Chokes

[bisondan]

Evening everyone, hope we are all well?

 

Made a bit of a change today just as an experiment more than anything.

Got my gun out of the cabinet this morning and went to put the usual quarter and half chokes in (gun had extended chokes so won't fit in cabinet with them on) but just for a change I put three-quarters and full in just to see what would happen.

The shoot I went to had nothing rangey, in fact it's all pretty close in stuff but some of the targets still need to be shot if you know what I mean.

I shot ok with 79/100 and although I think the tighter chokes may have cost me a few (I'm shooting Hull Superfasts 7.5) there was something quite satisfying about really dusting a clay, there was a stand with rabbit which I straighted and I don't think I've ever seen a clay just evaporate like it did.

I've never messed around with chokes before, with the three clay shotguns I've owned I've always just stuck with quarter and a half but now I'm asking myself all sorts of questions as to whether leaving the tighter chokes in will help or hinder me?

[dashman1]

Neither iff your on them they will break atb

[Gordon R]

It depends what you want to achieve. If hitting most clays is your target - you said yourself that choke cost you a few - or seeing clays dusted.

[Guest cookoff013]

choke rarely change a result.

i once got told, that for every choke you reduce to you automaticly gain 10% of your score. so if you normally shoot full, youd gain 40% of the score.

 

however the guy is shoveling faeces.

 

choke changes patterns at range, 1/4 and 1/2 was the old standards when 1,1/8oz lead loads were staple, however shells have got faster and lighter. so patterns respond different to choke.

if you shoot lighter loads it may pay off.

 

my minimum was 1/2, but i ended up changing shells alot and different weights and speeds.

my setup is now full / full, it is by far the most extreme, but i would be very comfortable shooting 3/4-3/4. i routinely changed shells (whatever dealer had or what i can be bothered to make.)

 

for clays i shoot 21g comp x.in 7.5 but i want to shoot more 24g #9 rc2. one of my favourite shell.

 

maybe you should ask what others prefer to use.

 

i like how the shells crush targets.

[dr. lecter]

ive just altered my choke set up opened up to three eights and five eights for esp very happy and impressed with kills using fiocchi 7.5 s , have shot for years with trap chokes , just realised open chokes are more forgiving on most targets . shot 81 at orston sunday good average for me .

[matone]

One useful attribute of tighter choking is that it will show if you are `middling`your clays !

Less choke will usually gain a bird or three for most people though !

[Bob90]

Shoot 1/2 and 1/2 have done for eight years and I honestly think if there's a target that can be broken they will do the job. But all said and done next game season I'm going to shoot full choke

[Adrian Foster]

I am slowly moving to tighter chokes. Six months ago I was happy with skeet & 1/4 - as long as there is some choke then the shot will pattern. Now I'm on 1/2 and 3/4 and whilst my scores have reduced slightly, I know I am in the right spot when I hit the clay. Having said this, love 3/8 and 5/8 as a combination, and I will shot a competition with 1/4 and 3/8 in two weeks time. The only other thing I would add is that the effect of chokes do vary - not necessarily because they differ between manufacturer (the weight may) - but because the bore of your gun may not be spot on and this can vary the chokes affect - a 1/2 can perform like a 3/8 in one gun and 5/8 in another if the bore is 18.3 or more if its 18.4 etc etc.

[terrior]

Hello

I shoot a fixed 3/4 full and it has actually improved my shooting,

When practicing you can see if you are hitting the target front back top or bottom, nothing more satisfying than dusting them too.

Long shots are no problem .

I would recommend to at least give it a try for a while .

Cheers

[Catamong]

It's all a question of what works for you and what you've got confidence in..?

 

I'm not a great fan of shooting tight chokes, I generally shoot 1/4 and 3/8 for English Sporting and I have complete confidence in that combination.

 

Some modern shells throw tight patterns, (Fiocchi Blacks are a good example), I don't believe you are gaining anything by putting them through a tight choke.

 

As for getting "balls of dust" on long birds with tight chokes, I know a guy who is a good shot and shoots 3/4 & Full, he gets as many chippers and birds that fall into 2 pieces as I do..!!

 

Unless you have the ability of Digweed, stick to open chokes, with modern ammo you'll shoot better scores with them.

 

Cat.

[Mr Potter]

What Cat said.

 

Mr Potter

[Will Poon]

Each to there own by the sounds of things

[Mick Shaw]

1/4-1/4 sporting / skeet. 1/2-1/2 trap for me....

[bornfree]

It's all a question of what works for you and what you've got confidence in..?

 

I'm not a great fan of shooting tight chokes, I generally shoot 1/4 and 3/8 for English Sporting and I have complete confidence in that combination.

 

Some modern shells throw tight patterns, (Fiocchi Blacks are a good example), I don't believe you are gaining anything by putting them through a tight choke.

 

As for getting "balls of dust" on long birds with tight chokes, I know a guy who is a good shot and shoots 3/4 & Full, he gets as many chippers and birds that fall into 2 pieces as I do..!!

 

Unless you have the ability of Digweed, stick to open chokes, with modern ammo you'll shoot better scores with them.

 

 

Cat.

 

 

The most sensible post on chokes I have ever seen.

Edited May 13, 2014 by bornfree

[kingo15]

My choke decision was very technical and a lot of research went into it.

 

My results were 1/4 and 1/2 can shoot sporting, skeet. I can also miss with them to.

[dougall]

The biggest problem with us humans is if there is something to fiddle with we will!! Multi- choked guns being one such temptation are the devil....I, like all multi- chokers have experimented over the years and I am now in the camp that some days I shoot better than others......it is a psychological thing about which chokes happen to be in on the day and the choke decision is ''I'll stick with what was in on that good day''.....!! I now just stick with open chokes for sporting clays 1/4 & 3/8ths..I know they will break any sporting lay out. My brain would get confused if I say chucked in 2 tight chokes and say shot 95%...because instead of thinking God I shot well today,I would think god those tight chokes worked better...which I now conclude is rubbish. Concentration,bird reading,consistent shooting technique are everything and choke is almost irrelevant.Yes Digweed shoots full/full,but it aint that that breaks his targets it is his incredible skill/competitiveness/repitition etc..If we presume the average clay is at say 30-33 yards over a sporting layout then for the average shooter open choke will if anything give you the odd bird that a true full choke would miss as we are not always dead perfect with each shot.M|y limited scientific imput is for most shooters open is better. That however will never stop each shooter having their fiddle and drawing differing conclusions...it is one of the physical variances possible so vivre la difference!!