full or improved cylinder

A

alan

Member
going out hunting today in northern iowa...i have a full choke or an improved cylinder for my browning invector plus which one should i use this time of year?
 
Allan, I have not used a full choke in 25 years. With better ammo and choke systems I use IMP most of the time and MOD on occasion !!!:cheers:
 
I would lean toward imp.

Is it two different guns? If yes, take the gun you shot the best. Also, I assume you shot lead? With lead late season, most folks would say full I am guessing. Also, depends are you shooting over a pointer or a flusher? All I shot is steel and with steel shooting tighter, I would go improved.

Lots of variables. Good luck with the hunt.:)
 
BleuBijou said:
Allan, I have not used a full choke in 25 years. With better ammo and choke systems I use IMP most of the time and MOD on occasion !!!:cheers:
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was going to type. All I use is IC the entire season. While I know there are a few guys left that shoot a Full choked gun I see no reason. I think those Full choke users would be amazed at the results if they changed to IC. Like Bleu said, the shells are so much better and pattern better & tighter than back in the days when everyone used a Full choke. Put the IC tube in and don't look back!
 
I agree 100% too. I used to use a full choke 15-20 years ago. That choke did the job with the older, slower shells that didn't hold their pattern all that well.

As mentioned above, shells today are a whole different animal. IMP seems to work very well nowadays. Though many would argue (with facts backing them up)that MOD patterns the best of the three chokes. :) --1pheas4
 
Full or Improved Cyl. choice

Agree with Dakota Zeb. Have been using Imp. Cyl in my 20 ga for years. This year I used 3" - 1.25 - #6 and had good success. I do find 7.5 shell patterns in my gun better for closer shots - 20 yd.

And I use the imp.cyl for sporting clays as well...

good hunting
 
I use an o/u with IMP choke in one barrel for the 1st shot & a MOD in the other for the 2nd/follow-up (which is rarely needed/usually only on a double - HAHAHA JK, I wish - the 2nd barrel gets fired quite frequently)...I have been known to flip the barrel switch if a bird happens to get up farther away, but it's kinda tricky on the fly!
 
Alan, I only shoot improved on my 870 up there. It has never had a problem killing birds besides my poor shooting.
 
+1 for I/C. The only full-choked guns I ever see or hear about are from older gents using their aging A-5's or Model 12's. Some of the new performance ammo coming out is actually designed to work best with more open chokes like I/C.
 
Dakotazeb said:
Exactly what I was going to type. All I use is IC the entire season. While I know there are a few guys left that shoot a Full choked gun I see no reason. I think those Full choke users would be amazed at the results if they changed to IC. Like Bleu said, the shells are so much better and pattern better & tighter than back in the days when everyone used a Full choke. Put the IC tube in and don't look back!
Click to expand...

I agree with this for the most part. However, I was quail hunting last week, with IC choke and Couldn't hit a bird. The last to walk abouts, I put in the full choke and nailed them. This maybe do to them (quail) flushing at 30 to 35yards out. I patterned the Ic ,after the hunt, and noticed at 40 paces, my Ic ,has some holes in the pattern. Perhaps I need to purchase another Ic? Or maybe differant ammo. Mod may have been the way to go?

Back to topic, Yes I do use Full choke from time to time.:)
 
I.C. I have multiple chokes for three of my guns and have shot IC all season. The only time I change is on Turkey. Let's just agree to say if you could only have one, what would it be? IC !!!!!
 
IC, definently

I have never used a full choke on anything but turkeys. Always IC for just about everything(dove, duck, geese, quail, phez) unless the phez are very wild and then I switch to modified. I just recently bought a new choke tube from Carlson's. Its a Prairie Storm choke tube. They come in 2 models, Early Season which is a Light Modified. And Late Season which is Improved Modified, which IMHO would be a little over kill. I bought the Early Season LM and love it! I was also suggested to use LM for pass shooting geese, which is another reason I bought this tube since it is approved for all types of shot. It has been devistating on the pheasants. Highly recommened.
 
Thanks men

I just got done cleaning my o/u and thought about puting in my full choke for this weekend but I think I will just leave it alone after reading the post here.

I wish I could think fast enough to switch from over to under on a long flush but I'm luckly to get the safety off in the first place.
 
I shoot a side by side with screw in choke tubes. I use the skeet tube and the modified tube but if I shot a single barrel I would shoot nothing tighter than improved. If you get the chance I highly recommend patterning the chokes with the different loads you shoot at 10-15 yards, 20-25 yards and at 40 yards. This will give you a better idea of how the different loads are performing with the different chokes at reasonable shooting distances.
 
Ironically I was just going to start a thread on this exact topic. I've been shooting fixed full chokes (save a modified in a couple doubles) all my life (30 now) and have always been a dyed in the wool full choker. Last week I borrowed a friend's SBE for a couple hunts and didn't bother to check the choke. Turns out it had an IC in it and I shot it very well. In hindsight, there was only one bird that I thought I should have knocked down but the IC pattern was definitely too thin at that range.

