What choke is in your gun?

Glock

Glock

Well-known member
I just got done reading and article from pheasant forever and it discussed late season strategies. Most was common knowledge but one stuck out at me. He was discussing his gun and what he used. It was an over/under. He went on to say his favorite shells were #5 bismuth and #4 lead. But what caught my attention was that he said in one barrel he used a skeet choke and the other an improved. I was a little surprised by that considering the topic was late season. What do you all use? Follow up with that answer with telling me your typical shooting distance for late season.
 
I shoot a Carlson Cremator Mid Range all season long. It seems to pattern the shells I shoot well. Late season shots for me seem to be in that 35-40 yard range or flushing at my feet and shooting at 20 yards.
 
It really depends on the distance of your shots and how you hunt, the cover you hunt, the dogs you hunt with, the weather, etc.
Here are a few of my pattern numbers to give you an idea of the kind of performance you might get from different choke constrictions to help with your choke selection.

I normally have a SK/LM combo in but if the wind is up and birds are wild, I'll switch to IC/IM.

Patterning results from a 12-gauge Browning Citori with 28" Invector-plus barrels using Briley flush chokes (patterns average of five, 30" post-shot inscribed circle, yardage taped muzzle to target, and in-shell pellet count average of five).

12 GA 2 3/4" RELOAD (WAACF, W209, UNIQUE, CB1114-12)
1 1/4 oz #5 lead (210 pellets) @ 1220 fps
30 YARDS – CYL / pattern 125 (60%)
30 YARDS – SK / pattern 145 (69%)
30 YARDS – IC / pattern 177 (84%)

40 YARDS – LM / pattern 155 (74%)
40 YARDS – M / pattern 155 (74%)
40 YARDS – IM / pattern 174 (83%)

50 YARDS – IM / pattern 125 (60%)
50 YARDS – LF / pattern 120 (57%)
50 YARDS – F / pattern 129 (61%)

Good luck!
 
For wild pheasant, I keep the Trulock Light Mod choke in all season long in my new-style Sweet 16. If I'm carrying my 16ga 1100, I'll use the Mod barrel (original barrel is IC, which I use for quail)

If I'm carrying an O/U, it's IC/Mod all the time.
 
Glock said:
He went on to say his favorite shells were #5 bismuth and #4 lead. But what caught my attention was that he said in one barrel he used a skeet choke and the other an improved.
Click to expand...

#5 bismuth & #4 lead don't make much sense. Probably empties the IC barrel first too. But whatever.

Up until recently, I shot MOD almost 100% of the time. But about a year ago, I switched my 1 oz. bismuth load from 5s to 4s to get better penetration at longer ranges, losing about 20% of my pellet count in the process. After a year of hunting with them (mostly happily), I determined I wanted another pellet or 2 in each bird, so about 3 weeks ago I changed to FULL. It has helped. I've never formally patterned these loads, but based on my experience shooting pheasants, I strongly suspect they tend to shoot relatively loose patterns from my gun. Typical range is anything between 25 & 40 yds. 40-50 isn't typical, but it's not terribly uncommon either, & given one that's not a straight-away, I want to be able to put them on the ground hard enough to be recovered. Might be the only shot or 2 I get all day. I generally don't shoot at straight-aways over 30-35 yds. If I miss at 30, I don't try again, unless the bird happens to be flying over pretty light cover or open tundra, offering a good chance for Ace to run him down. Most often though, late season, they're over thick cattails.
 
I typically shoot a 1oz load of #6 lead out of the 12ga and 16ga guns. If it is the 16ga O/U it is LM in the bottom barrel and IM in the top barrel. I am shooting Briley extended tubes.

If it is my 12ga SxS it is LM in the right and FULL in the left. It has fixed chokes and that is how it was choked by Westley Richards when rebarreled back in the early 60's. I will keep those configurations if I shoot Boss #4 or #5 bismuth out of the 16ga.

In my new 28ga Hatfield auto, I have only shot #6 lead out of the factory MOD choke. If I continue to use the gun, I will most likely get a couple tubes from Briley in LM and IM.
 
I commonly hunt pheasants with two guns.

