Just watched larry potterfield open up the chokes by hand with a reamer. Where can i buy a set of those reamers and is it really that simple? I have several sxs guns that are tightly choked and i wish to open them up for steel shot and skeet. Im not confident enough to try to install my own choke tubes i just want to open some up to improved cylinder and modified
Opening shotgun chokes
- Thread starter brybenn
- Start date
Of course it isn't as simple as it looks when you see an expert who has done thousands of them do it. Anybody can make the holes bigger. I've seen a few that were oval shape, off centre, angled, rough, a few that looked like they were done by the village blacksmith with a pipe reamer. You also want them perfectly aligned, perfectly true, the correct taper and measurement which requires a bore gauge which many don't have and it must be polished glass smooth. A true expert barrel borer will carefully measure the bores and the existing chokes to determine the diameter difference (true choke) before doing anything else, then proceed to alter the choke area to get the required result. In some cases the gun will be test fired for patterns perhaps several times before the desired result is achieved.It's a learned skill and the smiths in Canada who do this work to an excellent standard are few. It is properly done on a lathe if you want both barrels to shoot to point of aim. The cost varies between $60 and $200 per hole plus ammo and range time if required. Yes, you could likely do it yourself, but you may ruin the barrels too. Do you do your own electrical work, plumbing, dentistry and baking too?
Im sure i can do a better job then what the local expert did to my 10ga. I have several guns i can play with. Worst case is i cut the barrels a few inches shorter. Im not about to alter any of my finer guns. I have access to a lathe as well
