Can somebody here tell me about choke differences?

Y

yankytrash

New member
Just got a decent deal on an 870 EM I couldn't pass up. It has a screw-in choke.

My other 870, a Wingmaster, which I've had all my life, doesn't have screw-in chokes. We've always called it the "bird barrel", because the pattern with a typical dove load covers half the countryside.

Right now, my newer 870 has a modified choke screwed in it.

Can somebody please give me a list of some sort on what chokes are used for which loads/applications?

My search here only told me that I can't run slugs through anything tighter than a modified, whatever that may be.
 
I found my answer here:
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/ShotGun/INFO/AllOutdoors/choke_tubes_r.html

I got a chuckle at Joel's statement:
MOST TURKEY HUNTERS seem dedicated to getting a shot pattern as close to a slug as they can which is fine...assuming they can hit what they're shooting at. If your favorite turkey gun has a wayward barrel and you're shooting a fist-sized shot pattern at birds, about the best you can hope for is that you'll scare a bird to death.
Click to expand...
I guess the best way to find my chokes is to buy'm and try'm.

Back to the gunstore... WOOOHOOOOO!!!!!:D ;)
 
Joel knows his stuff, and is one of my favorites in the hook and bullet press.

For versatility,try buying Improved Cylinder and Full Tubes for your newer 870. IC will work fine for quail, and waterhole dove. IC or Modified will do for Pheasant, and Full for Turkey. For steel shot, stick with Modified, but you may want to pattern that load with the IC tube, just for grins.

For better patterns and results with your older 870, try a trap load of 7 1/2s. IME, going to a high quality trap load instead of a cheapo is like taking the choke one increment tighter, and vice versa.

Also, unless that bbl's been shortened, whatever choke is stamped onto the bbl should apply. If in doubt,have a smith measure bore and choke.

And, check the archives, we'd chewed this a few times....

HTH...
 
Chokes

Some time spent at a patterning board will well worth the time and effort.

For some weird reason, sometimes different loads will be better
(or worse) than others and sometimes choke threads get installed out-of-line with the bore --- Remington, reportedly, has had a rash of these recently. You'll be very fortunate if your POI
is vertically aligned with your POA and hopefully a tad high.

Remember that the aledged constriction (e.g. 0.020 for Modified
in a 12 ga. ) that determines the choke , its the % of shot that's
in a 30" circle at 40 yds.

Your mileage may differ, Charlie
 
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