My 12 gauge is a Winchester Model 59 (1960s vintage) with a factory modified choke. I shoot 1 1/16 oz hand loads of #4 or #3 and #2 steel.

My other gun is a 16 gauge Stevens 5100. (Probably older than the Winchester.). It is choked modified and modified. I opened the left barrel from full to modified to allow the use of steel shot. In this gun, I use hand loaded 7/8 oz of #4 steel in the right barrel and 7/8 oz of #3 steel in the left barrel.

Most of my shots in pheasants are taken at between about 20 and 35 yards.

For a couple of years, I used factory bismuth (#6,5,4) loads in both guns successfully. However, I found that factory bismuth performance was lacking in cold weather.
 
Last edited:
I wonder if you were really mad at them, and shot these out of an open choke, if you could get a long range killing patten the size of a screen door. Being buffered, larger shot sizes more resistant to deformation, and a reasonable velocity so as not to blow the pattern out. And lastly a large payload to maintain pattern density.
 

Attachments

  • 20240115_184714.jpg
    20240115_184714.jpg
    1.7 MB · Views: 12
Depends on what gun I’m using. If I’m in an area I can shoot lead I use a sk1/full in one side by side and sk1/IM in another. If hunting somewhere non toxic is required I run a factory modified in an A400. I run a sk1/sk2 or cyl/mod until late season with the sk1/sk2 being my preferred gun. 6 lead early and 5 lead late season. Steel is Kent 3” #3.
 
IC all season long in my Benelli
Ultralight 12 gauge…normally shoot 2 3/4” #5 lead, 1200 fps. I make lots of fairly long shots, 40-55 yards. My doubles are mostly skt1/skt2, a few are IC/M. I hunted with
Skt in my Montefeltro for a decade+, maybe 2?…all season. Shoot 100+ annually for well over 20 years, I know what works for me. I may put LM in my Ultralight before next outing, hopefully leaving Saturday.
 
Last edited:
John Singer said:
I commonly hunt pheasants with two guns.

My 12 gauge is a Winchester Model 59 (1960s vintage) with a factory modified choke. I shoot 1 1/16 oz hand loads of #4 or #3 and #2 steel.

My other gun is a 16 gauge Stevens 5100. (Probably older than the Winchester.). It is choked modified and modified. I opened the left barrel from full to modified to all the use of steel shot. In this gun, I use hand loaded 7/8 oz of #4 steel in the right barrel and 7/8 oz of #3 steel in the left barrel.

Most of my shots in pheasants are taken at between about 20 and 35 yards.

For a couple of years, I used factory bismuth (#6,5,4) loads in both guns successfully. However, I found that factory bismuth performance was lacking in cold weather.
Click to expand...
Did the bismuth shells you shoot loose velocity in the cold, or was it more an issue of brittle pellets fracturing? Or something else? I took a bite of pheasant soup the other day and there was a metallic clink. I didn't bite it, but a pellet hit the side of my tooth(first one this year). It was bismuth, only about 30% of the original pellet.
 
Bob Peters said:
Did the bismuth shells you shoot loose velocity in the cold, or was it more an issue of brittle pellets fracturing? Or something else? I took a bite of pheasant soup the other day and there was a metallic clink. I didn't bite it, but a pellet hit the side of my tooth(first one this year). It was bismuth, only about 30% of the original pellet.
Click to expand...

Last season, 16 gauge Hevi Shot bismuth caused several bloopers and squibs (wad stuck in the barrel) during a late season hunt in 5 degree weather. Those shells were kept inside a house the night before.

Two weekends ago, another hunter using 16 gauge Kent bismuth failed to cycle a Browning Sweet 16 after the shells were left in the truck overnight in 15 degree weather.

The afternoon before, with temps in the mid 30s, I used the same gun and ammo with no issues.

I do suspect that the powders in these shells are cold sensitive.

I never leave my ammo in the cold overnight and my steel reloads never experienced such issues.

Like you observed, for the couple of years that I regularly used bismuth, I often found shot fragments in the meat of harvested birds.
 
