Choke tubes

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ljaycox

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My sister has taken up skeet shooting and I went with her last night to get her an O/U.
We picked out a nice 20ga. Savage Milano on sale that seems likely to take care of her needs.
I need to get her a set of skeet choke tubes for it.
I already ordered her some reduced recoil ammo, but I need some recomendations for a decent tube set for it.
The thread pattern is generally known as Verona LX.
Are there any clearly superior products to look at, and more importantly, anything to stay away from?
Thank You,
 
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Briley is considered by many to be the 800 pound gorilla when it comes to choke tubes - check with them. What chokes came with the gun?
 
Thanks for the feedback.
I found the Briley website and have one more question.
The gun came with three tubes: F, MOD, IMP.
I was going to get her two skeet chokes, but I see that they have two versions of skeet: a skeet 1 at .005" and a skeet 2; which would be better for a begining shooter using it for classic skeet?
Would a more advanced shooter use the skeet 2?
How would the IMP tube be for regular skeet?
Thanks for the help.
 
Cylinder

Go with cylinder chokes in both barrels (.000 restriction). My personal opinion is that many of the traditional choke restrictions are based on the time when shotgun shells had much less advanced wads. Current shotgun shell components tend to throw tighter patterns. I use cylinder chokes in both my semi auto and my over under for skeet. Good luck!

PS - Briley chokes have a great reputation. Also, take a look at trulock chokes (about $42 each)
 
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Standard American skeet constrictions of .005 in 12 gauge will smoke any target on a skeet field - max distance is 21 yards - while #9's are the standard, I prefer something a little bigger, so I use 8's or 8-1/2's......
 
Quite honestly, a shooter new to skeet won't notice the difference between IMC, Sk-1 and Sk-2. For now, just get her a pair of Sk-1s. She may never use anything else.

The more advanced shooter might use Sk-2 over Sk-1, if the conditions dictate. It takes a lot of experience to know the difference and when conditions require a slightly different choke.

It often comes back to the same question: Do you want a score of 99 hard hit targets, or a 100-straight with softer (wider pattern) hits. Since there are no style points in registered skeet, I've always preferred the latter and seldom change chokes in my comp skeet guns. Unlike sporting clays and trap, most skeet shooter don't change chokes once they get the gun and load working the way they want, especially the 12-ga. Usually any choke changes will be only slight and to fine tune the finicky little .410-bore.
 
I find a modified choke to be a great all-around choke for shooting clay.

I just bought an improved cylinder choke off choketubes.com. So far so good.

I was looking at Brileys but didnt feel like spending 70 bucks on a single choke.
 
Quote: "I find a modified choke to be a great all-around choke for shooting clay. "

Modified is an excellent choke for some clay bird shooting, i.e. 16 yd trap, but is WAY too much choke for skeet. You really need Improved Cylinder or Skeet choke (wider patterns) for skeet shooting where birds are broken at closer range.
 
Thanks to everyone for explaining this to me.
I think I will start her out with open chokes and let her ibnstructor give her guidance on where to go from there.
i ordered some low recoil loads for her--I don't want her to ahve recoil issues early--this may also be an argument for open choke--it does lessen recoil a little.
Again, thanks--this place is a gold mine of experience.
 
Quote: "Modified is an excellent choke for some clay bird shooting, i.e. 16 yd trap, but is WAY too much choke for skeet. You really need Improved Cylinder or Skeet choke (wider patterns) for skeet shooting where birds are broken at closer range. "

I dont really shoot skeet or trap so I wouldnt really know with that, sorry.

My friends and I just go to the range, bring our manual thrower, and just shoot informally. I can shoot any clay accurately whether its at 15yds or 40 yds with a modified. With that conclusion, I thought it would be a good all around.
 
"Any particular reason the 20 bore was chosen?"
She has a bum wrist from a horseback riding injury and I thought we should look at a sub-gage to get a lighter gun, but I did not want to cause recoil trouble for her by going too light in the gun without the ability to get a gun/ammo combination that created recoil problems for her; I have seen too many shooting problems caused by people being exposed to too much recoil at the begining of the learning cycle. We looked at 28 (I think an excellent choice as a gage) but ammo choices and availability seemed more restrictive than 20ga.
I then found that 20ga was available in reduced recoil versions that would approximate the 28 anyway; so we went with the more popular and available gage and figured we could use the reduced recoil ammo at first, then later if she wants to try standard target loads for some reason, they would be readily available. In shopping with her, I found I liked the feel of the 28 gage gun, even though the weight is the same as the 20ga. She liked the 20ga--go figure.
 
