00. buckshot ??

M

mtn. man

New member
Hello folks
Long time lurker here and enjoy all the good info.
I have a question for you. I recently bought a used Win. 1200 that has screw in chokes.
Is it ok to shoot oo. buckshot in this gun with mod. or full choke.
My interest has mostly been in rifles and handguns
but i got this one cheap. And after a good cleaning it looks so nice its gotta be a keeper.
 
Whatever ammo you use , you have to pattern the load. That means picking the right choke for the ammo to get the desired pattern. Normally a more open choke is used for buckshot .
 
Shoot Away...a shotgun is designed to fire shot (pellets)...the choke is at the end of the barrel to constrict the shot as it leaves the barrel...the tighter the choke the more pellets in a given area and the lesser degree of choke of course means fewer pellets in that same area...I shoot buck with an extra full screw-in choke tube and it works fine...but keep in mind that the purpose is foremost to the choice of choke...although I prefer a smaller buckshot to OO for home defense, usually a #2 or #4...it gives you between two and three times more pellets to hit with and still be large enough to do sever damage at the ranges usually encountered in a house...with that in mind, try out your gun at 5 yds/15 ft (corner to corner in a bedroom) and see the pattern that is made by the shot from the different chokes and you find that the spread isn't that great between them...at 10 yds/30 ft (length of a hallway) you start to see a difference with more space between pellets...beyond that, well...
 
Realize you pattern can very tremendously based on the brand of 00 buck you select. Some pattern extremely well while others just pattern.
 
Shoot Away...a shotgun is designed to fire shot (pellets)...the choke is at the end
Click to expand...

Ted Yost at Gunsite Training Center says that a steady diet of slugs and buckshot usually results in the screw- in choke device going down range with the shot charge, at some point. Advice is often well intentioned, but not always correct. If I were going to risk stripping the choke threads on my barrel, I'd use the most open choke tube I could get. Better yet, get a shorter barrel choked Cyl. or IC.
 
Thanks guys thats food for thought my main concern was damage to the barrel or choke. I've seen a few busted barrels and would'nt want to be anywhere near when it happened.
The only other shotgun i own is an old Rem mdl 31 great gun but it has a skeet barrel with a very open choke.
I was hopeing to get a little more range with the 00. Sounds like a little smaller shot with a full choke might be better. I live in a very rural area and use the buckshot for nite time critter control.
 
You shoot slugs either from a slug barrel or from a very open choke (especially if you're using a sabot round).
 
buckshot chokes:

Try your full choke (.690 exit diameter) with Federal Premium 00 buckshot.
The new Flite-Control wad Premium loads will hold incredibly tight patterns.
The entire charge usually impacts in a 6-8 inch pattern at 25 yards and a 15-20 inch pattern at 40 yards. I am a Deep South deer hunter who has personally dropped deer in their tracks many times out to 40 yards. Yes, just like turkey hunters, I shoot for the head and neck region.
 
With slugs ar buck shot use the improved cylinder choke. That should give you good results without over stressing / constricting the barrel. Better still would be to shorten the barrel to remove the choke as long as you still have 18" of barrel or replace the barrel with a 18" improved cylinder barrel. Good luck.
 
It is possible to overchoke buckshot, leading to deformed pellets and thus wider patterns- I'd be careful with anything tighter than Modified. I have gotten good patterns with some loads through a MOD choke tube, and good slug groups too, but a MOD tube has been too tight for some other buckshot loads I have tried. I've shot a pretty good bit of slugs and buckshot through MOD tubes over the past several 8 or 9 years and haven't blown one out yet. I use choke tube lube when installing choke tubes to help support them in place and avoid freezing/sticking. Only way to know is to try different loads/chokes and see what works best to produce the results you want.

One of the most consistent things I have seen to improve buckshot patterns across the board is to have the forcing cone extended...

lpl/nc
 
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