Thank you for the reply John. I bought one box of Federal Hevi Bismuth, as I had not realized it was made by Federal's subsidiary Hevi-shot, which is known for making poor loads. I shot this box up and will not buy another. I have shot about 170 Boss shells and a box of Kent bismuth. The only problem I had was one "blooper" load of Boss, where the report sounded weak, the pheasant flew away wounded, and the wad was stuck in the barrel, ending my day as there was only 20 minutes left to hunt. I will not buy any Hevi-bismuth nor Federal Hevi Bismuth. Boss and Kent I will still entertain, and hopefully winchester bismuth becomes more available and also with more offerings. I do not reload or I would roll my own.
 
Bob Peters said:
I wonder if you were really mad at them, and shot these out of an open choke, if you could get a long range killing patten the size of a screen door. Being buffered, larger shot sizes more resistant to deformation, and a reasonable velocity so as not to blow the pattern out. And lastly a large payload to maintain pattern density.
Click to expand...
I still have some in 16. They didn't pattern very good but hit like hell on both ends!!
 
John Singer said:
Last season, 16 gauge Hevi Shot bismuth caused several bloopers and squibs (wad stuck in the barrel) during a late season hunt in 5 degree weather. Those shells were kept inside a house the night before.

Two weekends ago, another hunter using 16 gauge Kent bismuth failed to cycle a Browning Sweet 16 after the shells were left in the truck overnight in 15 degree weather.

The afternoon before, with temps in the mid 30s, I used the same gun and ammo with no issues.

I do suspect that the powders in these shells are cold sensitive.

I never leave my ammo in the cold overnight and my steel reloads never experienced such issues.

Like you observed, for the couple of years that I regularly used bismuth, I often found shot fragments in the meat of harvested birds.
Click to expand...
John,

I am shocked on the ammo problems and cold. In all my years I have never run across anything like that. I have left all sorts of ammo out int he truck overnight without issue. For Bismuth, Boss has been really good to me. I have some older Kent and it has worked just fine. That is what I love about this board is learning new things and hearing the different experiences.
 
LC Smith said:
John,

I am shocked on the ammo problems and cold. In all my years I have never run across anything like that. I have left all sorts of ammo out int he truck overnight without issue. For Bismuth, Boss has been really good to me. I have some older Kent and it has worked just fine. That is what I love about this board is learning new things and hearing the different experiences.
Click to expand...

The Hevi Shot was clearly defective. Hevi Shot requested that I return the remaining ammo last year. The sent me fair financial compensation.

I suspect the issue this year was the cold affecting the mechanical functioning of the Browning Auto-5 along with the cold affecting propellant performance.

I have duck hunted in cold climates for many years. I never leave my ammunition out overnight. It is a good practice to keep ammunition warm.
 
Ic or mod. If you really feel the need for pellets larger than 5s. Maybe a full. Pellet density is the #1 killer. Just shoot what you have and what you like. Choke, shot size, and gauge selection are very nuanced and particular to individual styles and abilities. What works for some doesn't work for others. Sometimes it may just be in our head. Other times I believe we utilize these factors to rationalize poor shooting. Good shooting is the number one way to put birds in the bag. Biggest piece of advice is to avoid the hype of high speed shells, magnum loads, and large plated pellets. Spend that money at the range breaking clays more often and you won't miss or wound many if any birds. Even with the cheapest shells money can buy.
 
CluckNut said:
Ic or mod. If you really feel the need for pellets larger than 5s. Maybe a full. Pellet density is the #1 killer. Just shoot what you have and what you like. Choke, shot size, and gauge selection are very nuanced and particular to individual styles and abilities. What works for some doesn't work for others. Sometimes it may just be in our head. Other times I believe we utilize these factors to rationalize poor shooting. Good shooting is the number one way to put birds in the bag. Biggest piece of advice is to avoid the hype of high speed shells, magnum loads, and large plated pellets. Spend that money at the range breaking clays more often and you won't miss or wound many if any birds. Even with the cheapest shells money can buy.
Click to expand...
I try to shoot prior to the season…6,8,10 times…I think it helps me…I usually hunt with a few guys throughout the season who are good shots, and have decent dogs…many aren’t/dont…I like knowing that there are others in my gang that can stack ‘em up!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top