So, I have a shotgun class coming up. Building an 870 for the purpose and taking an m1 super 90 also. The class focuses mostly on buckshot so I was seeing if anyone had an opinion on chokes for those two guns.
My thought was to make one a little tighter than the other, but could not decide if the pump or the semi made more sense. My current thought is the semi should be more open as I have more ammo and faster shot times if needed. But I could be way off.
The Benelli holds 8+1+1 the Rem will be 7+1, or if I SBS 3+1 or 4+1.
Neither gun will specifically be HD as I feel a handgun is going to be infinitely more maneuverable and flexible if I need one hand for another task. All aside from over penetration issues with 12ga.
I have found you can over choke buckshot to the point it makes the patterns worse due to pellet deformation. I would stick with an improved cylinder or light modified. Also if you SBS the Remington like I did to 14 inches it will hold 5+1. The Benelli Would hold 5+1+1 if you shortened it to 14 inches. How short did you want to go?
The Benelli is pre-ban, so it’s not getting touched.
I’m pretty new to chokes, so I’ll probably end up with the two guns close, but with the pump slightly tighter of the two.
I figured if I’m going to go through the work to SBS an 870, it’s going to be a 12" or 12.5" or whatever length works out for 4+1 even. Then again, every time I think of that, I remember the KSG might not be vaporware someday, and that’s pretty short already.
I guess I’ll just have to get some chokes and see.
I shot a buttload of somebody else’s buckshot and can also say to start with an improved cylinder choke. Like the good man said, tight chokes can deform pellets and produce poor patterns.
Federal’s Flite Control buckshot is said to produce good patterns. I’ve got some but not yet tested it.
You may find that choke tubes do not always pattern according to designated labels. Five modified choke tubes may not produce all modified patterns–and so on. You may have to experiment with different tubes in the two shotguns to achieve you goal.
My experience on a state range firing buckshot through 870 riot guns with 18 inch barrel and cylinder choke and using unbuffered 00 plain Jane low bid ammo convinced me of one thing: 35 yards was the maximum range that my guns and shells would produce a pattern with all pellets in the torso every time.
Things have no doubt improved, but still it’s a must to know the limitations.
After a lot of testing (several years ago) here is what I learned:
(1) Generally speaking, the larger the pellets the tighter the groups. Tightest to widest = 000B, 00B, #4B.
(2) Contrary to what many assume, a full choke will usually give the tightest patterns with buckshot, and cylinder (no choke) the widest patterns. However, a full choke isn’t the best for slugs, C or IC is.
(3) If you want to use both slugs & buckshot in the same shotgun I’d opt for Cylinder or Improved Cylinder and use Federal Premium Law Enforcement 2 3/4" OOB, with Flitecontrol wad, which will provide exceptionally tight buckshot patterns even from C & IC shotguns.
(4) If all I was ever going to use was buckshot, and I wanted the tightest patterns to be more effective at longer ranges, I opt for a Full Choke.
My 18" 870 has been fitted with a screw-in Full Choke and with the 000B & 00B loads it likes best it will keep most of the pellets on an IPSC target at 50 yards. Back when it had a Cylinder bore, it was a 30 yard gun.
As for the “over choking” issue, I never observed it with regard to my gun and loads, however shotguns vary quite a bit from one to another in what they will do or not do. I, like others, at first thought C or IC were best for buckshot. I only went to the full choke after noticing that the manufacturer of the buckshot shells I was using at the time recommended using a Full Choke for best results (printed on the box).
When I was testing buckshot in my Benelli with different chokes full choke did far worse than IC. Now with bird shot Full choke did better.
As for slugs you should not be shooting then out of a choke tighter than modified for safety reasons.
Pat
My tests (several years ago) suggested that different brands and types of buck can give dramatically different results. Unfortunately, other than the one load I mentioned, I don’t rember exactly what brands did what.
I agree on your chokes for slugs warning, although I have fired about 20 lead slugs through my full choke with no problems, I strongly suspected that sooner or later the screw-in choke would end up flying down range with the slug.
