Upland Game Choke Choices?

mmattockx

mmattockx

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I have a beautiful condition Baikal IJ-58 that would be my go to upland gun, except it has full/extra full chokes. I am planning on getting them reamed to something less tight and was wondering what people like for their chokes on a double barrel 12ga for upland birds? I was thinking mod./full or imp. mod./full, but am open to ideas.


Thanks,
Mark
 
Go with IC/MOD…most guys are overchoked for their abilities. Easier to hit with and less pellets on the birds. Can use non toxic shot (steel) also. If your hunting out east for woodcock and grouse you would want to open up even more to skeet/improved cylinder…Just find a gunsmith that has the tools and skills to keep the chokes concentric and parallel to the bore ……..and also know that your barrels are probably chrome lined.
 
struff55 said:
what birds are u hunting if in sask and hunting sharp tailes and huns you full and mod or mod and mod of imp mod
the birds here flush wild
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Hunting in central Alberta, mostly for grouse (ruffed and spruce mostly) and Hungarian/gray partridge in farm country along ditches, fence lines and small bush patches, no dog.


Mark
 
no body said anything about geese people have a pre established thought process about upland bird hunting that shots are close but for the most part they are not if you are on the prairies hunting upland pheasants sharp tails and huns when they flush a 30/40 yds they are at 50-60 yds in less than a blink of a eye
and a open choke gun is useless
just saying 70 years old and been hunting upland on the prairies since i was 10 and that means out of a 75 day season out 60 plus days
and on top of that once you put those birds up once then they are really weary
 
FLHTCUI said:
Modified....5 and 6's with 7.5 in the early season.
Rob
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I shoot 20 gauge #4 for grouse and the odd hare. I'm 33 grouse in so far this year with maybe 20 pellets in the meat. Most this year have been spruce on the ground, a few flying. Grouse hunting is part of early season deer scouting. So far I'm about 68lb of boneless lean deer meat and about 13 lb of grouse meat. For the record I said we aren't geese hunting.
 
unstableryan said:
I shoot 20 gauge #4 for grouse and the odd hare. I'm 33 grouse in so far this year with maybe 20 pellets in the meat. Most this year have been spruce on the ground, a few flying. Grouse hunting is part of early season deer scouting. So far I'm about 68lb of boneless lean deer meat and about 13 lb of grouse meat. For the record I said we aren't geese hunting.
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For the record I never said you were hunting geese.
Seems you're having a pretty successful season so far.
Good on you !!!
 
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mmattockx said:
Hunting in central Alberta, mostly for grouse (ruffed and spruce mostly) and Hungarian/gray partridge in farm country along ditches, fence lines and small bush patches, no dog.


Mark
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Those were my primary targets hunting in Manitoba. And for those birds I liked to go with nothing tighter than mod and the first barrel being IC.

That changes if you add sharptail and pheasant to the mix. But not by a whole lot.
 
I have one gun that is CYL/CYL, and have made some longer shots with it, but I have shot it extensively over the years.
However, as I get older , my reflexes are slowing bit, and I have a a bit f difficulty reacting as fast as when I was younger, so getting both hammers cocked and swinging smoothly on a fast flush , I sometimes do not get the shot off or the bird is a bit further, so I prefer a tighter choked gun.
IC/MOD work well in that instance for me, but I am happy with CYL/MOD or CYL/FULL like a couple of my guns are choked.
Back in the 60's when I started , most of the guns for the N.A. market were choked IC/MOD for an upland gun.
However, if you are going to rechoke a fixed choke gun, that is FULL/FULL, just taking out the first barrel to IC and leaving the second barrel as FULL should work perfectly for you, IMO
That is what I would do if hunting over dogs.
Cheaper as well.
Cat
 
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struff55 said:
people have a pre established thought process about upland bird hunting that shots are close but for the most part they are not if you are on the prairies hunting upland pheasants sharp tails and huns when they flush a 30/40 yds they are at 50-60 yds in less than a blink of a eye
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This has been my experience with them around here, though I was never hunting, just walking and scouting for deer in October. The huns seem to flush early and are quite fast, so they are out there very quickly. Grouse seem to flush much later and for those I could see IC/Mod as a very reasonable combination.

Thanks to everyone for all the input, I will have a think about it and have the chokes opened for next season.


Mark
 
mmattockx said:
I have a beautiful condition Baikal IJ-58 that would be my go to upland gun, except it has full/extra full chokes. I am planning on getting them reamed to something less tight and was wondering what people like for their chokes on a double barrel 12ga for upland birds? I was thinking mod./full or imp. mod./full, but am open to ideas.


Thanks,
Mark
Click to expand...

Now that you have all the incorrect information I’ll give you the more right answers.
 
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