Choke question

[Fenix.NZ]

does anyone here/has anyone here .. done a fair ammount of waterfoul shooting with cylinder bore ( no choke ) ? with short barrell 18.5" to 20"

i count myself as a good shot with a shotgun, have never had a crack at ducks with cylinder bore but ive been eyeballing a mossberg 930 SPX in my local store, wondering if it would do the job on ducks aswell as what im actually going to get it for

we pretty much use only steel here, so less pattern spread than lead

 

[CROWCA]

I shoot ducks and geese with a skeet choke,if that helps you in any way. 21" barrel.
My opinion the pattern with a cylinder bore would be non existent.

 

[Fenix.NZ]

i dont know how open or closed a skeet choke is, so nope that doesnt help

 

[scrammersam]

my brother was using a shotgun with no choke and a 26" barrel ( i think ) and he wasnt having much luck unless they were about 50-75 ft, which wasnt much cuz they rarely got that close to us

 

[guntech]

Cylinder Bore
Skeet I
Improved Cylinder
Skeet II
Modified
Improved Modified
Full
Extra Full


A cylinder bore will have a poor pattern and you would be lucky to kill effectively beyond 20 yards with lead shot.

Improved Cylinder and Skeet chokes work well up to about 25-30 yards with lead shot and 40 yards or more with steel shot.

A little constriction is required for a good pattern... Steel shot requires very little constriction to induce a good pattern, tighter constrictions actually distort the pattern with steel.

.

 

[Fenix.NZ]

thanks guntech, we use steel exclusively here

 

[mikejp]

When hunting for duck here (and I think most places), you must use steel as lead is not allowed.

 

[Fenix.NZ]

yeah im in new zealand , we have the same laws.. i just dont bother buying lead anymore as its more expensive now aswell

 

[7.62mm]

It could work for close in Decoying birds, a la, flaps and landing gear down. #4's would give a pretty pancake like pattern @ 15 - 20 yards.

 

[Cinch]

It's certainly not ideal but would be fine if the birds are working tight over decoys <25yards. While most people tend to overchoke (Imp Mod - Full), the average waterfowler is best served/shoot best with Imp Cyc - Mod when hunting over decoys.

 

[Fenix.NZ]

i use #2 or bb only .. steels pretty wussy when it comes to ducks, especially in wind .. so i stick to the larger sizes .

35 yards would probably be about the furthest we'd normally take shots, so 25 isnt tooooo bad