shooting shotgun slugs with choke

The beauty of using a variety of choke tubes is they turn one gun into several specialized guns, depending on the choke tube that is in the barrel. Go to a place where you can safely shoot the shotgun. Nonetheless, here’s what I found: So, for my shotgun with its choke system and load (I strongly encourage you to test your own setup so you can have accurate data on which to base your own life choices), I gain a maximum of 3.5 inches inside 10 yards with the cylinder bore versus full choke. The point is: The shotgun is the most-versatile weapon available to civilians. Sporting-clays shooters know that the more open the spread, the easier birds are to hit, but only to a certain distance. It delivered all nine pellets in the kill zone out to about 34 yards. Blown-Out Shotgun Choke Tube. It’s not a standard shotgun shell and never will be. Remember that shot goes for several hundred yards, and slugs even farther. In this article you'll find information on the most commonly used choke tubes, specialty tubes, the benefits of choke … Another way to check the effectiveness of your gun on your chosen game animal is to draw a picture of the critter on a target and shoot it at your usual range. A 12-gauge Brenneke slug. They judged chokes not as internal barrel measurements, but in terms of performance. Both types of slugs are fairly low velocity, and thus have rainbow-shaped trajectories that are not helpful to long-range shooting. With the full choke, my gun displayed deadly patterns that placed all pellets within the 18 inch kill zone out to about 37 yards; as such it allows me 15 more yards of predictable patterns than the cylinder bore. This new choke tube is manufactured from 17-4 Heat Treated Stainless Steel in Cylinder constriction. Flyers were crazy. On the opposite end, full choke—what’s typically measured at .690-inch—is supposed to throw 75 percent of its pattern within a 30-inch circle at 40 yards. For Gunsite’s Safari Scrambler, we only fired the 1,600-­fps slugs. As always, to find this you should pattern your gun and load with different shotgun chokes,because it will likely be different from mine. The advent of choked barrels ushered in a new age in shotgunning. Gun Cases Gun Slings Gun Fitting Stock Guards & Pads Shotgun Accessories Ithaca Mag-10 Improvements Recoil Reduction Shell Box & Carriers Gun Safes & Security Shooting Gear Apparel Snap Caps Targets & Throwers Safes For the Dogs Cleaning & Gun Care Shell Boxes & Cases Beretta Calls & Lanyards Pro-Shot Choke Tubes Sooner or later, you'll hit a combination ideal for your shotgun. This shotgun is a great option for a semi auto shotgun at a great price. They are skilled enough that choke doesn’t matter on close birds, but the heavy constriction allows them to crush birds that they couldn’t with more open chokes. Do I think an extra 1 to 2.5 inches of pattern spread inside 10 yards is worth losing 10 to 15 inches at longer range? The company's Versalite choke had appeared on its Model 59 autoloader eight years earlier, but the WinChoke was the first widely popular, interchangeable choke-tube system. Burying the HiViz front sight was the fix to get hits. Hits beyond that distance were a matter of luck. Javascript is disabled on your browser. Some people also swear by mini shells as a means of home defense. This article, "Good Defensive Chokes?," appeared originally as a Shotguns column in the June 2017 issue of Shooting Illustrated. Sometimes I’d have seven of nine pellets in the 18-inch kill zone, while other times there would only be five. And, like clays shooters, I feel like I can hit a man-size target at 10 yards and closer, regardless of shotgun chokes. Many of today's shotguns come equipped with a variety of screw-in chokes that can be quickly changed with the twist of a wrench. A choke tube also determines to some extent the shotgun's effective range. Of course, I couldn’t just bring out one shotgun, so we ended up shooting several. The tighter the constriction of the tube, the farther the range. The Foster-type shotgun slug features exterior rifled grooves which contact the shotgun's bore to give it spin; and, the slug's hollow-point design … If possible, always use a rifle in preference to a slug gun for any kind of big game hunting. By the early 1980s, all shotgun manufacturers were working on and releasing their own versions of the successful screw-in choke tube we're all familiar with today. When the percentage of shot inside the 30-inch circle drops below 65 percent, you have exceeded the maximum range for that particular combination. . Shotgun triggers shouldn’t be judged like rifle triggers, but the Benelli M4 has a trigger easily comparable to a good rifle trigger. It turns what is essentially a 22-yard gun into a 40-yard gun. With three misses on 14 targets, I figure I could get them all with 7⁄8-­ounce slugs. Start by shooting paper at 20 yards and then back off from the pattern board in 5-yard increments, shooting patterns at each distance. If your shotshells are delivering overly tight patterns for those conditions, just unscrew the modified or improved-cylinder choke and screw in a skeet or cylinder choke. Blown-Out Shotgun Choke Tube Shotgun Choke Markings. Many hunters give it little thought, but one of the inventions most significant to those who hunt with shotguns is the choke tube — a simple device that allows one to change a gun's choke and thus alter its pattern and range so a single shotgun can be used