doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Tight 16ga. Chokes?

RST and Polywad make excellent spreader loads. I use the Polywad spreader in 16 gauge (2.5") in my A. Ilsley 16 FC barrel. It works fine for quail.

I had and I wish I still had a 1926 Pieper Bayard 16 with factory 70mm chambers.

Unless the gun in question is an extremely rare and valuable collector's item, I'd open the chokes to suit my needs. When I got my 1918 vintage, 12-gauge Husqvarna 310AS it sported .038" right and .044" left chokes. I had Kearcher open it to .010" right and .020" left and it is a lot more useful to me. Might have been even better to go to .005" and .010".

My only experience with spreaders was a flat of 12-gauge 1 1/8 ounce #7 1/2 Spred-R shells I got when my old gun club that was closing auctioned off all our inventory. I patterned a few in my Father's tight choked 2-frame Parker Bros. 12-gauge and the patterns were very patchy. I shot them up at skeet with a variety of my tight choked 12-gauges that don't see the day light very often.

I would just open the chokes up and be done with it. Make it as useful as you can and shoot it as much as you can. Then the next generation can carry on. 90% of these old doubles are choked too tight for most of our needs. Every one has their own favorite choke combo and I am no exception. Open it to something like .015 and .025 (mod & full) or .010 and .020 (skeet II and IM). I like the later combo for the 16 a lot and have used it in most of my 16's for the last ten years. It does what I need and works well for a wide range of game.

30 years ago I shot an entire hunting season with a gun that was I/C and killed everything from doves to quail to ducks and then geese. I just adjusted my shot and load to the game intended to be hunted and limited my range when needed. Most shots were inside 30 yards and everything was dead on arrival. 30 yards is a long shot for most hunting conditions on the East coast. And most will see 30 yards and think it is nearer 40 yards. In blinds I use to place distance markers at 25 yards as a guide. It became a known distance and shots with I/C worked well. SK II and I/M have become my go to combo for most situations these days. I am older and slower so a little more choke is OK as fast reflexes are a fond memory for the most part.

Spreaders do work, and you can even make your own if you reload, using the discs from Polywad. Spreaders are not recommended for covey birds like quail. Too much chance of putting a stray single pellet into a bird (or birds) other than the one you're aiming at.

As noted above, if you want the gun for clays (other than trap) and upland hunting with most birds shot inside 25-30 yards, the easiest and least expensive solution in the long run is to have the chokes opened.

Not recommended by whom, YOU?

A larger pattern is a larger pattern, regardless of how it is achieved, whether by a spreader load or by more open choke. A stray pellet from a larger pattern caused by an open choke can hit an unintended quail just the same as one from a spreader load, and just as likely.

SRH

Your experience in this respect closely approximates mine.