Grizzly 12.5" barrel~full choke a good idea?

.22LRGUY

.22LRGUY

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Just got my first grizzly, after whining for so long....an owner of one took pity on me. Actually, got the chance to meet a great CGN'er and work out a deal.
Better yet, I put a box shells through it Saturday and have to say, I'm not disappointed! Lots of heft in this little gun. If I'm not mistaken, it's heavier than the 870, 7-shot synthetic I was considering. Anyhow, 25 shells in, I have a question;

Has anyone here used their 12.5" grizzly with a full choke, and if so, how did it pattern? I was fooling around with LIGHT loads and with the modified choke, they opened up to almost 10" from just under 20'. That seemed to rival my experience with cylinder bore barrels. That, or my memory is really bad. Anyhow, got me wondering about putting a full choke in it to give it a little more reach, and am wondering what others have experienced. Also, are Brenneke (sp?) OK to shoot through modified chokes? What about full?

I bought the grizzly for what it is, not looking for what I can do with my 28" barreled Remington autoloader, just want to see what the possibilities are with this little beast.

Thanks,
Rob
 
Almost 50 looks, no takers~hope the question hasn't been asked too many times. I did search under "Grizzly+full choke" and got back very little.

Just looking to find out if;
a) this is safe
b) there is any appreciable tightening of the group
c) what slugs are good/safe to use with the modified and/or full choke

Thanks guys,
Rob
 
Hmm, if I had a grizzley I would only be shooting slugs out of it, as it would be for bear defence, and that is pretty much what it is designed for, isn't it? Even with a choke your patterns are going to open up too much to be a viable bird gun, imho. At least try some heavier loads, like some buck shot.
 
I have a full choke in mine and it is fine. I haven't patterned it but it seems to do the job. Lighter loads like #2 shot seem to open up pretty well at 20 yards. I have tried 000 buck and it seems to group pretty well. Again, I didn't pattern it, just blasting water bottles and falling plates. I can repeatedly hit 2L pop bottles from 15-20 yards with no issue. Winchester rifled slugs from Walmart are a hoot. The ghost ring sights are pretty decent for that. With the full choke and #7 target loads, I have managed to bust some clays. But more got away than what I hit. The GR sights suck for skeet or trap shooting. In the end, this shotgun is a lot of fun and is safe to use with a full choke. But if you plan on hunting or busting clays, your 28" barreled Remington would be a better choice.

Cheers!
 
.22LRGUY said:
Almost 50 looks, no takers~hope the question hasn't been asked too many times. I did search under "Grizzly+full choke" and got back very little.

Just looking to find out if;
a) this is safe
b) there is any appreciable tightening of the group
c) what slugs are good/safe to use with the modified and/or full choke

Thanks guys,
Rob
Click to expand...

Rob, it all depends on what you are shooting out of the gun. Rifled slugs are safe with anything as tight as full, as the rifling is there to allow compression as the slug passes through the choke. Tighter chokes just havent been tested much so its best not to try to put slugs through them. Bigger shot is usually recomended with a more open choke, but your results will vary. There are vast differences in shotgun loads and each one will pattern/group differently. You need to find what your gun likes. You may find one brand of slugs groups best with anything from a cyl. bore to full, while another brand prefers a different choke, and others just wont group worth a damn. Same with shot, each shotgun will pattern a given load differently. I think the full choke idea has merit, and your best bet would be pic up a box of each brand/load you want to try and go pattern it and see what you get. My geuss is lighter loads will outperform hotter/heavier loads in the shorter barrel. So to summarize: yes, it is safe, pattern will depend on what load your gun likes and all rifled slugs are safe with chokes as tight as full. You can also screw in a rifled choke tube and try sabot slugs too.
 
Awesome input, thanks so much. Now, being the first gun I've ever considered putting slugs through, I guess I've never considered what "rifled" slugs really meant. I've seen them, an THOUGHT the "ribs" were only to compensate for the choke in the barrel. Do rifled slugs provide some twist to the slug in a smooth barrel?

Bet you wouldn't believe I've put thousands of rounds through trap guns and got this far knowing so little about slugs. :rolleyes: So, I'm looking for a little direction, and allot of patience!

I promise...I'll shoot more and ask fewer questions in the VERY near future!

Rob
 
LOL, questions are good. The rifling doesnt impart a spin on the slug, I believe its only called that as a marketing ploy. Sounds cooler than foster slugs anyways. But yeah, its just there to allow the outide diameter of the slug to compress as it passes through a choke tube. The biggest design feature for them is they need to be safe to be fired through ANY shotgun of the appropriate gauge. Thats why they are slightly undersized and "rifled". Just like patterning shot, you really just gotta try all the brands through different choke tubes to see what works best in your shotgun. Some like cyl. bore, some like IC, mod, imp mod, full etc.
 
Thanks supernova. My concern was barrel damage/destruction (or worse) firing a slug through a full-choked barrel. Sound like the consensus is~don't worry so much. I'll look for rifled/foster slugs, a full choke tube, and report back with my impressions in a couple of weeks.

If anyone else has anything to chime-in on the subject, I'm all ears. Safety first!

Rob
 
I think you'll find the pattern to be more dense as the shot gets larger. I find that with my cylinder bores, anyways. My Rem 870 with cylinder barrel on it was noticeably tighter with 00 buck than it was with #8 target loads.
 
personally, i would not shoot Brennekes through a full choke.
the typical foster slug is soft lead and designed to swage through any choke.
unlike cheap foster slugs, Brennekes are a hardened alloy lead slug. im sure people still shoot them through full chokes, but i wont be doing it in my gun. theres no point anyway - they usually perform best out of imp. cyl. i dont see the need for anything tighter than modified for Brennekes.
 
I have a grizzly with a set of Remington rifle sights on it and have played with all of the chokes. I found that switching chokes will have large effect on point of impact with slugs at 20 yards (sometimes about 6"). My best accuracy with slugs has been with a Winchester Winchoke I/C tube.

As for shooting shot loads I have found that it is very effective out to 30 yards on grouse with a Winchoke Full tube and 1 1/4 oz #6's.

I even managed to bag a few ducks and geese with it last fall using 3" Mag 1 1/4oz T shot loads with the factory modified tube. I will not make this a repeat without wearing plugs and muffs as everyone left the blind with splitting headaches due to the extreme muzzle blast!
 
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