, my Ugglie looks a lot like the one you pictured. Now comes the next decision, do I put a recoil pad on it to tame the recoil on a 6 1/4# gun that has some significant recoil with 1 1/8 loads? Or, do I back off to 1 oz. loads which are comfortable to shoot as is.

I agree that a 6-1/4 pound gun will have noticeable recoil with 1-1/8 loads. But then, I never use 1-1/8 loads for forest grouse. I use a 16 gauge a lot and load either 7/8 or 1 ounces of #7 or #7-1/2 and that does fine on ruffs and even sharptails. Federal one ounce loads seem to be milder than Remington, too.

I love discussions about choke constriction and how people have reasoned out their choice or adjust their loads to make their chokes much more versatile. I/C will take a lot of game under most shooting conditions if you match your load and shot to your needs. I spent one entire year shooting nothing but I/C for everything from dove, quail, ducks, geese and anything else I happened to encounter. By changing loads I was never under gunned or poorly choked. A few times I did have to be careful of my range and shot selection but far less than one might think.

I've become spoiled with gauge and choke choices. More so when shooting my doubles which give me two choices to select from. In fact I often choose a double not because it might be the best gun for the job but because I get two choke choices on every first shot. Very comforting. Now if I were into bag limits as quickly possible a good black plastic semi shooting all loads from 2 3/4- 3 1/2" Roman candles would be a better choice. But where is the fun in that. I might as well be into shooting paintballs.

KY Jon,
I agree, I/C-Mod works great by adjusting loads. My 12's are 6 1/2 lbs. and are very comfortable to shoot using 1 oz. loads with checkered buttstocks. Adjustments in shot hardness, shot size and the like is usually all that's needed. Still, I often wonder how much better Skt/Mod would be given a two choke difference in constriction.
Karl