Problem with Choate extension on Winchester 1200

H

HogManMagnum

New member
I ordered a Choate 7 round tube extension for my 18" Winchester 1200 from Midway. The kit comes with the extended tube, longer spring, bright orange follower and clamp/swivel. Problem is that using the orange Choate follower doesn't allow enough space for the 7th round to fit in the mag tube. The tube would have to be almost an inch longer to accommodate the orange follower and all 7 shells.

I considered cutting the Choate follower down but figured I'd wait and see before I made any permanent modifications. I just used the original black Winchester follower and all 7 shells fit perfectly. So I'm wondering what you guys recommend, call Midway (or Choate) and see what they suggest, cut down the orange follower, or just continue using the factory follower? It's not really that big an issue but I'm curious to what everybody thinks, plus I'm interested in finding out if anyone else has has a similar problem with this product.

I guess I'm the oddball here with a Winchester and not the infinitely more popular Mossbergs or 870s...
 
On an 18" barrel the magazine extension capacity is SIX rounds, not seven.
Where the seven rounds comes in is a gun with six in the magazine and one in the chamber.

If you try to force in a seventh round you're over compressing the magazine spring
The longer "tail" on the Choate follower is to prevent over-compressing the magazine spring and causing a jam.
If you use the old follower or cut off the Choate follower, you'll be over-compressing the spring.

Again, the magazine will hold SIX rounds.
 
On an 18" barrel the magazine extension capacity is SIX rounds, not seven.
Where the seven rounds comes in is a gun with six in the magazine and one in the chamber.
Click to expand...

Really? Well, if that's the case then please explain to me why damn near every single mag extension for a 18" shotgun says it increases capacity by 2 rounds, including the one I bought?

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=462063

Since when does advertised magazine capacity, either handgun or long gun, ever count the round in the chamber?
 
please explain to me why damn near every single mag extension for a 18" shotgun says it increases capacity by 2 rounds
Click to expand...

Because that is what it does. For example, the capacity of my 7 shot 870 Security model is 5 (4 in the mag and 1 in the chamber) unless the 2 round magazine extension is installed. Then it is a 7 shot model (6 in the magazine and 1 in the chamber).

Since when does advertised magazine capacity, either handgun or long gun, ever count the round in the chamber?
Click to expand...

They are advertising the capacity of the weapon; not the magazine.
 
Last edited:
Quote:
please explain to me why damn near every single mag extension for a 18" shotgun says it increases capacity by 2 rounds
Because that is what it does. For example, the capacity of my 7 shot 870 Security model is 5 (4 in the mag and 1 in the chamber) unless the 2 round magazine extension is installed. Then it is a 7 shot model (6 in the magazine and 1 in the chamber).
Click to expand...

Ok, lets take this from the top. My Winchester 1200 takes 5 in the mag and 1 in the chamber. That's 6 total. With an extended magazine tube, which states it will increase my capacity by 2 rounds, my total capacity should be 8, with 7 in the mag and 1 in the chamber. (6+2=8)

The Choate mag extension I bought states that it will add two rounds to my capacity, and as is it is only adding one round. If a product made specifically for my model shotgun says it increases capacity by 2 rounds than why am I only getting 1 extra round of total capacity?
 
The Choate mag extension I bought states that it will add two rounds to my capacity, and as is it is only adding one round. If a product made specifically for my model shotgun says it increases capacity by 2 rounds than why am I only getting 1 extra round of total capacity?
Click to expand...

Problem is that using the orange Choate follower doesn't allow enough space for the 7th round to fit in the mag tube. The tube would have to be almost an inch longer to accommodate the orange follower and all 7 shells.
Click to expand...

I don't know. I do know that in your first post you complained that you could not fit 7 shells into the magazine and to do so it would have to be an inch longer. Sounds as though you can get 6 in the tube with the estebsion and, if so, you have a 7 round gun. If you still think it should take another round in the chamber, call Choate as someone already suggested.
 
There is a bit of confusion here. Most shotguns are either 4+1 as is the case for the Remington 870 and then the Mossberg 500 having 5+1 capacity. The Winchester is the same situation as the Mossberg.Then we go and complicate the issue with an aftermarket magazine tube extension.

Historically mag tube extensions have been problematic and many solutions have been put forth in the form of after market parts. Not to mention does the shotgun hold 5+1 in both 3 inchers and 2 3/4s shells or is it 4+1 in 3s and 5+1 in 2 3/4s and how long is the actual shell in question? Not all 2 3/4 shells are the same length and when stacked may take up more room than another brand of shell.

