What choke should I use with buckshot?

Furync

Furync

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Heyas,

I'm considering using my 870 with buckshot for the opening week-end on deer this fall. We do drives and the "young legs" here is always suckered into dogging... that's alright though because I enjoy it :)

When I see a deer I'm usually on top of it or it's trying to run me over or something. I rarely see deer past the 40 yard range when dogging. Heck, I rarely SEE past 40 yards while dogging...

So what choke tube works best with buckshot? I have IC, Mod and Full. Full is capable of steel shot so I'm guessing it could handle buckshot? Should I buy a turkey choke or is that just plain crazy?

Also, till what range is buckshot effective? What about knockdown power?

All advice, comments, remarks, wisdom, anything is welcome.
Thanks!
 
I don't know much about hunting deer with buckshot. I do know that hundreds of thousands of shotguns were purchased by the U.S., Canadian, and other allied militaries for use during the various wars. Buckshot was the round used in over 95% of the cases.

All of the shotguns ordered by the various military units were cylinder bore for use with buckshot.

Granted, they had a different purpose. The idea was to injure or kill the enemy - not to produce a clean kill and minimize damage to the meat. More of a guess on my part than anything else, but I suspect the more open the choke, the better.

Buckshot will certainly bring down a deer. Unimpeded by leaves or branches, it's effective out to 50 yards, easy.
 
You best bet would be to carefully pattern your gun with different loads to determine best performance. Going to take a bit of ammunition and time, but then you would know exactly what to expect.
I was really impressed with the performance of my Browning Auto-5 Magnum full choke with Winchester 3" single 0 loads; honest 50 yard gun, based on number of pellets in a 12" circle.
But buckshot performance can be unpredictable, that's why testing is necessary.
 
Why not go with a slug? Something with a diameter of .725 or so versus 9 little pellets each with the stopping power of a smallbore muzzleloader and similar possibly less (deforming while passin through choke) penetration. If you have to use Buck stick to less than 30 yards and become intimate with your load and choke choice.
 
A full or mod choked duck gun will flatten running deer at 40 + yards and is easier to hit with than a slug.I've shot more deer pushing to others by taking my time and gliding from opening to opening making sure you position yourself for a shot after clearing each obsticle.Slow and methodical..I prefered #1 buck as it is .30 cal and you got more pellets but SSG nuked e'm too..Harold
 
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