Choke opinions wanted

GILLY

GILLY

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I have a winchester 1300 with a 30 inch vent rib barrel. I am shooting 3" mags, BB steel for geese and want to know which choke should be my best option. Today I shot at geese with this set up and could hear my shot hitting the gooses feathers, not even making the goose flinch, so I know with the mod choke, my shot isn't tight. Yesturday I put in a full and had no luck.

Any tried and true advice?
 
Set up some cardboard and check the pattern of your gun at desired range with the different chokes. Stop testing your gun on live subjects till you know whats going on with your setup. I'm not a bird hunter so maybe I'm a little off base but I've read other posts saying there is not alot of difference between each choke. Sounds like your aim could be off or the range is too great.
Hopefully someone with more experience then me can help you out.
 
Try the cardboard like Can-down suggested, to see what is happening with the shot. Set up a piece about 36" square with a 30" circle in the middle and fire one shot at the center of the cardboard from the desired range. Do this about 3 times for each different load you try (new piece of cardboard each time). You want to look for even distribution of the pellets, as well as a high number of pellets in the circle. There should be no big gaps without pellets and not too many "clumps" of two or more pellets hitting the same spot. You may have to try a few different brands and load wieghts before you find one that works well in your gun. 40 yds should be your maximum range. I shoot 3" steel BB as well and a mod choke works for me at that distance, but I find we have been getting the geese in a lot closer than that, so I am currently using improved cyllinder.
 
Good advice boys. The geese I was shooting at were a mere 80 feet or so right above me, The mod choke , so far has given me a couple of meals of fowl, so I guess I'll have to keep tweeking it till I have the "magic" combo.
 
Your problem isn't choke, but pellet energy at whatever distance you're shooting. At your distance you need to move to bigger pellets, like T or F, or pick up more velocity. Throw away your full choke with these big pellets, and use the IC, or Skeet.

Or get the birds in closer, again use IC choke.

Grouse Man
 
Grouseman is right on here. It's not the choke it's the shell. If you can here the pellets hit them then then they are too far for the load your shooting. A tighter choke isnt going to make the pellets hit them harder. I've been waterfowl hunting for almost 25yrs and when steel became mandatory I almost quite goose hunting. Steel and geese dosnt mix real well. If you want to shoot steel at geese and have consistant results you need to 1) Pick a fast load (1500fps+) of BB size shot, 2) pattern your gun to find what choke is tightest, 3) learn to shoot for the head instead of the body. The BB's will give you a dense enough pattern that with the right choke and head shots they will crumple. Trying to shoot geese in the body with any size steel shot unless your extremely close is going to lead to lost birds.
"A mere 80ft" is close to 30yrds. With alot of the steel on the market today your max range on geese with them can be as close as 35yrds. If you were a little off on range estimation (which is easy with geese) then those birds that are right on top of you are actually almost out of range. Try picking up a box of Bismuth or Hevi-shot and give it a try. I think you'll be surprised at the difference. They may be more expensive than steel but you'll go through less shells. Instead of blasting off 3 shells at a goose and have him fly away with only a few lost feathers you'll start haveing birds drop stone dead on the first shot. You'll be useing 1 shell instead of 3

Good luck
Tim
 
Good advice given already.

You need two things. Coverage and penetration. Enough coverage to ensure that a few pellets are hitting the vital areas and enough penetration by the pellets to get into those vital areas.

80 feet is less than 30 yards. If your estimation of range is correct, than there is no way you heard shot hitting the bird and saw no effect. If in fact it was shot hitting the bird that you heard, then I would bet you are off quite a bit with your range estimation. Accurate range estimation is a tricky thing, especially out in the open.

Don't take this as me hacking on you, because that is not what it is meant to be. But with 25 years of hardcore waterfowling under my belt and well over a hundred birds a year, I just don't think what you are saying is accurate.

If you want to get into some serious goose killing, invest in a Wad Wizard or Patternmaster choke tube.
 

Your problem is also related to the incorrect thought you need a tighter choke. An improved cylinder choke would probably work better with steel shot.

SHOTGUN BARREL ALTERATIONS FOR STEEL SHOT

Forcing Cone Alteration:
Factory shotgun barrels usually have a fairly short and abrupt forcing cone. The forcing cone is the tapered area just ahead of the chamber where the shell is contained. Altering the forcing cone, so it is one and one half or two inches in length, reduces recoil and improves the pattern density. Trap shooters and skeet shooters have been doing this for many years. It is a good benefit to the steel shot user as well.

Choke Alteration:
Choke designation from the tightest to the most open are:
Extra Full, Full, Improved Modified, Modified, Skeet II, Improved Cylinder, Skeet I, Cylinder Bore.

Steel shot does not require the constriction that lead shot needs, to produce good patterns. In fact too much constriction, causes poor, erratic patterns, and in some cases, permanently damages the barrel. I have seen barrels bulged at the choke, I have seen barrels where the choke split right open, from using steel shot.

For steel shot, with thin barrels, chokes should be altered to at least Skeet II. Often, over & under, and side-by-side shotguns, are best altered to Skeet I and Skeet II chokes. Heavier barrels can be left at Modified choke but may see an improvement in the pattern if opened slightly.
 
On a kind of related note, I have four 12-gauge barrels which could benefit from lengthening the forcing cone. Plus I have buddies with guns as well. How hard is it to buy the reaming tool from Brownells and doing the forcing cones myself?

Grouse Man
 
1550 fps is the fastest stuff they sell around here and the ONLY stuff I use regardless of pellet size...

Pattern your gun at various distances and with several shot sizes, then limit your shooting to reasonable distances.

For example, I use #4 steel going 1150 fps and kill ducks CLEANLY out to 40 yards with a improved cylinder choke in the gun. Remember, improved cylinder is like a forgiving friend...

Cheers
Jay
 
Grouse Man said:
On a kind of related note, I have four 12-gauge barrels which could benefit from lengthening the forcing cone. Plus I have buddies with guns as well. How hard is it to buy the reaming tool from Brownells and doing the forcing cones myself?

Grouse Man
Click to expand...

It isn't too hard to do if the barrel is NOT chrome lined. I usually charge $40 per barrel.
 
Waterfowler said:
Good advice given already.

You need two things. Coverage and penetration. Enough coverage to ensure that a few pellets are hitting the vital areas and enough penetration by the pellets to get into those vital areas.

80 feet is less than 30 yards. If your estimation of range is correct, than there is no way you heard shot hitting the bird and saw no effect. If in fact it was shot hitting the bird that you heard, then I would bet you are off quite a bit with your range estimation. Accurate range estimation is a tricky thing, especially out in the open.

Don't take this as me hacking on you, because that is not what it is meant to be. But with 25 years of hardcore waterfowling under my belt and well over a hundred birds a year, I just don't think what you are saying is accurate.

If you want to get into some serious goose killing, invest in a Wad Wizard or Patternmaster choke tube.
Click to expand...

Maybe my distance is out a bit but I did hear the sound of shot hitting the wing feathers. It was an open field, with nothing around so no chance of an echo. If the shot was hitting only primary feathers, it is very reasonable that they would make the sound with nothing happening other than a deviation in flight path.

I was able to take a goose at a bit further range with the same choke, leading and aim is another variable.
 
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