Has choke ever been discussed on this forum? LOL :-)

Rob!

Rob!

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Of course, I know it has. The topic arises because I have a friend - a very good friend - who also happens to be an NSCA instructor. If the word "choke" is ever spoken in his presence, his earlobes begin vibrating at a precise frequency of 27Hz.

Now, he's not wrong. We've all been told, if we're missing lots of targets, it's not the gun - It's not the load - and it's not the choke.

That said, an O/U has this huge advantage of holding two chokes - and it's always part of my shot plan (and then forget it.). Which target am I going to shoot first and which barrel (choke) will be used on it. (Distance, difficulty, breakpoint?). I like a good spread between, so with 12GA, I'll have M/SK. (Doesn't make any sense to use that Mod barrel on the 10 yard fast rabbit). I never switch out the chokes in place during a shoot.

Some high end competitors use M/M or even F/F. (smoke is nice). What do you guys use. Ignore choke? Change for every station. Something in between? Share. :cool:
 
Rob, this a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Many years ago when I learned to shoot trap all the old timers insisted that you needed to use a full choke from 16 yards so that’s what I did but I’m not really a guy to follow. I started experimenting with other chokes and found that I could get pretty consistent breaks at 16 yards even with a skeet choke. I’m not advocating the use of that choke for trap but it does dispel the myth that a full choke is absolutely nessesary. Of course it does depend on how fast or slow you shoot the target and I shoot pretty quickly so my choke of choice is mod for 16 yard.

For sporting clays, at one time I was the guy changing tubes at every station but I got over that when I came to the realization that my misses were not caused by my choice of choke tubes. These days I use muller tubes in my 12 guage sporting gun and I’ll start with a 2 in the bottom barrel and a 3 in the top. These are kinda like light mod and improved mod or there abouts. If I know the course has a lot of close targets I’ll start with a 1 and 2. I seldom change tubes on the course and shoot almost everything with those tubes although I do use the barrel selector as you stated depending on which target I’m going to shoot first, close or far. I’ve hit and broke 75 yard crossers with both 1 and 2 chokes… fluke? Maybe, I dunno but the point I’m trying to make is that choke selection is highly over rated and over thought. Most guys I know have a lot of trouble figuring how far away a target is so choke selection then becomes a guessing game.
 
I have sporting clays over and under guns in 20, 28 and 410 as well as my 12 gauge gun. I tend to choke fairly tight in the 12 guage but in the sub gauges I choke even tighter and seldom use anything less than full and full in the 410. For the 28 I’m usually using mod chokes, less pellets demand tighter chokes to get enough pellets on target to get consistent breaks. 70 mm or Minnie’s with a 410 are tough and anything less than full (depending on distance) is usually a waste of shells.
 
I have the privilege to watch and listen to a couple of World class sporting clay shooters. They tend to put in 2 chokes into their o/u and leave them in there to the end. Sometimes they prefer to shoot shotguns with ‘fixed’ chokes. Not having to spin chokes in and out during competition is one less mind f0ck they have to deal with when there are so many other factors much more important to consider. These guys will step up to the line and grind 25 skeet targets with improved modified chokes consistently. One of the chaps can run 25 straight shooting gun down from the hip and break targets at station 8 from behind his back. Not that I’m recommending tight chokes for new shooters, Bob Brister use to say ‘full chokes are a demanding mistress a modify choke is a forgiving friend’. At one time (15 years ago) Remington ran a one week course on how to shoot trap. $2,500.00USD including a Remington 1100 which you got to keep. Fixed skeet choke and by the end of the week they were shooting 25 straights from the 16yd line and breaking targets at 33-34 yards. That turned them into believers!!
Now in my personal case when I miss a target I usually hear a comment from the peanut gallery like ‘hey bill, you’re over choked for your ability!! Friends…lol
 
I ordered an O/U 12 fixed at 16 and 24 that is marked mod/imod on the barrels. So I am not exactly sure what it is choked at. But I use it for all the games with no issues. I am more comfortable over choked on the close ones than possibly under choked on the far edgy ones. For small gauge I follow Falconflyers strategy of choking on the tight side. That said, I do believe choke selection is way down the list for my reasons for missing a clay.
 
"$2,500.00USD including a Remington 1100 which you got to keep."

Remington didn't lose anything on that deal. Think of the parts they sold for those 1100's;--- that is when parts were available.
 
Salter…you are so right on that made it up in parts!! My Rem1100 broke every 3 months…. so I kept buying more and more 1100’s to shoot and for spare parts in the case I needed to canabalize one to keep the other 6 running. Now that I shoot more Benelli and other o/u’s and SxS in rotation the Remingtons don’t break because they have become safe queens. I have it on good authority that all the Remington parts have been purchased/acquired by someone in the USA. They will become available (eventually) when they are all catoragized, right now in big bins. I was able to obtain a few difficult parts but it’s going to cost me dearly in future favours.
Why do I still like the 1100’s ?? In my experience the finest swinging gun on aerial live targets. And so kind to the shoulder and check.
 
Chokes can be fun if you like playing with numbers. Like me.
I confess it is a rather futile hobby for the real world of shotgun shooting.
But, looking at their results using only one factory made load can reveal some interesting information.
Information like what those factory made chokes actually produce in terms of a pattern.
Especially when one of your shooting buddies takes a look and says WTH!!???
And ^^^bdft's post above is correct.
 
Very cool info. Thanks to everyone who has posted so far. You all have given me tools that will help me improve. I'm not competitive, but this gives me insight into some of my shots and misses. Cheers
 
When shooting sporting the only time I change the chokes is if I think I don't have enough choke for a long target. Otherwise I don't think about chokes at all and the shooter who is constantly swapping chokes isn't paying attention to the line of the target and developing his approach to the presentation.
 
"Why do I still like the 1100’s ?? In my experience the finest swinging gun on aerial live targets."

Mr. Bill
Certainly agree with you on how the gun handles. Mine is a 28g and I really like it when we do 4 or 5 bird flurries. Just seems to naturally point itself. Good to hear that parts may eventually become available.
 
I think the amount of choke you think you need for clays is all in the head and most folks over think it. About 10 years ago , I took some lessons from a pro that my club brought in . I was having great difficulty in hitting chandels -- he started me at 35 yards with a ic choke and instructed me to shoot them as a crosser. When I was hitting them well he moved me back 5 yards and continued until I as nailing them a 65 yard with the ic choke -- only my humble opinion.
Cheers1
 
Choke for smoke. I tend towards tighter chokes but most of the older vintage sxs guns I use are fixed choked f/m. For a game gun for flushing birds I like ic/m. My 20s tend to keep the ic/m choke for hunting and skeet. My 12s vary on what I'm shooting at and what type of shot I'm using. I like 2' pattern at the distance of my target. 7/8 oz of shot can generally cover that 2' area and not leave much room for a target to slip thru untouched
 
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