choke for Trap shooting
- Thread starter drücker
- Start date
Got Juice?
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Peoples Republik of Kanukkistan
X2
Besides, 27 yard line is where it's at
Besides, 27 yard line is where it's at
- Location
- Chilliwack
I use mod and impoved mod 3200 over/under and full in the single barrel.
For Trap, I use a Full choke at all times, but I'm shooting with a 26" barrel so I need the tighter pattern. If you are using a 28" or longer barrel, you can go more open with your choke. Anywhere from Modified to Improved Modified will work well in a barrel 30" or longer. However, traditionally, Full choke was always the recommended choke for Trap shooting.
Why do you need a tighter pattern because you are shooting a shorter barrel?
Barrel length has no impact on pattern. You do not need a tighter choke because you are shooting a shorter barrel nor should you automatically choose a more open choke because your barrel is longer.
The only question you need to answer is whether you are putting enough pellets on the target at the distance you are shooting it. For 16 yard targets I shoot modified and where I suggest a new shooter start.
There are a great many reasons to miss a target. Choke is nowhere near the top of the list.
Last edited:
Which choke you choose has something to do with how fast you are too. CR pointed this out to me the other day and I think he's right. If you are fairly slow, like me, you will be taking the bird a bit further out than if you are really quick. So, you will probably be better off with a more closed choke. Some guys also like to practice with a tighter choke to force themselves to centre the bird, though I'm not sure how valid this is.
I suppose that if you put enough targets out there or a big enough wall of targets the amount of pellets or choke will not be an issue
I agree with the rest of what you said.
Who does not like to smoke em?
but is full the right choke for everyone, especially new shooters at 16 yards? Is there extra points for smoken em vs. breaking clay. Sure there is an amount clay out there that did not get visably broke and scored because shot was too small or choke not tight enough. Is that amount greater than the clay that is missed because choke was too tight?Who does not like to smoke em?
Speaking for myself, I honestly don't think I have many misses due to choke size or shot size at the 16 or in skeet. It's almost always a mental lapse or incorrect technique that does it (let me count the ways
). When we pick up birds after a trap practice there are certainly birds with grazes on them or holes in them that didn't break. Somehow I think it is just as likely to happen with a tight as with a not so tight choke. By the time the pattern gets to 35 yards with my gun, which is about where I take quite a few shots, using my modified choke I begin to see the odd hole in the pattern that might put only 1 or 2 pellets in a bird. The improved modified, which is the one I use, again in the current gun I'm using with my choke, gives a beautiful pattern with my loads at that range. The full choke doesn't look fully open to me, though that is a bit of a judgment call, and the pattern looks quite tight. So, it seems it would be a bit easier to be enough off with the full to get an edge shot a little too far out to break the occasional bird and a bit easier to hit a hole with modified about where I take the bird. I don't know this to be true, but my scores aren't all that different at the 16 using any of these chokes. Maybe a guy should get an injection or a tranquilizer before thinking about all this...Why do you need a tighter pattern because you are shooting a shorter barrel?
Barrel length has no impact on pattern. You do not need a tighter choke because you are shooting a shorter barrel nor should you automatically choose a more open choke because your barrel is longer.
The only question you need to answer is whether you are putting enough pellets on the target at the distance you are shooting it. For 16 yard targets I shoot modified and where I suggest a new shooter start.
There are a great many reasons to miss a target. Choke is nowhere near the top of the list.
Claybuster - the reason I need a tighter choke with my shorter barrel is because for me - I take the bird a bit farther out than you apparently do. In my case choke DOES matter. The farther out you shoot a bird, the tighter your choke usually should be to produce the best pattern. The original question was "what is the best choke tube for trap shooting", not what are the reasons a person may miss a target, otherwise I would have happily elaborated on my response. In my experience teaching new shotgunners - I start them off with Full Choke - that's my opinion, of course. Everyone's shotgun is different and everyone shoots a different way.
And lastly you should not be so quick to assume that barrel length has no impact on pattern. My 30" full choke barrel does pattern tighter than my 26" full choke barrel, allowing me to let the bird get out even farther with that extra 4". Sorry to have confused you.
If anyone is confused on this issue, it may be you. In general barrel length does not have as much to do with pattern as choke does. The fact that you have two different barrels marked full that pattern different from each other is not unusual. You have assumed that the difference in pattern is the barrel length. There are many other things that could cause the pattern to be tighter in one. The only thing that you can know for sure is that a barrel that is 4 inches longer puts you 4 inches closer to the target.
Last edited:
There are a variety of reasons why guns may pattern differently. Forcing cones, bore diameter, choke size relative to diameter just to name a few. Length isn't a factor.
Shot hardness, shot speed, cartridge components also have an impact on patterns. I'd suggest you read some Brister and spend a little more time at the patterning board. You do know who Brister is don't you?
If you are actually teaching new shotgunners and starting them with a full choke you are doing them a disservice.
