Newbie to chokes...

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huntingfish

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Hi nutz!
Having recently purchased a 12ga that I will be using for turkey hunting, I've started looking at chokes and I'm seriously confused. I get the constriction part. What I don't understand is: Can you shoot lead, hevi and tss out of any chokes? Is a choke specifically rated for certain ammo? If a choke is rated for tungsten, can it shoot any size tungsten through it?

Cheers!

Fish
 
Generally speaking, chokes come in two varieties: For Steel and Not For Steel. Beyond that there is generally no distinction. You should be fine running anything that is not steel through any choke.
 
Most choke manufacturers will state what is safe to shoot through their certain chokes, some of them will have it stamped or etched into the choke itself. No input for you on tungsten or equivalent as I only shoot lead when I’m hunting with a shotgun.
 
Jim870 said:
I wouldn't choose to shoot larger sizes of tungsten shot, say 4's and larger, out of any choke tighter than full without at least checking the manufacturer.
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Just to be clear (and I think Butcherbill touches this afterwards): Check the choke's manufacturer instructions, right?

I was so dissapointed that even my local sporting store's choke specialist couldn't answer my questions.

But then, why is it written on certain chokes: for lead, hevi and tss; or for lead and hevi only?

Thanks guys!
 
Oh my god. I think a little light just came on in my head.

The fact that you cannot shoot some ammo through certain chokes depends on the constriction rather than what it is made: Is that correct?
 
huntingfish said:
Oh my god. I think a little light just came on in my head.

The fact that you cannot shoot some ammo through certain chokes depends on the constriction rather than what it is made: Is that correct?
Click to expand...

No, it depends mostly on the hardness of the material of the pellets, followed by hardness of the material the choke is made of, followed by level of constriction.

All chokes can handle all sizes of lead. From there, it’s a bit of a judgment call based on the hardness the material the pellet is made from, whether the choke itself is made from a material designed to handle the hardness level of material of the pellet used plus the size of the pellets as the larger the pellet the more likely the pellet swarm won’t deform sufficiently as it passes through the choke
 
Adding to the confusion, what stamped on the choke in terms of I/C, Modifed, Full means very little, you pattern them to see how the load you are going to use actually perfoms through the choke.
 
If you really want to learn, do your own pattern testing with your ammo and your chokes. Start with your most open choke, then tighten up.
 
My god. This sounds less like a physics thing and more like magic lol. Too many variables I guess.

I just bought a new pump that only came with IC I believe. I was hoping to just be able to purchase a turkey choke...pattern it...maybe (probably) try a few boxes of different ammo and see which one patterns best. But all that could be in vain and I might need to get another choke. Dang.

Fish
 
If you buy an aftermarket choke it will tell you what you can use in that choke, turkey chokes are often made for just lead as they usually have more constriction than a typical full choke. I have seen some chokes marked full steel /modified lead, just look a the tubes your going to buy and follow the manufacturers recommendations and all will be well and simple.
 
If you don't have to shoot nonlead grab the turkey choke and some premium lead loads of 4's,5's or 6's as you see fit and get to patterning. Even more important is how far are you actually likely to shoot a turkey? For a long time turkeys were getting killed with loads that didn't pattern as well as modern ammo can through an IC or MOD choke.
 
So called 'turkey chokes' are usually very tight, full to extra full. They are designed to use and pattern best ( and tightest) with small to medium sized lead shot - , 5,6, 7 1/2, the idea being to pattern tightly for the small target of a turkey head and neck. The use of harder shot such as steel ( actually soft iron), tungsten, etc can permanently damage the choke and will almost certainly give poorer patchy patterns that can result in lost birds. This information is available on most choke manufacturer's websites. Your IC choke is not ideal for this purpose but would be usable with the harder shot types but at a cost of shorter effective range. An extra full choke ( sometimes designated Turkey which is just a marketing name) with a premium #6 hard lead shot seems to be the preferred turkey hunting choice for many.
 
huntingfish said:
My god. This sounds less like a physics thing and more like magic lol. Too many variables I guess.

I just bought a new pump that only came with IC I believe. I was hoping to just be able to purchase a turkey choke...pattern it...maybe (probably) try a few boxes of different ammo and see which one patterns best. But all that could be in vain and I might need to get another choke. Dang.

Fish
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Patterning is fun, no better way to get to know how your shotgun performs at given distances. I tend to buy a full set of chokes and shoot birdshot, buckshot and slugs through each. I find the one that patterns shot the best and gives me a good poi/poa with slugs is usually mod or imp mod but I have one shotgun that gives me great results with a full choke.
 
You also need to look at porting and making sure you dont have certain wad types if you have ported chokes that can have issues with certain flight wads. Some chokes function by adding constriction and some of the extended use other means of choke that dont constrict.
 
To simplify things, if you are shooting steel through a screw in choke, make sure it is either rated for steel or no tighter than modified/only shoot smaller pellets (#5 or smaller) through it.

If you are shooting lead, shoot it through whatever you want.

If you are using some other type of pellet, come back and ask. Or learn about them and most specifically learn about why and how shooting steel or other hard (in relation to lead) pellets can be a problem. Also learn what non tox pellets are similarly soft like lead and can be shot from anything. Learn why larger pellets are more likely to cause a barrel problem than smaller pellets.
 
The reason why I started looking that deep into chokes is because I was curious if you needed a TSS stamped choke to be able to shoot 3rd degree Federal ammo. I think the idea seems innovative and would like to support them by trying a box. I'll see if my shotty likes them and we'll see from there. Not going to try if it my choke is going to explode on me on the first shot though lol.

Fish
 
Gunwhere said:
You also need to look at porting and making sure you dont have certain wad types if you have ported chokes that can have issues with certain flight wads. Some chokes function by adding constriction and some of the extended use other means of choke that dont constrict.
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+1 on that porting thing. I always wondering if it had anything to do with anything. Cheers!

I finally settled on a Carlsons turkey choke (Winchester), constriction .640 We'll see how it patterns.

Fish
 
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