Most of my bird shooting here in NY is preserve pheasants and chukars. Would like to plan a trip to the middle of the country for wild birds and would like some choke recommendations for my 1955 Webley & Scott M700 12 gauge.

The gun is currently as from the factory (yes Darryl, it's the one I got from you) 0.729 bores and .042 chokes in each barrel.

Recommendations for how much to open them to make it a useful upland gun? I have plenty of others for waterfowl & cornfield geese.

The load matters also. B&P MB Classic 1 1/8 oz. 5s at 1330 with .010 right and .030 left provides very dense and even patterns in my Smith. I don't have the clean kill confidence to try more than 35 - 40 yd. shots though.
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What Drew said. He is spot on.

hunting over dogs? I like a full choke in my left barrel and cylinder in my right. Depends some on which western birds and how you hunt them. I have Springers and when the birds co-operate I kill plenty inside of 20 yards. Late season, windy days or birds that have plenty of pressure and I sure do like the tight pattern a full choke offers. That said my favorite bird gun is cyl and .014" but it fits me well and I love it.

You have to define "western birds" more thoroughly if you wish considered advise.

They could be anything from Doves to Greater Canadas, Spruce Grouse to Hungarian Partridge, Sharptail Grouse to Pheasants.

And then there is the question of when and how. For example, pheasants shot in a SD cornfield drive are best shot with choke combinations that differ greatly from pheasants walked-up by man and dog in a MT coulee.

Similar scenarios can be made for all the other species and where and how they are hunted as the "middle of the country" is a little vague.

BTW, have you much experience in shooting in high winds and often freezing temperatures? Your experience with such should also be considered, if you are going to open the chokes on a singular gun for a one time hunt somewhere around here.

As an aside, Daryl usually comes with 6 or 7 guns when he comes up to Sidney to hunt pheasants.

To add to what Bob said: If you're coming to the Midwest in the cold part of the season, when the temperature may hover one side or the other of zero, you need to make sure that the trigger spacing on your Scott (assume it's a double trigger gun) allows enough room for fingers inside an insulated glove.

The whole choke thing is so subjective that a thread like this could go on and on.
The only real way to tell is to pattern what ever gun you plan on taking and pattern it with different shot sizes and shot weights.
And as stated a few posts back, what are you specifically hunting for?

If you have just one gun to take, my choice would be one with 28" barrels, cyl and full. Gauge is your choice.

If you are chasing Kansas ditch parrots, the proper load is #5s and tight chokes. If they flush close, give them a tic or 2. RST Lite roll crimped 1 1/16 oz, but I don't see it on the website @ RST. If you can stand the pressure, Kent's Upland with the Diamond shot works extremely well. I have not found a better type shot.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

If you are coming to Kansas or Nebraska for pheasant and quail or early season Prairie Chicken/Sharp Tail Grouse improved cylinder and modified will serve you well.

We hunt "Ditch Parrots" in both middle NE and Western KS--I use a 12 gauge M12 30" full choke solid rib field gun made in 1937, and RST 1& 1/4 ounce No 6 chilled exclusively- we hunt with flushing dogs in early Nov- lotsa wind and spooky birds, so for my shooting style, I like that combination. Love to see a big ol' rooster pheasant crumple up like a cheap cardboard suitcase in a hailstorm- feathers flying, and as in the great song about the Sunflower State- "Dust In The Wind"__Ka-Boom

For hunting behind pointing dogs I like cylinder and full. Good for huns, sharptail, and pheasant. And the two trigger double gives instant choke selection.

I would also be fine with skeet and mod.

Have a great time.

OK, probably my fault for not being more specific, but I am looking for some general recommendations in how much to open the gun to be effective at birds flushing at longer ranges than I am used to here which can be 5-15 yds.

I've used the gun a few times here and a solid hit of 6's in close doesn't leave much left to bring home, if I connect at 30 yds they drop like a stone but as I said I have other guns better suited for here. I was thinking along the lines of .010 -.015 & .030 -.035 myself. Trying to make the arsenal more versatile.

Hi, FWIW, my personal choice for out here on the plains is .010 & .025 (IC/IM). It covers the gambit for the birds I hunt (Huns, Sharpies & wild Pheasants). These birds have a mind of their own. Even in early season, they can flush on the wild side. Even with pointers, they can don't always hold as well as you'd like. As others said, with a DT gun you can taylor your shooting to the situation at hand. These chokes have worked for me out here and as the saying goes if it ain't broke....

Good Luck on whatever you decide.

Greg

Depending on where, when, and how you hunt, flushes may or may not be all that much longer than you're used to. Early season prairie grouse (sharpies and chickens) often sit pretty tight. You get into late Oct/Nov, when pheasant seasons are open everywhere, those grouse are in big groups and much harder to approach.

