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Forums10
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Apr 29th, 2024
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,002
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,002 |
I have an opportunity to buy a nice, crispy Remington Model 31 20 ga. The first problem is that it's got a full choke. The second problem is that it's fairly but fully priced, leaving little wiggle room for barrel work. If it was choked IC, it would be a great little upland gun. If it was a 12, it could be a turkey gun or a waterfowler. But what do you guys do with a tight 20? Handicap trap? 50-yard doves? I've heard of duck and turkey hunting with a 20, but it can't be what the manufacturer had in mind. What was the intended purpose 60 years ago? I'm looking for some justification here, so help me out if you can  TT
"The very acme of duck shooting is a big 10, taking ducks in pass shooting only." - Charles Askins
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,437 Likes: 34
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,437 Likes: 34 |
If it has the solid rib, buy it even if you don't know what you'll use it for.
My full choke 20's are for doves and quail in the desert, sometimes for pheasant. Also makes a nice gun for cottontails in the dunes. I'll probably take a Win Mod 12 in 20 gauge with a 30" Full vent rib barrel to AZ for September doves, after the first two or three days of the season. Shot a 20 gauge Win Mod 1912 with 25" Full solid rib barrel on opening day a few years ago, worked like a champ. Use smaller pellets (8's and 9's) and soft shot to open up the patterns. If you reload, use fiber wads or shorten the shotcup to open patterns even more. No real need for spreader loads.
Last edited by Replacement; 06/01/07 01:20 AM.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 9,350
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 9,350 |
I couldn't justify it, TT, with the birds around here. I shoot a 20 o/u a lot, IC/M. If I were to buy another 20 I'd open the chokes to cyl/cyl.
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 578
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 578 |
I have a 31 16 ga. with a 28" full. Bought an overpriced cut off solid rib barrel to go with it. Now have a cyl. bore for woodcock in case I backslide to a single barrel gun. Wanted to keep gun original so didn't open the 28" barrel.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 331 Likes: 1
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 331 Likes: 1 |
Kent, those are fabulous, light weight pheasant and prairie grouse guns. Feed it an ounce of sixes for the grouse or an ounce of fives for the roosters and you're all set.
About once a year I pull out my Mom's old twenty and do just that. It's a hoot.
sv
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,892 Likes: 109
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 5,892 Likes: 109 |
For over 25 years I had the perfect Dove pass in the Shenendoah Valley of Virginia where a full choke smallbore could really shine. In the last few years I've gotten into Remington Model 31s. There has been a minty 16-gauge at the local gun show for the last year, but with a 28-inch full choke barrel, it just doesn't fit for any possible use I'd have for it around here. In the 48 years I've been shooting Pheasants, I've never seen any need for anything other then IC or Mod. I guess in the rare instance of acting as a blocker a full choke might have some use.
In the halcyon days of the California Duck Clubs there was quite an interest in long barrel tightly choked smallbores, probably beginning with Edwin Hedderly's series of articles in the 1910/11 time frame in his magazine Western Field. The most noted were the Widgeon Duck Club Parker Bros. 20s of about 1913. The demand must have continued, as I have an AE-Grade Fox 20 with 30-inch full and full tubes shipped to a Los Angles sporting goods dealer in 1920, ordered chambered for 2 3/4 inch shells.
Last edited by Researcher; 06/01/07 10:58 AM.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 382
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 382 |
I had a Spanish double built in the 1980s. I was choked full and fuller. It had a 7" pattern at 20 yards. It would be great for Turkey but I shoot skeet. It cost me $35.00 a barrel to have it opened to Skeet and IC.
In retrospect I should have have choke tubes installed for $150.00 but hind sight is remarkable.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,002
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,002 |
Thanks, guys, for all your advice. I failed to ask opinions about opening the choke. I described the gun as crispy, but it's no museum piece ... enough handling wear to use in the field without guilt. I wouldn't want to open it to a skeet-type choke, because I have plenty of guns offering that kind of pattern, but I would consider opening to Mod, if it would make a big practical difference. On my question about the original intent for a Full choke 20-gauge in the '30s, my best guess is that, as with 16s and 12s, unlike today, Full was seen as a reasonable choice back then for an all-around field gun. I've heard here and elsewhere that modern ammo delivers much tighter patterns than standard shells from a few generations back, and that could also be a factor. TT
"The very acme of duck shooting is a big 10, taking ducks in pass shooting only." - Charles Askins
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 13,880 Likes: 16
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 13,880 Likes: 16 |
TT,
I think having that gun with a full choke would be a fine addition if you already have plenty of open and mid choked guns. I could even find a use for a full choke if called into blocking a cornfield, dove hunting, or I suppose late season phez (not likely to find me there).
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,116
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,116 |
Two Triggers: No question on the Full 20's purpose. SQUIRRELS!!!!Randy
RMC
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