20 ga waterfowl chokes

rembolt

rembolt

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For those of you that hunt waterfowl with a 20 ga what is your go to choke and constriction . This year I decided I would like to do some 20 ga waterfowl hunting .So I just acquired a new in box Winchester sx3 20 ga waterfowl max 4 . and decided to splurge on premium choke , price wise any ways :rolleyes:. after a bit of research and liking carlson chokes any way I decided on the Carlson cremator mid range with a .607 diameter . I plan on shooting Kent Fast steel 2.0 3" 7/8 oz #2 and 4 . haven't had a chance to pattern this gun choke shell combo yet . really hoping it turns out to be a good one . on another note does any one have an opinion on the herters brand 20 ga waterfowl steel available at cabelas .
 
Hey:

I run the same gun, 20 ga SX3. Have been using Carlsons; Extended Light Mod. All my 20's wear the same choke for waterfowl. As far as shells: it likes Kent 3in, #2s.. Did try the Herters in 2 & 4's not a real fan, didn't pattern well.
 
ianthomson said:
Hey:

I run the same gun, 20 ga SX3. Have been using Carlsons; Extended Light Mod. All my 20's wear the same choke for waterfowl. As far as shells: it likes Kent 3in, #2s.. Did try the Herters in 2 & 4's not a real fan, didn't pattern well.
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How do you find the trigger on your sx3 for pull weight . my gun seems to have a fairly heavy but crisp trigger . I am thinking 6#ish . I just traded some reload components with a buddy for a briley light mod that will be used for clay and ruffed grouse .
 
I have a 12 ga and a 20 ga SX3, have never noticed a heavy trigger, it is not like a .22 trigger by any means, but have never noticed. I run my LM for waterfowl. It handles teal all the way to geese. It by far patterned the best for my ammo. In my 12 ga's I run an IC for fields and water, and a Mod Extended for passshooting.
 
The biggest thing I am finding is the radius of the pistol grip .much more open compared to my maxus . giving me less finger pad on the trigger .
 
I've been running an SX3 20ga for three seasons now and have yet to shoot it with anything other than the factory supplied IC choke. I shoot Federal Blue Box 2 3/4"- 3/4oz #4 steel for ducks and 3"-7/8oz #2 steel for all species of geese and sandhill cranes and those combo's kill birds cleanly out to 40-45 yds no problem. As for 3" ammo choice? I had 10 flats of Kent Fasteel given to me and it is the best performer to date through my gun. Once we used up those 10 flats we picked up 15 flats of Herters and 2 flats of Winchester Super X. The Herters are made by Winchester and there has been zero difference in performance between the two. The Kents will outperform both by an honest 10 yards if you're reaching for high overhead spring snows but for the price difference I'll stick to the Herters. We kill alot of birds and I don't see the justification in the added expense of an ammo that might perform better at 10 yards longer and aftermarket chokes imo are a pricy gimmick. But that's just my opinion based on the results I've noticed shooting my SX3 20ga.
 
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Been happy enough with the factory IC and Mod in my SX3, although I have only patterned 3's and 4's with it. Carlson's choke tubes are my go to if I can not get a satisfactory pattern with factory. I won't say aftermarket chokes are a gimmick but they certainly fall in the category of things with rapidly diminishing returns on your investment.
 
My 20 gauge SXS runs Trulocks, Precision hunters, SKT1 and SKT2, which kill super.
My facory chokes for waterfowl and pheasants are CYL/IC
I have been using Trulocks for about 20 years now......
Cat
 
So on Sunday I got out for a round of sporting clays with the sx3 and the carlson cremator choke . put 125 rounds through the gun with absolutely no issues . the trigger is very smooth and crisp and the weight is not that noticeable . at under 7 lb in weight the sx3 20ga certainly is not a sporting clays gun but very fun to shoot none the less . the carlson cremator is quite impressive for pattern with the 7.5 7/8 oz federal target loads .at 16 yds I had a pattern of about 15 inches with the top edge of the pattern 10.5 inches above poa and the bottom edge 4.5 inches below with a very dense center core . as for clays the choke crushed targets out to 30yds when I did my part . very much liking this set up so far .
 
We've got a 20ga SX3. We use a Carlson's "Mid Range" extended choke and Kent 3" 2's for geese in that one - haven't patterned it yet, but it kills very well so don't feel a need to. We've also got a Rem 1100LW 20ga. and use an extended Briley M choke with the same ammo and good results.

Don't overthink your choke. I believe an extended choke helps with patterns, but you don't need to be testing multiple chokes. Buy one good one (which you did) and throw a couple patterns on paper if you want, just to make sure they don't look terrible. Then go hunt. With steel, keep your shots inside 40 for waterfowl and you're good.
 
I found that a lighter choke like an ic works better if you are shooting really fast steel. (like 1550 FPS) I have also had great success shooting geese with ic in my 12 ga over decoys. I will pattern my sons 20 ga soon and compare the ic to the mod. I guess we'll see how that goes.
 
Shoot Kent 2.0 out of my browning gold 20g. with a patternmaster and it is by far the better than the stock browning chokes.Which by the way as I have described in another thread was marked MOD . and was straight cyl. when I had it measured .
 
I get a solid pattern with my sx4 20 ga and a cremator mid range with both #2 and 4 fasteel 2.0. I shoot the number 4's for pretty much everything. They kill canada geese deader than number 2 or bb's in my opinion. (even in a 12 ga)

Most aftermarket chokes are designed to reduce shot strings, which is very significant on longer range shots. Anything under 20 yards one probably wouldn't see the difference.
 
Just to update this thread yesterday was the zone one opener here in NS . Shot the Winchester 20ga sx3 with carlson's cremator mid range in it using Winchester super x 3" 7/8th oz #4 . all shots were between 18 and 30 yrds . every bird was dead where it fell and a couple I feather pillowed :eek: . I took 5 green wing teal and 1 drake woodie . I fired 9 shells in 16 minutes and was dragging my gear out of the hole at 7 am :rockOn: . really liking the carlson cremator as it does appeear to pattern very well with both lead and steel .
 
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Benelli M2 20 with a Carlson Cremator long range that I really like. Also have a mid range but haven't used it much and don't really see using it.
 
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