Best Choke for your shotgun for CAS

S

Sundance

New member
What is the best choke for your shotgun for cowboy action shooting, and why?

The reason I am asking is this:

The Stoeger Coach Gun has been around for quite awhile...probably longer than CAS has been around or at least longer than CAS has been really popular. It is choked Modified/Improved Cylinder.

The EAA/Bakail Bounty Hunter II is a rather new creation that came about after CAS was popular and it was created with CAS in mind. It is choked Cylinder/Cylinder.

Does this mean that Cylinder/Cylinder is a better choke combination on a double barrel intended for CAS than Modified/Improved Cylinder?

Also, it would seem that in the old west, if a lawman or outlaw was going to choose a short barreled shotgun for serious work, he probably didn't order him a short barreled shotgun from the factory. He probably took one of his old long barreled hunting guns off the rack or picked out a long barreled shotgun at the local merchantile and wacked off the barrels himself or had the local gunsmith (if he was lucky enough to find one) do it for him. When you cut off the barrels more than a few inches on a shotgun, you are effectively back to cylinder choke anyway, right?

I was thinking, would an individual be better off buying a Stoeger Coach Gun with 20" barrels choked Mod/IC, or buying a Stoeger Uplander and having the barrels wacked to 20" or even 18 1/2" and leaving them Cylinder/Cylinder? These two guns are almost identically priced and the cost of the barrel hack job would be insignificant at your local smith.

Anyway, this is just a thought...what do you think?
 
I'd say cylinder bore is perfectly fine for CAS. The only exception is when those knockdowns are at the 15 yd. and beyond range (rare). Then, a little choke will go a long way (literally). As to whether one choke is better than the other, I don't think it makes much difference.
 
At CAS ranges choke doesn't matter too much. Cylinder is probably the best because it gives you a nice wide shot pattern so hitting is easier. I wouldn't go sawing up perfectly good guns because the have chokes though. Ideally you might want to go looking for a gun that accepts choke tubes and get the best of both worlds when you need it.
 
The idea would not be that you were just sawing up a perfectly good gun. The idea would be that sawing it off might make it a better gun for its intended purpose by changing the choke. Whether this is true or not is what I am trying to find out. And of course screw in chokes can be added to any gun, but I just can't stomach screw in chokes on a 19th century cowboy gun.

I appreciate the replies...keep 'em coming.
 
My scattergun is still 27" in the barrels, but it doesn't have much choke. Rather than saw the barrels off and screw up the looks of a nice old gun, I had the chokes reduced to .005" constriction. That is about Skeet and works just fine on all targets. It is light enough to swing plenty fast.

Talk about choke tubes, the worst gamer I know carries a double barrel that he brags has more choke work in it than the gun cost in the first place. Overbore, long forcing cones, screw choke tubes, polished chambers, you name it, it's there. He keeps *rifled* tubes in it to scatter the shot when all he has to do is spatter a plate, but has the full assortment on hand if he has to sock a knockdown, blow a hole in a cardboard screen, cut a board in two, or break a clay pigeon at whatever range. He also carries along a pump gun in case he has to shoot through a narrow port; it's easier to reload. Phooey.

Uncle Jim
SASS 3879
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top