Pheasants . . . very much dependent on the cover you're hunting, your dogs, big group or just a couple guys. Lots of variables. At one point, I owned a pair of Army & Navy 12's (made by Scott). #1 was choked 005/015, #2 005/025. Never used anything more than 1 1/8 oz 6's, and that was in the tight barrel. Used the Kent Gamebore 1 1/16 oz Brit 6's in the open barrel. Very effective. But most of my hunting is small groups behind good pointing dogs. Private ground, and although it's not leased or anything to which I have exclusive access, hunting pressure isn't too heavy.

About the time you think you have pheasants figured out, they'll cross you up. Choke tubes can be a good idea, to adjust to conditions and bird behavior. About the only problem is, you screw in the tight choke and they all start flushing in your face. Good reason to have one open choke and one a good bit tighter--and two triggers, so you can choose instantly.

OK. My recommendation then is IC and Mod. For one time hunt out here IC and Mod will serve you well and will leave you with a useful gun back home on preserve birds.

Pheasants walked up with a good dog and just one or two others in the Western Dakotas and Eastern MT, even Western MN will flush most often inside of 20 yards, as will Sharpies and Huns early throughout their range in the Western Dakotas and central and eastern MT. Later the Sharpies and Huns will test your shooting ability with flushes most often at twice that distance.

Pheasants driven will most often be 30 to 50 yard birds.

With the exception of Chukkers, the mountain grouse will be had inside 20 yards.

I think that should provide you with an idea why most of us who live here own at least two guns, one choke slightly tighter than the other.

Do you intent to hunt others and if so, when and where.

RR,
You've received lots of advice. Here's mine. Lots of birds are killed on the Great Plains every year with everything from cylinder to extra full. One open choke is always good. As to the tighter coke, how good a shot are you? It's nice to espouse the virtues of an IM or Full choke for pheasants, but these are only needed for shots at 40 yards and beyond. Can you routinely kill wild birds at that range? I mean at least 4 out of 5. The truth is very, very few upland bird hunters, even experienced ones, can kill birds at that range regularly. Dropping a wounded bird once at 50 yards does not make you a long range shooter. If you're a AA or Master sporting clay shooter (not a requirement, just a good measuring stick) then you can use that tight choke. I don't shoot IM or F at pheasants any more as the birds are too shot up, and I use light 1 1/8 or 1 1/16 oz loads. A 12 gauge choked .010/.020 (IC/M) will do everything you want. I had an L.C. Choked .005/.015 and never felt under gunned. Shooting well is way more important than your chokes, but it takes more work. I hope you have a great time on your hunt.
Regards,
Jeff

Much wisdom to be found in that post. The other issue with birds dropped at long range: if they come down with a good pair of legs, you'd better have a good dog. The more head start you give a crippled rooster, the more likely he is to avoid ending up in your game bag. He'll feed some predator or scavenger, but I really hate to lose them. Like Jeff, I don't often take long shots--even when I have them. Fortunately, what I've found is that most of the birds I see either flush within what I consider to be acceptable range, or else they flush beyond even George Digweed's acceptable range. Relatively few chances in, say, the 35-50 yard range. At least not if you hunt in smaller groups and with decent dogs.

Jeff, you are correct, I am not that good a shot to consistently take birds at 40yds with that choke, I will usually pass them up.

I am planning to go open on the right but may leave the left around .030 for now, can always open it again later, can't put it back. And I would never put tubes in this gun.

Thanks to all.

Rob

For everything from Desert Quail to SD pheasant I seem to have no problem with a 20ga Parker choked Skeet and Modified. Loads for the quail I prefer 3/4oz of 7shot when I can find it. For Pheasant 1 oz of 5s works for me. I know many espouse the 12ga for pheasant but I have no problems with the 20 and 1oz of shot. I guess shooting the same 20ga for everything for 30 plus years may have something to do with it.

RR,
I think you are approaching this in an intelligent manner. It is possible, but expensive, to put steel back into a barrel. I have a Fox AE that came F/F and I opened it to .020/.030. That left barrel is awfully tight! I'm either going to open it to .010/.020 or put thin walls in it and shoot it for everything. Have a great hunt!
Regards,
Jeff

If you've got a tight barrel or two, always good to pattern and see just HOW tight. My former backyard patterning setup limited me to 35 yards. My #2 Army and Navy, referred to earlier, came with chokes of .005/.040. I patterned the left barrel at 35 yards with my pet 1 1/8 oz low pressure reload: 90%+! Since I wasn't going to use that gun for turkeys, that's when I decided to open it to .025. Still tighter than I had in #1, but as much choke as I figured I'd ever need on pheasants. Frankly, probably more than enough.