Choke tubes? Waterfowl vs. standard

Rusty Trigger

Rusty Trigger

Member
So, what is the difference in a extended waterfowl choke vs. a extended choke? The waterfowl chokes tend to be expressed in close range, mid range and long range vs. the standard IC, M F. TruLock as Precision Hunter chokes with the same constriction and exit diameter as their Waterfowl, 45 bucks vs. 140 bucks. Any difference?

Also, seems more emphasis is put on chokes for waterfowlers than upanders.
 
Possibly the material they are made out of. Waterfowl chokes will most likely be shooting much more hard shot types and larger size shot also. Titanium vs maybe 4140 stainless.
 
Some manufacturers have designed their waterfowl chokes specifically for Non-tox shot. It has to do with more than just the material it's made out of, but the internal design as well. I know for fact there are choke tubes specifically for certain brands of non-tox as well, ala Hevi-shot etc...

Sometimes you see a choke tube that is marked Steel/full and Lead/Mod on it. Basically this means the choke was designed to throw modified patterns with lead and full choke patterns with steel.
 
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More fishing lures to catch fishermen. I'm just a simple fool, as I get older I rely on the old fashioned chokes, no radio transmitter collars, no Garmin. Map, dog, a sense of direction, and shooting the gun I came with.
 
oldandnew said:
More fishing lures to catch fishermen. I'm just a simple fool, as I get older I rely on the old fashioned chokes, no radio transmitter collars, no Garmin. Map, dog, a sense of direction, and shooting the gun I came with.
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Ok... I'll bite, but you've just described the "Old" portion of your username, where does the "New" come in. ;) :D
 
"New" twin daughters who hunt. I get bored with gizmo's. Guys who aren't prepared to go into the field, rooting through the tool box to find lost goodies, uncoupling cigarette lighter chargers, beeping or whistling, talking golf courses for spring, ( I'm hunting not on the back nine), replacing batteries, sit in a blind and call it hunting, (yes I belong to a duck club, but I don't think it's hunting). Just have your boots on, and remove shotgun from case, drop in a couple a shells, get the dogs headed the right direction. You do your part, the gun will anchor the target, actually you would be better off with no choke for most upland hunting. To say you will have better success with no choke on most shots you encounter, rather than a full choked tack hammer, which will fill the bill on extreme range targets, if you can hit them, and find, retreive them. I let those go. My girls do it the same way, but they complain about me giving them the head high brush! I them thats where the birds are and the dogs won't go in there with our support, better to get close to the flush. Shall I change to "Old Crumdegon"?
 
oldandnew said:
Shall I change to "Old Crumdegon"?
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That's entirely up to you?

If the shoe fits???:D

As with everything these days, as time increases, so goes technology. With many things, newer doesn't always equate to better IMO. Nothing wrong with "old school" if that's what makes your boat float, however.. sometimes newer DOES mean better.

I certainly don't classify myself as someone who has to have the latest and greatest, but occasionally something comes along that catches my eye that simply makes a lot of sense.
 
I use Trulock X tend chokes in all three gauges I use (12/16/20) with both lead and no-tox shot, and they work great. Like others have stated, special "waterfowl" chokes sound more like a typical marketing ploy than a necessity.
 
A direct answer to your origional question; I don't know. The waterfowler chokes might be made of a tougher, more expensive material to better be utilized with steel and tungsten shot but I just don't know. I do know that I shoot a Trulock extended modified in my 12bore duck gun and with MY loads it performs very well at the ranges I shoot. Think it cost me about 30 bucks.

I have an older Beretta 20 ou with fixed IC/ M chokes and the IC barrel with Kent 7/8oz #3 steel will put more shot into the kill zone of a duck at 40yds than my 12 bore with 1 1/4oz of the same shot.....go figure. The mod barrel will put about half as many at the same distance.

Each gun, choke, load is an individual unto itself, just gotta pattern and try em. I do know I wouldn't pay a premium for a "waterfowl" extended choke over another cheaper one till I tried it.

BobM
 
some of those guys work on patterning their shot guns like bench rest shooters try to shrink their group size.i applaud their diligence but i just dont think it's that important to see how tight i can get my pattern for 60 yd shots.they love to call out the various brands,briley,carlson.terror,etc.
me,i prefer an stainless steel briley,improved cylinder ,basic extended,about .75 inches extended.and just leave it in there all year.that technically makes it i.c. lead and modified steel.
it cvers most situations upland and waterfowl.i try to observe my shooting form more than worry if my chokes right
a 40 yd shot, 45 mph target requires about 8 foot of lead.
seems like if you get your pattern tight enough for 60 yd shots the amount of lead need increases exponentially.
 
