Full choke lead

[Golden Hour]

I used a full choke for a number of years. Granted, I was shooting steel, but at the end of the day, misses were typically clean and shots on target were lethal. Good to hear that the birds are finding a clean, honorable death at the hands of your Sweet 16, Goose!

 

[Goosemaster]

I used a full choke for a number of years. Granted, I was shooting steel, but at the end of the day, misses were typically clean and shots on target were lethal. Good to hear that the birds are finding a clean, honorable death at the hands of your Sweet 16, Goose!

Lol. Thanks...Killing with honor is always held in high regard.I think I've only wounded 2 birds this season with this 16.Ive never used a 16 guage before. Usually 12 guage.

 

[Kre]

I think I'd have a lot of mangled birds if I used a full choke. I shoot IC/Mod in my 16 gauge, with mostly 1 and 1-1/8 ounce loads.

Most of my shooting is over points, so they tend to be close.

 

[Goosemaster]

I think I'd have a lot of mangled birds if I used a full choke. I shoot IC/Mod in my 16 gauge, with mostly 1 and 1-1/8 ounce loads.

Most of my shooting is over points, so they tend to be close.

You have to count one one thousand before you fire.

 

[haymaker]

You have to count one one thousand before you fire.

Yes just take your time.

 

[ole_270]

https://imgur.com/a/p9NjiOl

Cheesy and I were in South Dakota before the ice storm. This pic is from our last day when he was carrying his TriStar G2 Bronze 20 ga with Mod choke. I had my Dickinson Estate 16 ga, IC/Mod with 1 1/8 oz 5s. Both chokes pattern tighter than marked so I used a looser patterning load in the I/C barrel than the mod. I'm not sure about the rest of the group, but I didn't have all that many shots under 35 yards. We had lots of wind and they were getting out there quick. The guy in the group with the most experience in that area said he likes IC/ full when he carries his ou

 

[HS Strut]

I don't know guys? I think up close, like 10-15 yards? I don't think the patterns differ much. I don't think you'll blow them apart any more with full than IC at that range. I think where the difference is at 30-40. I've been Mod and Full for 30 years. Changed to IC for 2 seasons. I'm killing WAY MORE BIRDS over my Lab. I've shot a LOT of birds at 40yds, which to me is near the end of my effective range anyway, with 12 and 20 gauge IC in last 2 seasons.

 

[Goosemaster]

One thing I've noticed, is the straight away shots are much harder, as opposed to ic.

 

[John Singer]

I don't know guys? I think up close, like 10-15 yards? I don't think the patterns differ much. I don't think you'll blow them apart any more with full than IC at that range.

The patterns do differ considerably at close ranges, and the full choke is more destructive at close range than the improved cylinder choke is.

Most people do not shoot pheasants at 10 to 15 yards. I would estimate that I shoot pheasants at 20 to 35 yards. For me, a full choke is much too destructive.

 

[gimruis]

For me, a full choke is much too destructive.

If I shot and hit a rooster at 10-15 yards with a full choke, there'd be nothing left of it.

 

[Rogue Hunter]

In the "heat of battle", I think people misjudge the distance to the bird; the majority of people are taking farther shots on pheasant than they realize. Yes, people using steel need to open the chokes, but, people using lead, bismuth, or other soft metals need to stay with "old timmey" chokes...mod and tighter. If I can swing a new sxs next year, I'm thinking of going with IC and Full...just because.

 

[Goosemaster]

In the "heat of battle", I think people misjudge the distance to the bird; the majority of people are taking farther shots on pheasant than they realize. Yes, people using steel need to open the chokes, but, people using lead, bismuth, or other soft metals need to stay with "old timmey" chokes...mod and tighter. If I can swing a new sxs next year, I'm thinking of going with IC and Full...just because.

I have several old guns with full choke barrels.I don't want to modify them, so I just go with it. With steel, IC works well.