effectively in a wide variety of hunting and/or shooting situations. In 2011, Sutton, who has authored 12 books, was inducted into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame as a “Legendary Communicator.” Visit his website at www.catfishsutton.com. If, for example, the ammo you are shooting is loaded with 1-1/4 ounces of No. If it doesn’t do that, then it’s not actually full choke regardless of what’s stamped on the barrel. Sure, if the fight goes outside, I can always use slugs—or a rifle. This allows for a variety of hunting and shooting uses. Most shotgun slugs are … RC TIRO A PALLA Shotgun Slug. Choke tubes can turn one gun into several specialized guns, depending on the choke tube that is in the barrel. (In fact, my Benelli Super Black Eagle using its factory cylinder choke tube and Winchester 2¾-inch 00 buckshot recorded patterns smaller than the 1-inch per 1-yard rule of thumb. There are four dominant slug types for hunting: Brenneke, Foster, Saboted and Plumbata. If you count 94 pellet holes, your shotgun placed 61 percent of the shot charge inside the circle, revealing that the load is delivering modified performance. Each choke tube has the constriction and size laser marked on the head and body for easy reference. Cylinder bore is the most appropriate barrel, however, an improved cylinder bore is often used for convenience. To get a better picture of how the gun is performing, shoot at least five patterns with the same load and average the results. Click here for a larger view of the chart showing gun pattern spread for various chokes and distances. If you are shooting smoothbore with a fixed choke, avoiding sabot slugs is a good idea. If one wanted, you could easily bump-fire this gun with little effort. The Benelli M4 shotgun has proven to be reliable and has yet to have a malfunction in my … Obtaining hits out to 125 yards was simple when I buried the front sight low. The Cylinder constriction may be used with ALL shot shells including Lead, Steel, Hevi-Shot, and even slugs! After testing many shotgun chokes, however, one thing is evident: The shorter the range, the less difference there is between various chokes. If you hunt with shotguns try these tips on how to pick the right choke for your style of shotgun shooting. If you hunt with shotguns try these tips on how to pick the right choke for your style of shotgun shooting. But here at Shooting Illustrated, we don’t have much use for 30-inch targets when the vital area of a bad guy’s torso is closer to 18. And many specialist companies offer retrofitting of fixed-choked guns, as well as custom-design replacement choke tubes for factory-threaded barrels. The barrel comes in at 28 inches and has 5 different choke tubes for custom shot patterns. To view this site, you must enable JavaScript or upgrade to a JavaScript-capable browser. They know a quality choke tube can increase a shotgun's effective range, and a strong, well-built choke tube also protects the gun barrel and, in some cases, helps reduce gun-barrel stress caused by heat. All pages © 2012 – 2020 BPS Direct, L.L.C. Cylinder, or no choke at all, should shoot from 25 to 35 percent. Several choke-tube companies also make specialty choke tubes for the growing predator-hunting market. Remember to pattern your shotgun choke tube with the specific shotshell load … In this article you'll find information on the most commonly used choke tubes, specialty tubes, the benefits of choke tubes and gun pattern spread for various chokes. Shooting groups from a bench rest with a slug gun is not fun, as the recoil is considerable. If you hunt waterfowl, this also is important because steel shot patterns differently than lead. Most people, in most home environments, would say yes, because they have no intention of using the gun outside or at distance past 10 yards. Slugs are solid, single-projectile bullets that, while not having the “spread” of shot, strike the target with a much greater force, delivering deeper wound channels. In the case of a 12 gauge, that’s .729-inch. If your pattern test reveals less than satisfactory performance for the type shooting you do, try a couple of different loads — maybe up or down a shot size or slightly hotter or less powerful. Modified shotgun chokes split the difference. Always check choke tubes before shooting! 2 steel shot, it contains approximately 156 pellets. Women On Target® Instructional Shooting Clinics, Volunteer At The Great American Outdoor Show, Marion P. Hammer Women Of Distinction Award, Women's Wildlife Management / Conservation Scholarship, National Youth Shooting Sports Ambassadors, NRA Outstanding Achievement Youth Award Presented by Brownells, National Youth Shooting Sports Cooperative Program, 7 Best New Cartridges for Long-Range Precision, First Shots: Springfield Armory Hellcat RDP, Why You Should Use a Shotgun Sling for Personal Defense. If you hunt quail or rabbits in thick brushy cover where most shots are taken inside 20 yards, for example, you probably need the largest pattern your gun will shoot while maintaining adequate pellet density. Unmatched slug velocity and accuracy! When a tournament is on the line, skeet and trap shooters want the edge they gain when using a good choke tube. There also are specialty tubes made specifically for use with Hevi-Shot, tungsten and other materials. I want to know the trade-off: How many inches of spread will I gain at short range by using cylinder bore versus how many yards I’ll lose on the long end? Do not