A lot of people are going to tell you to not cut the follower to allow for the 7th shell to fit. I don't disagree with them on this. The claim of it compressing the spring too much is valid in that most aftermarket followers are longer than the ones used by most manufacturers limiting space to compress the spring an still have clearance for the shell to clear the shell stop when you cycle up another round. The after market manufacturers do this to "increase reliablity", however IMO it is a failure on their part to define the real problem which is an inherent design flaw in all mag tube extensions and the "improved followers" only mask it rather than correct it. You could try using the factory follower and see if it will allow you to get the 7th round in. This may or may not be a satisfactory solution.

Mag tube extensions make an otherwise reliable shotgun less so. It is to be expected when modifing them as they introduce new varibles. It is this inherent design flaw that causes companies, who build shotguns from the ground up which are 7+1, 8+1, etc to use full length magazine tubes to get around said problem. The Winchester X2 or FN SLP come to mind here. If you will take note, those shotguns do not use magazine extenders. The manufacturers know that tube extenders are problematic and they avoid those difficulties by this method and it is reasonable to do so. The Mossberg SP 500 Persuader and 590A1 do the same thing to mitigate this as well. Now we all want to trick out a shotgun and customize it to our likes, sometimes we just trick ourseselves instead.

You may be able to load up 7 shells when using the factory follower, but you may also encounter an issue where the spring becomes stuck in the tube. This is where the aftermarket followers come in to mask the problem and as a part of that masking will rob you of your full capacity. Many would say this is acceptable as you no longer have this problem. This depends on the individual.

For me it is unacceptable for the simple reason that my manual of arms reduces mag capacity by one already to allow for select slug drills and I want all I can get in the shotgun. One can imagine that a 4+1 shot gun set to "Cruiser Ready" and down loaded by one shell is less than optimum as you would only have 3 shots. A 5+1 stock shotgun isn't much better here either, at least when it comes to a fighting shotgun. To make this even worse is when that +2 mag extension becomes a +1 and makes one question the worth of that extra expense in a new spring, extension, and a follower.

As they say you cannot have your cake and eat it too. Although there are ways to eat some of your cake and have some left over. ;)
 
As above contact Choate. They're good about returning emails, often by a member of the Choate family.

Another factor on shotgun capacity is that UNFIRED shell lengths vary according to the shell type and how it's crimped.
When the shell is listed as a 2 3/4", that means AFTER it's fired it will measure that.
Before firing a shell may be longer than some others, and this has caused people to have problems getting the last shell in.

It's also at least possible you have a defective extension... see Choate.
 
Thank you to everyone that replied, and I apologize if my lack of clarity in the original post caused any confusion, frustration, or repetition.

I have a 12 ga Winchester 1200 "Riot" shotgun. It clearly states on the side of the barrel that it is a 2 3/4" chamber, therefore I never have attempted to load, and never will load, a 3" shell in it. This gun in it's original factory configuration is 5+1. Since I bought it 2 years ago I have always kept it loaded with 5 Remington low recoil 00 shells in the mag and an empty chamber.

I bought a Choate extension tube from Midway that advertised a 2 round increase in total capacity for my particular gun (Winchester 1200), and upon installing it, realized that using the Choate spring and follower only allow for a 1 round increase in total capacity (Using the 5 Remington shells and 2 Winchester SXZ).

After a bit of cursing I decided to uninstall the orange Choate follower and reinstall the shorter factory follower. This allowed me to fit all 7 rounds in the mag. Afterwords, I hand cycled the all 7 rounds through the mag twice and had no failure to feed or eject. But, this is a quick-fix and I did not pay almost $50 for a tube extension that I had to rig myself, so I will be calling Choate this week to see what they recommend.

Choate should have an answer for me, seeing as they designed and advertised an extension that gives a 2 round for my particular model. If they can't deliver on that then I will simply ask for my money back. Guess I should have left well enough alone and stayed with my nice black 5+1 previously enjoyed riot gun.
 
HogManMagnum, I see that I misunderstood you. You are absolutely correct that your magazine capacity of 5 should be increased to 7 by a 2 round extension; making the capacity of your Winchester 8.
 
Just wanted to add that I emailed Choate on a Friday night and received an email back from them on Monday morning. The gave me their 800 number and asked me to call. When I called a few days later a very friendly gentleman named Fred explained that I should cut off about 8 coils to shorten the spring because it seems I might have gotten a spring for the 20" barrel accidentally.

Thumbs up for Choate's customer service.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top