Your experiences with aftermarket shotgun chokes?

Slaymoar

Slaymoar

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I'm looking into getting a choke for midrange upland, invector plus. There are so many brands out there, with different technologies etc.. I was looking at the wad stripping types and wondering if they would work well for grouse / pheasant.

But of course any type of choke experience / comparison is good here.

Thanks
 
I have used Briley, Browning Sporting, and Carlson's Sporting... for the money and good performance, I now choose Carlson's Extended Sporting tubes in most cases.
 
It depends on what the aftermarket choke is replacing and the results on the patterning board. There is often more variation among pattern caused by shell maker, shot velocity, size and hardness than what name is stamped on the choke. I've had good experiences with Teague and Briley but some factory chokes are just as good particularly Beretta Optima and Optima HP.

Extended chokes to replace flush chokes in a target gun make sense because they are easier to remove and provide some protection to the muzzle. Often aftermarket chokes will be available in constrictions other than offered by the factory (e.g. light modified.)

Wad stripping, ported chokes etc. are ridiculous. Breaching chokes might be useful if you forget the keys to the skeet house and need to blow the hinges off. ;)
 
I'd like to see a technical study that evaluates various chokes from different manufactures professionally with the same ammo.

I have a funny feeling the difference between the best and worst brands would be hard to spot.

But hey... having thrown that out there I'd like to be proven wrong.
 
I've measured (with a Baker bore mic) and patterned a s##t load ... , Briley, Teague, Carlson, Rhino, Pattern Master, Seminole, Muller ( & probably a few others ) in Browning Invector & Invector Plus and Beretta Mobile & Optima. As Claybuster has already confirmed, there is a pretty wide variation in what's marked on the choke, what it's actual dimensions and constrictions are and how it patterns on the pattern board with various manufacturers ammo and various loads as well as shot sizes from otherwise identical loads.

Almost all aftermarket chokes are well made ... can't say I've had any problems with any of them, including some of the ported versions.... although they are a bit of a pain to clean.

I've sold or traded all aftermarket chokes I've owned and now stick with OEM, and as far as Beretta is concerned, I can find no meaningful difference between Mobil or Optima and/or between flush mounted and extended. Same for Browning invector/Invector Plus.

Tom Roster has probably shot & analyzed more patterns than anyone during his work for CONCEP and a few of the ammo manufacturers.... as well as providing fodder for his seminars & writing. You may not notice, but he usually falls back to tried and trued standard Beretta Mobil & Remington OEM chokes for a lot of his comparative testing. Hmmmm !

Just read the hype from any aftermarket choke maker ... their's are the best ! ... but very few will guarantee how they will shoot with your favourite load in your gun.

Get out to the pattern board and shoot at least 3 ( 5's better ) of each load/choke combination you are playing with at the specific range you think you will be shooting at.
For "midrange upland" I'd be very surprised if you couldn't find a good choke/load combination for 30 yards with your standard OEM Invector Plus chokes ... and I'd be surprised too if it didn't come out of one marked Imp.Cyl. or Lt.Mod.
 
Thank you for your answers. I'm guessing the chokes that came with my Win SXP are plenty good for my upland stuff.. although I wouldn't mind getting an extended choke to protect the muzzle as I have already made a small ding there.
 
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