To choke or not to choke...

R

Romulus

New member
I own two 870s, one an express and one a Police magnum. I love them both. The express I'd like to double up as deer gun (assuming that CWD will be eradicated here in Wis) I'd like to install chokes in both guns to get the versatility that comes with different choke tubes. Is this going overboard? I'd like to shoot sabots with a rifled choke tube among other things...

Please chime in with pros and cons
 
Good to see you back, Rom. Didn't your Express come with a tubed bbl? I've not seen an Express that didn't.

As a loose rule, sabots shoot best in full rifled bbls, not those with rifled tubes. Tests with my 870s and rifled tube chokes show groups at least twice as big with the sabots as with the worst grouping Forster or Brenekke slug.YMMV, but probably not by much.

If you really want to shoot sabots, you have to get a rifled bbl.
 
Thanks for the input Dave, enlightening as always.

My express did come with a 24" barrel with tubes. That barrel "disappeared" years ago when I was living on a farm with some pretty rowdy roommates. Why the barrel and not the whole damn thing is still a mystery to me. In any case, I replaced the barrel with a fixed choke, rifle-sighted barrel that I got here from a FL member. Fixed it shall stay, and I will practice with Fosters and Brennekes...unless maybe those slugs would benefit from different tube constrictions, skeet, improved, whatever the case may be...what are your thoughts on that?

And thanks also for the kind welcome...
 
You're very welcome,Rom. After testing to find the most accurate slug, you may find that your present bbl is quite suitable as is. It's probably an IC choke, which usually works well with slugs.

One example means nothing but FWIW, the difference between my chokeless HD 870 and the Deer 870 with rifled choke tube is less than an inch with the best slug at 100 yards.

HTH....
 
Of course you should choke them, choke tubes are a vital part of shotgunning. It is fun to constantly change tubes to see what happens:D
 
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