This got me thinking though. I know that I've missed shots on closer birds because of too tight of full choke patterns but what I started to think about was how having a more open choke might make me less inclined to take the long, perhaps higher crippling rate, shots that I am accustomed to taking with a full. Just a thought though, I'll be back on the Full choke tomorrow!
 
jmac said:
I agree with this for the most part. However, I was quail hunting last week, with IC choke and Couldn't hit a bird. The last to walk abouts, I put in the full choke and nailed them. This maybe do to them (quail) flushing at 30 to 35yards out. I patterned the Ic ,after the hunt, and noticed at 40 paces, my Ic ,has some holes in the pattern. Perhaps I need to purchase another Ic? Or maybe differant ammo. Mod may have been the way to go?

Back to topic, Yes I do use Full choke from time to time.:)
Click to expand...

Here is my .02

While for the most part I will agree with what everyone else here is saying about IC being your best bet for most instances. However, i wouldn't just cast the Full away and never use it. Later in the year there are times a full can be an asset in certain conditions. There undoubtedly will be days in the later part of the season when the birds are just not holding and long shots over 35 yards may be the order for the day. You may not choose to shoot anything over that distance and for that IC is great. But if your apt to take a long poke on a day when the birds are just making a mockery out of you I'd opt for the full as the pattern density will insure multiple hits.

A better bet may be to just purchase a Modified choke and use it in the later half of the season as a modified out of a single barrel is going to cover all the bases. Keep in mind also that cold dense air like you would have later in the season affects patterns and velocity in a negative way as well. Just something else to think about.
 
Full Choke

I am in the minority here. For wild pheasant hunting, I firmly believe in the full choke. Now if I'm hunting quail I would not use a full choke. But if you are hunting roosters I believe full choke is the way to go for the following reasons in (my) order of inportance.

#1 Rooster is usually dead in the air. I mainly hunt cattail type cover, if that bird is not dead in the air it is very hard to find even with dogs. (I hate losing birds)

#2 If I miss, I miss cleanly. Very few crippled birds. Either you nail the hell out of them or you miss.

#3 I hunt way more in the late season than the early season. The shots are longer and the full choke performs well.

#4 A lot of my hunting involves blocking. Full Choke excells if your blocking and the wind is blowing. (when is the wind not blowing in Nebraska and SD??)

Now if I'm hunting tame (raised) birds I will put a mod in or even imp cyl cause they hold tight for the dogs and a long shot is 20 yd. But for wild roosters mid to late season, IMHO its full choke.

Tear me apart fella's
 
I agree that you can't automatically say one choke or the other. Hunting conditions change, but the ammo has a huge impact. I have been shooting a Federal load of 2-3/4", 1-1/8 oz of #5's at about 1250 fps. Mod over Full in my O/U. My early trips to SD I shot Mod in a pump. During this year's trip to SD, I screwed up and shot Imp/Mod and shot terribly. I was hunting the first time with flushing dogs and had a lot of longer shots. I'm used to flushing birds over points at less than 15 yards. At the closer range and with those loads, Mod did the trick. I've never been one to spend $25+ per box of shells or shoot 3" magnums. In the old days I killed a lot of pheasants with my old Stevens pump, 30" barrell in full. But I had to do a lot of scrubbing to remove the residues from the old paper wads. I like the modern ammo, but still don't want to spend the money for the fancy loads. Next year you can be assured I'll twist in the Mod over Full and be more confident I'm going to pound those birds.
 
I grew up shooting improved cylinder, always shot very well for me. Two years ago I used a modified tube in my Winchester SX2 Light and noticed same number of hits, but dead birds, in the air for the most part. I patterned the tube and it's a light modified with lead, more like a skeet 2, on pheasants or anything else, wingshooting, almost all experts, gun writers, and wags would advise toward open chokes, for 95% of shooters, if birds in the bag are the goal. Most hunters lack the experience to calculate lead at over 40 yards. It's not about skill or talent, it's about experience, how many opportunities do you get to shoot a variety of shots on pheasants at ranges over 40 yards, in a lifetime, let alone a season? It would take an Argentine dove shoot to accumulate that kind of experience. I except and allow for anyone here to claim exemption to the 95% rule, and shoot extra full 3 1/2 " mags ala Elmer Keith, there are those who can use the extra range to advantage, most will be happier and more successful with an open choke. Just my observances, I consider myself as part of the 95% and practice what I preach.
 
Split the Difference

You didn't give us this option, but I would be inclined to run out and pick up a modified tube, and some high quality shells with 1 3/8 oz of plated #4. The reason, it's going to be COLD. The predicted high is going to be 11 degrees. Maybe someone here knows if really cold temps affect the ballistic performance of shot shells, but I do know those roosters will have their feathers puffed with enough air to be freakin armour plated. Good luck, hope you put some of those birds out of their misery.
 
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