shoot slugs, sabots, or rifled slugs through the 16 Yard Trap Choke. The other two are just metal pellets inside of a shell that burst out when fired. Screw-in choke tubes such as the Cabela's Choke Tubes sold at Bass Pro Shops give shotgunners the option of conveniently and inexpensively trying different constrictions with different loads. Slugs are different than birdshot and buckshot shells because they are actually bullets. To determine the maximum effective range of a choke/load combination, you also can try this method. Stay away from super-tight turkey chokes with any slug; at the very least, “pinching” will occur and … It’s clean and short with a positive reset. With a resume listing more than 3,500 magazine, newspaper and website articles about fishing, hunting, wildlife and conservation, Keith Sutton of Alexander, Ark., has established a reputation as one of the country’s best-known outdoor writers. Services . Because different guns pattern differently, even with the same load and choke, the only way to know for certain how a choke tube/load combination will perform downrange is to pattern-test it on paper. A cylinder choke is recommended for shooting rifled slugs in a smooth-bore barrel. Gunsite made a great venue for shotgun … So, now I must decide on these shotgun chokes. Steel shot may be used through this choke tube with exceptional results. But here at Shooting Illustrated, we don’t have much use for 30-inch targets when the vital area of a bad guy’s torso is closer to 18. Slugs are generally used for medium-sized game, especially whitetail deer and similar-sized game. To subscribe to the magazine, visit the NRA membership page here and select Shooting Illustrated as your member magazine. Start by obtaining choke tubes indicated for the type shooting you do and pattern them with your favorite load. See if the pattern actually would kill the animal. Although decades passed before the choke-tube idea became universally accepted by hunters, the eventual adoption of this interchangeable system by shotgun manufacturers increased the scattergun's versatility by leaps and bounds and saved shotgunners lots of money as well. Choke tubes can turn one gun into several specialized guns, depending on the choke tube that is in the barrel. No longer is it necessary to buy extra barrels to have different choices in chokes. But be careful when using extremely tight chokes as once the optimum amount of choke is reached for a particular load, a further increase in constriction actually may have a negative effect on pattern quality. The shotgun comes covered in the Realtree Max-5 camo makes this a sweet setup. Let's say you do a lot of wingshooting. Personally, however, I live in the country, and the chance of having to shoot a rabid skunk—or an attacker, should the attack go outside—exists. Moving to the opposite extreme, if your ammo doesn't deliver a dense enough pattern at 30 yards for consistent multiple pellet strikes on rice-field geese, replace the modified choke with full or perhaps extra-full. Skeet and trap shooting enthusiasts often use high-quality specialty tubes as well. Cabela's Choke Tubes sold at Bass Pro Shops, chart showing gun pattern spread for various chokes and distances, Hunting Knife Buyer's Guide: What You Need to Know, What You Should Know About Ticks and Lyme Disease, A Guide to Choosing a Fishing Light Attractor, Inside Cabela's Feature Packed Hunting Boots. For every style of shotgun shooting, there is a choke tube that fits that style, and the shotgunner can greatly increase his or her marksmanship by choosing and using the right choke. Shotgun slugs generally fall into two … That’s why clays shooters, who never know the range to the next target, typically shoot improved-modified choke. Many other variations can affect performance as well — copper-plated versus straight lead, for example — making it important to check how your gun performs with a certain load and choke tube. Loose choke may lead to damage or injury. The first patent for a shotgun choke was granted in 1866, but it wasn't until 1969, more than a century later, that Winchester introduced the WinChoke on its Model 1200 and Model 1400 shotguns. But you can’t shoot a mini shell and expect results beyond the limitations of its design. by Jeff Johnston - Shooting a pure lead projectile that's the same diameter as your shotgun bore, Winchester® Super-X® Rifled Slug Shotgun Ammo puts deer, bear, and hogs down with authority. Furthermore, I hate feeling like I lose control of my pattern past 20 yards—where if I shoot at 40 it almost becomes a liability due to flyers.  newsletter for at-a-glance access to industry news, gear, gun reviews, videos and more—delivered directly to your Inbox. Specialty choke tubes are built for certain types of shot. A choke tube constricts a gun's shot charge to hold it together longer before the shot spreads, thus giving a denser shot pattern at longer range than an open choke or no choke at all. Get the Shooting Illustrated Reloaded newsletter for at-a-glance access to industry news, gear, gun reviews, videos and more—delivered directly to your Inbox. “Thou shalt not think about using anything but cylinder bore,” reads the Third Commandment of defensive shotgunning when it comes to the use of shotgun chokes. These are constructed especially for use with large shot pellets such as buckshot favored by those who hunt coyotes, bobcats and other large predators.

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