The price of choke tubes!

[Westward1]

I have tried several brands of aftermarket choke tubes (I like to tinker and waste money). I have, Briley, Carlsons, Muller, Teague, Krieghoff Titanium (and steel), and I have finally realized that the factory ones are usually just as good.

Imagine the money people could save if they took learned from your experience.

 

[Donny Fenn1]

If your shooting 99's& 100' your not missing a bird or two because of a choke people have bought in to the choke thing fixed chokes are still the best way to go . In the 70's 80's90's I carried AA singles average 98%+ and shot from the 25 yd handicap . Modified choke model 12 and a full choke model 12 for handicap . 1oz 1145fps singles and 1 1/8 oz 1200 fps handicap never lost a bird because of chokes

But could you have done that with one gun and interchangeable chokes? Are 2 guns more expensive than one gun and a choke set? Don't get me wrong I think the Model 12 is probably one of the best trap guns ever made and a shooter is not at any disadvantage if they show up with one vs any of the current offerings.

 

[vultr]

Paid 120$ for my choke, Its peanuts when You take into account the price of the shotgun and the price of ammo

This. I've long since come to the conclusion that the gun is by far the cheap part of the equation (especially shotguns and pistols). That being said, other than protecting my barrels I'm not sure I've ever noticed a significant difference from one quality choke to another. I do run Mullers on both my o/u's. The extended chokes are easy to change, pattern nicely, and don't corrode. My semi's get Carlsons because they get abused more. Can't speak to the Ti ones though.

 

[mmcintyre1220]

I shoot factory chokes in all of my shotguns for clays and upland hunting. For turkey and waterfowl I am a huge fan of pattern master choke tubes. Yes they are expensive but they are a small price to pay compared to the gun, hunting equipment and my time.

 

[saskbooknut]

The aftermarket choke industry is the land of "snake oil" salesmen. It is a hugely profitable industry for the makers and retailers, but the purchaser is getting little for their money.
There may be some indifferent quality chokes out there, but the marginal advantage for really high priced aftermarket chokes is small.
Choke will always be an issue of compromise, where the right amount of choke is suitable for a certain distance and a size of target.
Somebody already said it - "don't under choke".
A corollary is "choke is less important than you think."

 

[caramel]

Paid 120$ for my choke, Its peanuts when You take into account the price of the shotgun and the price of ammo

I was thinking the same.

 

[saskbooknut]

But the real question -
Have any of these buyers patterned their $120 plus after market chokes vs. their factory supplied chokes?
Real statistically valid patterning requires 10 patterns per variable, and counting pellet holes. Anything less is entertainment.
A great deal of valid pattern analysis has been published by Dr. A.C.Jones, and by Neil Winston on Trapshooters.com
Their findings are not flattering to most aftermarket choke advertising.

 

[Falconflyer]

Shotgun chokes are some of the more misunderstood aspects of shotgunning.
I've heard guys say that they buy aftermarket choke tubes because the factory ones didn't measure what they thought that they should when they put a set of calipers on them. These same guys brag about how much better the aftermarket ones are but in reality they haven't ever patterned them correctly, they only purchased new ones based on they're own crude measurements which are meaningless.
Another thing that I find only marginally useful is the in between size choke tubes. I'm talking about the light mod, improved mod and extra full, that sort of thing when most shooters can't judge the distance of a flying target within 5 - 10 yards anyway! And some guys spend most of their time changing choke tubes at each station while fretting over the distance to the target.
Choke a bit tight and don't worry about the patterns, if you shoot where you need to then the target will break!

 

[mebiuspower]

Choke tubes are CNC machined from barstock.

 

[struff55]

If the aftermarket chokes makes you a better shooter than the factory chokes then it’s worth the price .

 

[Falconflyer]

If the aftermarket chokes makes you a better shooter than the factory chokes then it’s worth the price .

I totally agree, but I've yet to see my scores improve a measurable amount with aftermarket tubes even though the Muller's I purchased a couple of years ago pattern better than anything else I've tried.

 

[saskbooknut]

The best gun, the best choke, the best shells -- results depend on us to put the pattern on the target.
Expensive equipment is no substitute for skills.
Most of us have had our butts kicked occasionally, by a good shooter with a cheap gun.

 

[caramel]

The best gun, the best choke, the best shells -- results depend on us to put the pattern on the target.
Expensive equipment is no substitute for skills.
Most of us have had our butts kicked occasionally, by a good shooter with a cheap gun.

You are right but at the end nothing beat a good shooter with a good gun. Holala.

 

[blargon]

Choke tubes are CNC machined from barstock.

Nice work!