stevieknuckles Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Good morning all, I am after your general opinions and advice please. I have a 20 bore Silver Pigeon with 29 1/2 inch barells and have quarter and half chokes fitted, I use it mainly for rough shooting and walked up game through the season. I don't have any other chokes, do you think it is worth me bothering buying extra chokes and if so what after market ones would you recommend. To be honest I shoot alright with it and think it is just one more thing to keep my mind occupied. I use 28 gram no 6 fibre wad. Thanks Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzypigeon Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 That's enough choke for almost everything, only time I would want more choke in that would be somewhere like Whitfield...so unless you are planning to shoot one of their extreme days I personally wouldn't bother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 (edited) Not much wrong with what you have as it's working for you. What you could try though is 3/4 for the half. With your preferred load and assuming you may use the tighter choke for longer range, then at, say, 40 yards your 1/2 will give you just 10 pellets over the 1/4 - enough for one per bird in the central effective area of the pattern - no great gain. The 3/4 with two pellets per bird can make a difference. All theory of course and assumes everything is as per and a hen pheasant. Possibly a Teague. Edited January 20, 2017 by wymberley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonepark Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Before you spend money buying chokes, pattern both barrels at 40 yards with your preferred cartridges and count pellets in 30 inch circle If you are getting around 145 for 1/4 and 160 for 1/2 and a roughly even distribution of pellets you need not go any further. If you are getting a significant difference then it maybe worth looking at tighter or after market chokes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 I shoot basically the same thing (ounce of 6s through 1/4 and 1/2 in a beretta even). Anything inside of 40 yards and you should be able to stone it. The pattern is more than enough on a 1/4 choke for that range. At the same time, birds inside of 20 yards aren't torn up too bad from IC (such as pigeons decoyed). If you are really shooting high birds (40+ yards) with frequency or are decoying/roosting in close then maybe a new set might give you an extra hit every now and then. For close stuff SKT/SKT is a nice combo (or cylinder and 1/4). For high stuff then 1/2 and 3/4 tightens things down. rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salop Matt Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 I have just added two new teague chokes to my 20.... 1/4 & 1/2 for clays and general walked round and up shooting, these came with the gun. 1/2 & 1/2 for roost shooting and my game shooting on beaters days etc where birds are higher, these are my teagues. ATB Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 I have just added two new teague chokes to my 20.... 1/4 & 1/2 for clays and general walked round and up shooting, these came with the gun. 1/2 & 1/2 for roost shooting and my game shooting on beaters days etc where birds are higher, these are my teagues. ATB Matt That's 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Where did you go to school? Everybody know that 1/2 and 1/2 is either 1 or 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevieknuckles Posted January 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Thank you all for your replies, you have reinforced what I have already been thinking. As I won't be visiting Whitfield for a while yet, I think my time will be better spent working on maintaining swing and consistency . Regards Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motty Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 In my experience, using tight chokes does not mean that birds under 20 yards will be ripped to shreds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 In my experience, using tight chokes does not mean that birds under 20 yards will be ripped to shreds. It probably would if the bird was in the centre of the pattern. I simply cannot shoot with tight chokes as I am a pretty inaccurate shot. With me the more spread the better - within reason of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Mat Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 (edited) It probably would if the bird was in the centre of the pattern. I simply cannot shoot with tight chokes as I am a pretty inaccurate shot. With me the more spread the better - within reason of course. I've shot decoyed duck with motty's over under that is choked extra full in both barrels, using steel 2s, duck were definitely at 20 yards and in the pattern, i found none of them inedible, and surprisingly i shot no worse than when using my usual half choke. As for the 20 bore questions as per the op, I've got 1/4 and 1/2 in mine and it's done me alright, shot some nice pheasants with it. I may put the full and 3/4 in for a try on clays but i know i can shoot birds with 1/4 and 1/2, with both lead and steel Edited January 20, 2017 by Big Mat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westley Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Good morning all, I am after your general opinions and advice please. I have a 20 bore Silver Pigeon with 29 1/2 inch barells and have quarter and half chokes fitted, I use it mainly for rough shooting and walked up game through the season. I don't have any other chokes, do you think it is worth me bothering buying extra chokes and if so what after market ones would you recommend. To be honest I shoot alright with it and think it is just one more thing to keep my mind occupied. I use 28 gram no 6 fibre wad. Thanks Steve I have the same gun with fixed chokes and never had any problems with 25 or 28 gram 6's and fibre wads. I do fire the top barrel 1/2 choke first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Heron Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 I agree with Stonepark you need to pattern plate also matching your make of cartridges with your choke/ gun/ load combination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westley Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 I got rid of a 20 bore EELL after trying several different brands of cartridges on a pattern plate. You could have put a dinner plate in some of the holes in the patterns ! I never regained confidence in that gun again, so it went. I now just base my opinions on how the cartridge performs on whatever I am shooting. If it kills cleanly at the ranges that I am shooting at, I stick with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrowningDJC Posted January 22, 2017 Report Share Posted January 22, 2017 I shoot 1/4 and 1/2 through my 20 for everything, seems to suit the rc sipes I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted January 22, 2017 Report Share Posted January 22, 2017 It probably would if the bird was in the centre of the pattern. I simply cannot shoot with tight chokes as I am a pretty inaccurate shot. With me the more spread the better - within reason of course. Unless you're wounding more than your fair share, simple shotgun ballistics would reflect that you're probably a better shot than you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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