Clays using Full Choke! Good THREAD

A

andrewd523

New member
I shoot clays using a modified choke. This may be a dumb question, but when using a full choke, does the clay "disappear" or "POOF"? It "Shatters" when I use my modified choke, but I have seen guys shoot before and the clay pigeon disappears in a plume of white smoke. I have shot clays right on before, and they only shatter, never disappear. Let me know your experiences, and are remington chokes good for 870's, or do you recommend something else? Thank you in advance.
 
What you are seeing is the result of a concentration of shot hitting the bird, or powdering it. You should be able to do this with a modified choke, but it is possible that your pattern is opening up. For score, all you need to do is have one chip off the bird. The modified choke will allow the pattern to open, giving you a better chance of getting a score, but if it opens too much, the bird can fly through the pattern untouched.
Remington chokes are fine. The trick, no matter what brand, is to find one htat works well for you. I like the full chokes best. If I'm on, the bird breaks, and I can use the full at all distances. If you want a compromise choke, go with improved modified. It is tighter than modified and more open than full. It is good from 16 yards to 24 yards, maybe more.
 
Thank you for the advice, but I am not looking to just get a "chip" off a bird. I want to powder the thing, and the only way to do that is getting a full choke?
 
I shoot alot of clays at my local club here...

I used my mod choke and it does fine.. I have "smoked" clays with that on several occasions...you need to ensure that your swing is consistant with your target.. ie just infront etc...

try giving yourself a bit more lead or less ... try both methods and see what results you achieve.

I have also tried using full choke on clays.. and can say that on the towers.. ie very high flyers.. they are extremely difficult to hit.... i usually only clip them.. and even on the rabbit traps its very difficult.... usually the only plumb of smoke i achieve is watching the earth move.. lol

just keep up the practice and see what you get... best thing is to try with teal's they are the most easiest to hit and once they arch fire... that will usually give you a nice smoke.....

finally get someone who knows you well to check your eye sight with the gun. have the gun UNLOADED (obvious I know) but safety first! and aim at a point.. the other person is to stand infront of you... and see if your off centre or not.... If UNSURE how to do this.. ask a clay expert near you... you may need special shooting glasses to blank out a eye... as you might be leaning towards one side or not....

hope this helps.. and sorry if it sounds like I am accusing you of being a novice.. but figured that all information is better than none!
 
If your dead on with your aim a MOD choke will smoke a lot of targets at skeet type ranges. If your not smoking many then your aim is not dead on.

Remember that the center of the pattern has the highest density of pellets so you generally get a break if the bird is in the pattern and smoke if it is dead center. A FULL choke just increases the distance at which the center of the pattern has a high density of pellets and as a result the distance at which you can smoke them.

A FULL choke also makes the pattern smaller at a given range, increasing the chance of a miss if your not right on target. So until you smoke a fair number of targets with your MOD, moving up to FULL choke will probably increase the number of misses without increasing the number of targets you smoke.

Think of FULL as being more binary, 0 or 1, either you CRUSH the target or miss it completely.

Jeff
 
A thing people forget is a shotgun pattern is not in 2D (height&width), it's 3D (height,width and length). There is the "heart" of the pattern and an edge all around it. It is easy to see this "edge" side to side when you pattern a load. What you do not see is your pattern also has this "edge" front to back. Guys who smoke clays do not need to use a tighter choke, they just get a full pattern hit. Most clays are broken by only a small % of the total shot. We are either ahead or behind the target in lead and early or late in our timing on firing the shot. Both lead to scoring birds with hits from the "edges" of the pattern. In skeet, if you have the correct lead and are on time you will powder birds with a skeet choke.
 
Thank you so much for your replies, sounds like I just need more practice. (OUCH). But thats alright, I have been shooting so much recently, and it sounds like I just need more practice. A coach told me something a long time ago. PRACTICE DOESN'T MAKE PERFECT, IT MAKES PERMANENT. PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. This sure does apply to shooting, and it sounds like I need to make sure my form is perfect as well.
 
I use a full choke and I dont have many problems with it. I like to shoot them a little farther than most. All of my buddies use mod chokes and we can all dust them, just not all the time.
 
Some good advice here. Let me add a bit....

New trapshooters often find they can break birds nicely with even open chokes like IC. Still, many folks like me prefer to use more choke than needed. The reason, it teaches us to get on the bird tighter.

And, a slightly off hit with a full choke can reveal just where the hit was. If the big piece sails off to the left, the pellets hit on the right. Up, the pellets hit low and so on.

As for smokin' them, smoke indicates excess pattern density, which comes costing spread. One choke increment down from smoking is usually better score wise. Smoke is good for developing confidence.

Some of us will practice with tight chokes and compete with slightly more oen ones. You may want to try that yourself.

HTH....
 
I was shooting #7 or #8 target loads at a buddies house out of his Franchi 12guage and we "smoked" quite a few with a full choke. I got quite a few its pretty cool but i was getting them at closer ranges.
 
Dave, you actually confirmed my logic for this thread. If I practice with full chokes, will it make me more accurate? I think you answered this with yes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the logic is there. What brand choke should I look for in a full choke. I have an 870, is there any benefits to other brands, and also the cheapest place to buy them. Thanks
 
Aftermarket chokes for the Remington system are common, but oft costly. I've a Carlson's Light Full I use. Carlson's a quality company without the higher prices of Briley, etc.

However, Remchokes themselves aren't bad.

A Remington flush mount Full is less than $30. As with ALL choke tubes, pattern to establish performance and Point Of Impact.

I've gone through quite a few choke tubes in the last 20 years. About 2 out of 12 Remchokes had POIs much different than others in that barrel.

And yes, practicing with a tight choke helps one get better. You'll lose a few targets more starting out, but the curve steepens quickly...

HTH....
 
Thank you for the advice, but I am not looking to just get a "chip" off a bird. I want to powder the thing,
Click to expand...
The clouds of clay dust are very satisfying but I'd rather chip 100 than inkball 80.

In clay target shooting we count our breaks. We don't grade them. There's no style points for inkballing targets.
 
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