More than likely it's so a choke company can sell a guy chokes for clays,chokes for waterfowl,chokes for turkeys,chokes for buckshots,chokes for coyotes,and chokes for upland.

I do like extended chokes but I wouldn't buy one for every kind of game out there.

Most titanium chokes are target chokes not suitable for heavy watefowl loads. FWIW.
 
I am a big believer in the extended waterfowl choke tubes.....I use the
HeviShot waterfowl tubes both the MR and ER...........
 
oldandnew said:
"New" twin daughters who hunt. I get bored with gizmo's. Guys who aren't prepared to go into the field, rooting through the tool box to find lost goodies, uncoupling e cigarette lighter chargers, beeping or whistling, talking golf courses for spring, ( I'm hunting not on the back nine), replacing batteries, sit in a blind and call it hunting, (yes I belong to a duck club, but I don't think it's hunting). Just have your boots on, and remove shotgun from case, drop in a couple a shells, get the dogs headed the right direction. You do your part, the gun will anchor the target, actually you would be better off with no choke for most upland hunting. To say you will have better success with no choke on most shots you encounter, rather than a full choked tack hammer, which will fill the bill on extreme range targets, if you can hit them, and find, retreive them. I let those go. My girls do it the same way, but they complain about me giving them the head high brush! I them thats where the birds are and the dogs won't go in there with our support, better to get close to the flush. Shall I change to "Old Crumdegon"?
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A cigarette lighter in my pocket, a cigarette on my mouth, set up my target to shot. And that's the prefect timing for hunt whatever you are waiting for.
 
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For me using the extended waterfowl tubes makes a big difference.
I use the Hevishot Mid and Extended range tubes depending on where
I am hunting and my Benelli LOVES them.
 
uplandrules said:
For me using the extended waterfowl tubes makes a big difference.
I use the Hevishot Mid and Extended range tubes depending on where
I am hunting and my Benelli LOVES them.
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Glad to hear that!

As to the OP.... Aftermarket chokes are not only made of, for the most part, better materials, but the time and effort spent researching and designing the chokes based on various loads from all acrossed the market at apposed to here ya go it'll be good for anything.

As an example, Hevi Shot choke tubes whether you're talking the Waterfowl or Turkey were designed around Hevi Shot / Hevi Metal products however when actually testing them they performed outstanding with other brands of steel and lead. Heck I used a MR in my Beretta for Dove hunting this past season and it did great.
 
My 12 gauge cylinder bore gun does well with black powder I've decoys, as foes my 20 gauge. I really think people over think stuff like chokes and should practice more
DT
 
wisturkeyhunter said:
More than likely it's so a choke company can sell a guy chokes for clays,chokes for waterfowl,chokes for turkeys,chokes for buckshots,chokes for coyotes,and chokes for upland.

I do like extended chokes but I wouldn't buy one for every kind of game out there.

Most titanium chokes are target chokes not suitable for heavy watefowl loads. FWIW.
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Bing ! Bing! Bing! We have a winner. It's called marketing. Most of the aftermarket chokes these days are made of heat treated 17-4 stainless steel which is quite capable of handling most if not all non-tox ammo options. Full choke constrictions are not of much use because steel pellets do not deform, thus generally produce fewer flyer's in the pattern. Too much choke actually works the opposite and blows the pattern out. So in effect it takes less constriction to produce a dense pattern with steel than one using lead shot.
 
mostly b.s.

extended chokes do a couple of things, one is that you can get them out if you don't have a coin in your pocket, they make the barrel longer so therefore your shot goes faster,(actuall true) and because of the length, the shot transitions through the choke on a more gentle path which gives more even patterns. the thing here that for most of us that's important is you don't need change in you pocket. aftermarket chokes usually maintain better tolerances and if you live a couple 100 years, the quality of the metal would pay off. in a range of upland hunting, the winner is the mfg, taking the guy for a ride that thinks he needs and edge and therefore won't have to learn to shoot and hunt. for a few of you ol' farts out there, remember when the entire sporting catalog was about 15 pages and we were thrilled to look through it. now a 15 page catalog wouldn't cover the number of dog vests that your dog needs to go hunting in

cheers
 
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