What choke for sporting clays?

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Rugdoc

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I've used my Browning Gold for sporting clays once with the modified choke.

Didn't do well, but I'm a lousy shot.

I'm not blaming the choke but is there a more appropriate choke for sporting clays?

I also have an older Browning A5 with a modified choke too.

I can hit wild ducks with the gun. Should I try that?
 
cylinder, but I need all the help I can get!
depends on the course. At Roue de Roi, I go skeet/skeet for every thing but the duck tower (LM).

Seriously, start out with an open choke (C/SK/IC) to get some breaks and build up confidence, and only go to a tighter choke if you really feel you need it for long shots. I have no difficulty hitting targets to 35 or 40 yards with cylinder. On most clays courses, the targets are inside that range, unless you are shooting with a certain fatboy from the UK.
 
Put in the IC chokes and forget about them. Concentrate on on the target and feel confident that those chokes will deliver a good pattern out to 50 yds. Shoot lots and enjoy. :)
 
I'm a noob, but I usually leave IC in the bottom and light mod in the top. I'll change out if there's some presentations that are really close or really far out there, but as some of the more experienced shooters I squad with say "chokes are a state of mind".
 
Maybe it's a gun fit issue, maybe it's you but definitely not a choke. If you can hit, you hit it with whatever choke. I personally am putting IM or Full choke on Sporting Clays and love to see them go to dust.

There is no right or wrong. Try your other gun and see if that one fits you better. You're saying you're hitting ducks with it, so should be fine on sporting clays also then. At least you know you're hitting something with it.
 
I agree with ss1980 there is no right or wrong. I use an improved modified when shooting trap. I switched to a full choke just to see and I could tell the difference on the longer shots. Using my pump action with full choke I had no problem hitting both targets on doubles as the second shot was fairly long and on singles I average about the same with either choke but prefer the full. Maybe find what you like and go with it.

You said you used it only once? Try it out a few more times as it could be a fit issue. My Mossberg 835 kicked my butt the first couple times and bruised my cheek bad, I bought shims and adjusted the comb and have loved it ever since. Good luck and keep shootin
 
I have an IC choke for my Browning Gold i could use for skeet or clays, but to be honest, I have only go sporting clays with it once and never skeet. They are both things I only do only very occasionally. As in not at all in 2012.

The Goldwas too long for me at first so I had a smaller recoil pad put on it, but in the field I find I am still missing lots of birds with it when I go duck or goose hunting, so I usually use my 870.

The 870 and the A5 fit me way better still.

Kind of disappointing because the Browning Gold is the nicest to shoot.
 
Wow interesting how people ramble on about every topic .!!! Yet not even addressing the guestion brought to the table a fairly straight ahead guestion What Choke to use for Sporting Clays?. Not singles not doubles not skeet not gun fit .
 
struff55 said:
Wow interesting how people ramble on about every topic .!!! Yet not even addressing the guestion brought to the table a fairly straight ahead guestion What Choke to use for Sporting Clays?. Not singles not doubles not skeet not gun fit .
Click to expand...

Yep that seems about the norm for CGN and other discussion threads in Canada.
 
While I don't claim any expertise at all in sporting, I don't think there is a single choke that is best for the game. For one thing the courses differ from range to range and from day to day. That being said, probably the more open chokes like IC or light modified are better if you are going to use only one choke, because the shots can often be quite close. In the various kinds of doubles, for example, the first shot is usually quite close and if you are quick you will pick up the second pretty fast. Personally, I have wanted to try light modified in my Beretta and maybe I'll get the chance this year.
 
If you don't know how your shotgun patterns with shotshell/cartridge combinations, there is no perfect choke! For the average shotgun, IC and LM will work on anything out there. I have seen some of the top shooters that use tighter chokes miss a close one and the HOA. Shooting pencils at a target that is close is not a good idea. Practice tight, shoot more open in competition.
 
hnachaj said:
If you don't know how your shotgun patterns with shotshell/cartridge combinations, there is no perfect choke! For the average shotgun, IC and LM will work on anything out there. I have seen some of the top shooters that use tighter chokes miss a close one and the HOA. Shooting pencils at a target that is close is not a good idea. Practice tight, shoot more open in competition.
Click to expand...

Yes, I wonder about patterning and feel it has to be consideration. Even at 35 or 40 yards the patterns in my guns are opening up so that there are open areas as large as a clay. It isn't that one can't break a bird at that range with modified or even more open chokes, but one wonders about consistency of breaks. When I walk around picking up birds at our range and see the unbroken ones with 2 or even 3 holes in them it becomes clear that one wants a good solid 3 or 4 pellets to hit the bird to be reasonably certain of breaking it. It isn't too much of a stretch to think of only getting one or two pellets on the bird at 35 or 40 yards using a modificed choke given the way my guns pattern with modified, let alone IC or skeet, even with a good shot. I know people have gone around the block on this and that it isn't a simple discussion, but the name of most clay games is consistency of breaks as far as I can see. A few other things that matter here I'm sure are what part of the bird is hit, velocity of load, size of shot, e.g. 8 vs 7 1/2, and size of payload 7/8, 1 or 1 1/8 oz. The patterns my guns give further out clearly have fewer holes with 1 1/8 oz of shot. None of this stops me from using 7/8 oz or 1 oz, of course, but then I'm not shooting in serious competitions or at live birds, except for the occasional chicken.
 
I use improved cylinder top and bottom in my 682, same choke in my 11-87 and 28 ga 1100. I do not bother to take the others with me when I go to a shoot. I'll use #9 shot for close targets and 7 1/2 for long shots. Works for me, and if you talk to experienced sporting shots, likely they will tell you the same thing, improved cylinder.
I learned the hard way, when I started sporting clay shooting I would watch the bird and panic that I had the wrong choke in, scramble my brains and miss every shot.
I had to smile at the gent who admitted he had no experience of shooting clays pontificate about all the different choke you have to drag around with you. It ain't so!
 
In my auto I generaly use an IC choke for 90% of the targets thrown here in Manitoba. I would go to a light mod if the the targets are further out. In my 682 I generaly will have a IC an light mod in the barrels. I would suggest shooting your gun on pattern board to see if your gun shoots where you are aiming.
Harv
 
Harv's advice is good. Pattern your gun with different chokes. Otherwise you will not have a clue what's happening. I use flip chart paper with 1" squares and staple them to a board and I shot using every choke I had at 25 yards and the IC patterned best in my 682 and 11-87. I use Federal Top Gun shells in the 12 gauges and Winchester AAs in my 28 ga 1100. I reload my 28s but not the 12 ga shells
 
i use a fabarm sdass nickel 20in barrel....whatever the barrel is, is what i use.. skeet, trap and 5 stand... 15/25 clays... lol
 
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