Life is so much easier these days. Before the proliferation of screw-in chokes, changing choke constriction was much costlier and involved machining. Back then, the gun maker offered several barrel length and choke combinations, and you selected from what was offered. Typically, the longer the barrel the tighter the choke. We've all heard of the grandfather's old goose gun with it long barrel and really tight choke, or the upland gun with it's short barrel and open choke. SxSx and O/Us were a little better, they offered two chokes. Typically the second barrel was tighter than the first. A double might be choked IMP/MOD or MOD/FULL. The double barreled goose getter could be the legendary FULL and FULL.

Many folks needed a middle of the road gun, so a medium length barrel and a MOD choke was the answer. It was the all purpose shotgun. The same is true today, if you can have only one choke, then MOD is the one to go, unless you have something specific in mind. For HD and slugs, CYL or IMCYL is probably best. If you're looking to shoot ducks and trap targets, then a full choke is your obvious choice.

JerseyDrez, there's nothing wrong with shooting everything with your MOD choke -- it's the all-purpose choke. However, if you find yourself specializing, then you'll want to evaluate your choke selection. Shooting skeet with a MOD choke can give great satisfaction when you vaporize targets; but, it's demoralizing when you totally miss the next one. All the while, the guy following you is getting them all with his SKT choke.

Yes, additional screw-in chokes can be costly; but, it's very little compared to the cost of having a fixed-choke gun changed. Before you balk at the cost of a new choke, or two, consider the comp skeet shooter with 2 or 3 chokes for each barrel, per pair, of 4 different gauges. You can easily invest in 2-dozen chokes! It's no wonder that Briley, and his brethren love skeet shooters.

Originally, Brileys were designed to be installed in comp guns with expensive thin-walled barrels. Obviously, the thinner the barrel the greater the chance of messing it up while installing screw-ins. Where others feared to tread, Briley was successful. If you've got a typical thicker barreled shotgun, you don't need to pay for Briley's precision. Get a generic choke (specific to your gun) at quarter to a third the price of a Briley (or other premium screw-in). If you decide to change to a high grade gun, then you'll want the Brileys.
 
Quote: "My friends and I just go to the range, bring our manual thrower, and just shoot informally. I can shoot any clay accurately whether its at 15yds or 40 yds with a modified. With that conclusion, I thought it would be a good all around. "

You are simulating Trap shooting but probably standing closer to the thrower than 16 yds. Thus you are mostly getting straight away or mild angling targets. Modified choke will work well for such shooting but this does not begin to simulate all angles, distances, and target speed found in varied clay target shooting games. For some of these games, such as skeet, other chokes can improve your scoring by providing shot patterns better suited for the specific situation.
 
"Any particular reason the 20 bore was chosen?"
She has a bum wrist from a horseback riding injury and I thought we should look at a sub-gage to get a lighter gun, but I did not want to cause recoil trouble for her by going too light in the gun without the ability to get a gun/ammo combination that created recoil problems for her; I have seen too many shooting problems caused by people being exposed to too much recoil at the begining of the learning cycle. We looked at 28 (I think an excellent choice as a gage) but ammo choices and availability seemed more restrictive than 20ga.
I then found that 20ga was available in reduced recoil versions that would approximate the 28 anyway; so we went with the more popular and available gage and figured we could use the reduced recoil ammo at first, then later if she wants to try standard target loads for some reason, they would be readily available. In shopping with her, I found I liked the feel of the 28 gage gun, even though the weight is the same as the 20ga. She liked the 20ga--go figure.
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You can also get 12 gauge light loads that almost approximate the 28 and give great patterns as well. If she is happy with the 20, than stick with it. I like my 20 more than my 12 - it feels more lithe in my hands and easier to move quickly on the 5-stand and sporting targets. That said, it IS hard to beat the 12 for capability on the more difficult sporting targets.

If you reload, than a 28 makes great sense, as you can get a 28 on a 20 frame to help tame recoil and reloading cuts costs tremendously. You can also load a 28 down to almost 410 levels from a recoil perspective.
 
Briley choke tubes are great. I use them in my Browning Citori.
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Ditto on both. can't beat them (this is the combo i use for trap and clays).

if you ever decided to shoot skeet, then get a pattern master choke (pricey but worth it). the guys I shoot with won't let me bring my 835 with it anymore (30" barrel and then add the the pattern master choke and it lets me knock em down with ease)
 
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