 

[agraham20]

I shoot IC and Mod on my 16 o/u. Always shoot lead or bismuth. Rarely ever miss a shot within 40 yds. Anything further I’m normally letting it fly anyways.
You hit a bird with a full choke any closer than 25 yds and it’s minced. Especially with the new style loads people shoot. There has been a ton of advancements in shells the last 5 years. I shoot 5s or 6s almost all season long. With a flushing dog

 

[Goosemaster]

I shoot IC and Mod on my 16 o/u. Always shoot lead or bismuth. Rarely ever miss a shot within 40 yds. Anything further I’m normally letting it fly anyways.
You hit a bird with a full choke any closer than 25 yds and it’s minced. Especially with the new style loads people shoot. There has been a ton of advancements in shells the last 5 years. I shoot 5s or 6s almost all season long. With a flushing dog

That's the right combo for a double barrel imo.I tried mod. In my 1100, but couldn't hit anything. Put IC in, and loved it.

 

[Rogue Hunter]

I shoot IC and Mod on my 16 o/u. Always shoot lead or bismuth. Rarely ever miss a shot within 40 yds. Anything further I’m normally letting it fly anyways.
You hit a bird with a full choke any closer than 25 yds and it’s minced. Especially with the new style loads people shoot. There has been a ton of advancements in shells the last 5 years. I shoot 5s or 6s almost all season long. With a flushing dog

"There has been a ton of advancements in shells the last 5 years".

Very important statement, right there.

 

[agraham20]

"There has been a ton of advancements in shells the last 5 years".

Very important statement, right there.

Yes exactly, some of the popular shells are using wads designed to hold patterns longer and don’t perform well with too tight of chokes.
The materials and powders are creating better patterns with more knockdown power.
I would say more birds are missed because people have too tight of chokes in the gun or they are using too large of shot size effectively lowering the pellet count and pattern density.
It doesn’t do you any good to wound less if birds if you render them to mush

 

[Bob Peters]

"There has been a ton of advancements in shells the last 5 years".

That's a wide ranging statement with a lot of variables, but I could very easily take the devils advocate position and argue that some of the classic pigeon loads launched at a time-tested velocity with hard lead pellets pattern better than a lot of modern shells. Now if you're talking about the flight-control wad, I agree I've heard good things about it holding the shot in a more uniform way.

 

[agraham20]

That's a wide ranging statement with a lot of variables, but I could very easily take the devils advocate position and argue that some of the classic pigeon loads launched at a time-tested velocity with hard lead pellets pattern better than a lot of modern shells. Now if you're talking about the flight-control wad, I agree I've heard good things about it holding the shot in a more uniform way.

Very true, some of the old loads are pretty much the same as some of the loads we shoot today.
And yes I was mostly referring to the flute control wad from federal, looking at testing it actually performed worse with tighter chokes.
I’m also a big fan of Boss Bismuth, they pattern well and shoot better than any of the old non tox I ever tried.
However we are talking about more expensive shells in most instances. I believe you get what you pay for 80% of the time.

 

[Goosemaster]

Very true, some of the old loads are pretty much the same as some of the loads we shoot today.
And yes I was mostly referring to the flute control wad from federal, looking at testing it actually performed worse with tighter chokes.
I’m also a big fan of Boss Bismuth, they pattern well and shoot better than any of the old non tox I ever tried.
However we are talking about more expensive shells in most instances. I believe you get what you pay for 80% of the time.

I agree, but spending 40 dollars for a box of shells is expensive. Even cheap shells are up around 20 dollars a box.Ive never tried bismuth, but I've heard it's good.

 

[Tuckr2]

I agree, but spending 40 dollars for a box of shells is expensive. Even cheap shells are up around 20 dollars a box.Ive never tried bismuth, but I've heard it's good.

For those of us on fixed incomes you have to weigh the cost of all shells. lead and steel are significantly cheaper. Other Non-toxic heavy metals such as bismuth and tungsten are almost price prohibitive, even more so with inflation and the lack of availability during the bs pandemic. You can look at the shelves in many sporting good stores today and see that the average Joe is not buying cases of high priced shells.