New owner, Choke question

Lots pf us that started shotgunning before the common availability of choke tubes(Note the first US patent issued for same was in the 1860s) learned to change loads for different shot opps.

Out of tightly choked repeaters like we all had then, cheap 8s worked for quail, hard 7 1/2s for longer shots there and dove,even the first shot on ringnecks over dogs. Squirrels, pheasants and rabbits got 4s,5s, or 6s, ducks got 4s and geese 2s. Most of us bought ammo one box at a time then, so we always had plenty of variety. Those who reloaded oft tailored ammo for a mission and barrel.

Choke tubes have changed that, though I note that I can still do a decent job with an 870 and a fixed choke.
 
Cheap, hurts like oh my golly, but only for fun shootin, I still take my birds with a Bow and Arrow.
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Koolminx - you da man! LOL, maybe I'm moving in your direction, though I can't shoot a bow worth snot. Over time, I've moved from an autoloader, to a pump, to a SxS, and have lately been bird hunting with a single-shot which is only one step up from a bow and arrow, I guess. I do carry an extra shell in my off-hand fingers but it only makes me look like I know what I'm doing. I'll get faster in time. I figure if I get the bird, good day for me. If I don't, good day for the bird.

I've watched guys bird hunting with bow and arrow and they seem to have more fun than is legal in most states. It's the only time I see people giggling and high-fiving over an "almost" hit.
 
Lance, I am one of those few...
I have owned one gun with tube threads... it came with a mod and it left with a mod and I never bought a tube for it...
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I'm sorry that you don't understand how choke can be such an extremely useful tool in hunting situations.

Just switching between lead and steel when going from upland to waterfowl hunting requires a much different choke in order to get a similar pattern.

I can remember as a young teenager reading Jack O'Connor's famous Outdoor Life book on shooting, and the section he had in it all about how chokes work. Heck, my first shotgun was a Browning Auto-5, and I had to swap out the entire barrel in order to change the choke on it!!

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...most sporting targets are best shot with a IC or M choke, so why NOT have fixed chokes - less worry about blow-by, no need to figure out chokes in .005 increments....instead you focus on the target.....if you're on the bird, you're on the bird......
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You are over simplifying things here greatly. This all depends on the individual course that you are shooting at. I mainly shoot sporting clays with LM, which is a choke I've never even seen offered in a fixed choke shotgun. We typically do have a couple of real close targets, and a couple of distant ones too. Although our local operator is constantly changing the course. In any event, I only change chokes for those stations that are at the extremes.

If a person is so weak-minded that changing a choke tube between stations is going to ruin their concentration while on the course, well, then they have much bigger problems affecting their shooting that they clearly need to address.

Changing shot size has no significant effect on your pattern. 7 1/2 is more effective at longer ranges because the pellets retain more energy at those ranges than 8's do. 8's are not as reliable in breaking birds at long range.

That is the reason for varying your shot size.

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I will never be loading non-lead ammo:D I am strictly a meat hunter to aquire meat for less cash than it can be bought for:o.
Brent
 
For sporting AND FITASC, I'd go LM/IM. For sporting only, I'd go IC/M or IC/IM - all assuming I did have a selectable trigger.
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Dude, you are also assuming here that you are shooting an over/under. Some of us prefer to shoot semiauto shotguns.

You are making too many assumptions, and over simplifying issues in this matter.

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I will never be loading non-lead ammo I am strictly a meat hunter to aquire meat for less cash than it can be bought for.
Brent
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In that case, I feel even greater pity for you Brent.

For you will never know the excitement and utter joy of waterfowl hunting that I and so many other shotgun hunters have.

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For sporting AND FITASC, I'd go LM/IM. For sporting only, I'd go IC/M or IC/IM - all assuming I did have a selectable trigger.
Dude, you are also assuming here that you are shooting an over/under. Some of us prefer to shoot semiauto shotguns.

You are making too many assumptions, and over simplifying issues in this matter.
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NO, I said for ME, i.e. personally. I also have a semi, but I prefer my O/U or a well-fitted SxS - Some of us perfer to shoot doubles.......

But oif the folks I know who shoot a semi, 95% stick a LM in the pipe and forget about it
 
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I will never be loading non-lead ammo I am strictly a meat hunter to aquire meat for less cash than it can be bought for.
Brent
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There may come a time when you won't have a choice.......hopefully everyone here is an NRA member - they look out for hunter's rights too
 
LIke I've said - I'm a choke changer - on an O/U or a semi-auto it doesn't matter. In a Semi-Auto I will primarily shoot an IC but ....

one thing to remember - is you can't take a choke for its face value / you have to measure the bore vs the choke restriction / and while I may use the same set of chokes in 4 or 5 guns .... the bores may be a little different / so the effect of the choke I select is a little different.

I would suggest you take your gun and chokes to the pattern board / and test them after you measure them - and if you can't measure them, then test fire them and evaluate them and see what you get for a pattern - and test them with some new shells / and test them with your primary reloads - and see how they look ......
 
I have guns with chokes - most of my shotguns came that way. Rarely do I change them, depending on the course. I have shot the three closest to me enough that I know one takes IC/IC, another takes SK/IC, and the third takes IC/LM or IC/M. In each case for about 90% of the targets. (There's always one or two stations where more open or tighter MIGHT be a little more beneficial)

That said, IF I was going to order a gun, then it would be for a particular purpose. Whatever that purpose was, would determine what fixed chokes I would specify.......now if I could just hit the Powerball.....:D
 
OK, here's the thing...
I've watched guys bird hunting with bow and arrow and they seem to have more fun than is legal in most states. It's the only time I see people giggling and high-fiving over an "almost" hit.
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It's simply the best feeling ever when you miss by centimeters or even inches... But it's better when you bag 3 Pheasants and your buddy with his $500 dollar Mossberg semi-auto only get's one! :D


About my Pardner... It was made in 1989 I believe.. Checking the barrel now...

No threads..... BUT!~

It's a New England Firearms gun, model is PARDNER SBI (or SDI-I forget...) 12. Gau. 3" Mod.

Does that mean that my barrel tip is SMALLER that the beginning of the Barrel in the breach? Is the Neckdown/Choke Built into the gun?


koolminx
 
Sounds like you have a modified choke (constriction) so yes, the muzzle area is smaller than the rest of the bore. You have a decent "all around" gun that many of us would have no problem using from Dove to Deer and everything in between.
Brent
 
If there is no removable choke, and it is not a plain cylinder bore, then yes, your gun's choke is part of the barrel - "built-in" so to speak.. While you could mic it to determine true constriction, calling NEF is probably faster and easier
 
NEF was purchased by someone in the 1990's and they're hard to get a hold of...

Shooting slugs through a smooth bore choked 12 gauge is ok? I got a box I was going to shoot golf balls with...
 
Yes a no sabot slug through a smooth bore shot gun up to and including *full* is safe and fine. Your MOD. may be ideal actually.
Brent
 
What is a NO SABOT SLUG? Or did I read that incorrectly?

This gun is FUN and gorgeous to boot, here's a pic of my Pops holding it for me!

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It's HARD on the shoulder! I can shoot 100 rounds through a mossberg 12 gauge pump to 20 rounds of the Pardner.... :(
 
What is the difference and which is better for what purpose?

Grooved slug in non grooved barrel? (There are shotguns out there with grooved barrels right?)
 
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