Could someone explain "choke" to me?

V

V4Vendetta

New member
I'm getting a Maverick 88 Security model at the end of the month. I looked at the official Maverick website* & it says the gun has "Cylinder Bore fixed choke and a non-ported barrel". What is that?

I looked at the official Mossberg site** & it said on the FAQ page, that
Can I shoot slugs or buckshot through a "smoothbore" field barrel with Accu-Choke™ tubes? (500/505/535/9200/88/930 models)

Yes, and with sabots or rifled slugs, the more "open" the choke tube, the better the accuracy ("Improved Cylinder" recommended.) The "full" or "modified" choke tubes are preferred for buckshot loads. Slugs, buckshot and steel shot loads are not recommended for use with an extra full "turkey tube" installed, due to the tube's tight constriction. Do not fire any load without a choke tube installed, doing so will damage the internal choke tube threads.
Click to expand...

I looked down further on the page & it says "All Maverick 88 choke tubes are fully interchangeable with Mossberg Accu-Choke tubes". Does that mean that I have to buy another barrell to fire different types of shells? I'm so confused.:eek: :confused:

And how do you install "choke"?

*http://www.maverickarms.com/pages/88security.htm

**http://www.mossberg.com/content.asp?ID=508&section=resources
 
A choke is simple a way to control the spread of shot. If you are shooting at things close, you generally want more spread or a more "open" choke. If you are shooting at things far, you want a "tighter" choke.

The choke itself is simply a constriction in diameter of the barrel. A Cylinder choke is a wide open choke and has not constriction. Max Effective range for the shot pattern might be 25 yards. A very tight choke like a full choke might give you a max effective range of about 50 yards.

In the old days, your barrels came with fixed chokes. So if you wanted a different choke, you put on a different barrel. Now many guns come with replaceable chokes so you can change them easily. You can screw them in and out of the end of the barrel using a choke wrench.

Also realize that the choke with perform differently with differing types of shot. So a particular choke might act as a Modified choke with lead shot but as a Full choke with steel shot.

So based on your opening information, it sounds like your shotgun will have a barrel with a fixed choke. So the only way to change the choke is to replace the barrel or take it to a gunsmith. If you are using it for home security, the fixed choke might be fine. If you want a more flexible solution, you probably want to look at getting a barrel that has removeable chokes. Given the general setup of the gun, you are not likely to be going goose hunting with your full choke and 18.5" barrel.

Unless you are committed to the gun, I would encourage you to look at the Mossberg 500 or 590 for a personal defense gun. Both have very good reputations. Might want to consider a Remington 870 as well. I am not so sure about the Maverick.
 
So since the choke on the 88 Security model is fixed, I can shoot any type of shells with it but just get different results for different types?:confused:
 
Yes, but that is always the case. For shotguns, you always want to pattern your gun so you know how it is shooting. Some will pattern well and some will not. It depends on the specific gun and ammo combination.

Your particular gun might shoot fairly tight with one type of ammo and more open with another. It is not uncommon to find one type of ammo patterns twice as large as another type.

One type of ammo may give more uniform patterns than others. For example, often cheaper buckshot will have a pellet or two that are fliers and away from the main pattern. More expensive buckshot will generally pattern more predictably. You have to try it.

What do you plan to use the gun for? Home defense? Anything else?
 
Given that your primary purpose is HD, the shotgun is set up reasonably well for that. Although it does not have removeable chokes, that is probably not much of an issue since you would probably setup your HD shotgun and leave the choke alone anyway.

Plus, you can easily spend more in removeable chokes than you are spending for the gun.

Now had you said you probably also want to go bird hunting with it, I would recommend that you look at getting a second barrel on the order of 26"-30", depending on the type of hunting. Certainly that second barrel would provide more flexibility with removeable chokes.
 
Actually, I said that I'm not a hunter. I don't even know how to clean game with the exception of fish so I'd just be killing the game for no reason & I view that as wrong.
 
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