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Starting out - some shotgun questions


Croohur
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Hi all,

Today I picked up my first shotgun, a 2nd hand Lanber with fixed chokes, ejectors. When I purchased it a few months ago the dealer checked the fixed chokes and declared them 3/4 and 1/2. I said fine, probably not 100% ideal, would have preferred 1/4 and 1/2, but it was a good fit and a good price. 

when I picked it up today and took it apart and gave it a clean I noticed from the number of stars on the barrel  (1* and 3***) that they seem to be choked at FULL and a 1/2. I am going to be using the gun for rough shooting around the family farm as well as a bit of flighting, roost shooting, vermin control etc. It hopefully is going to be my first, but not my last shotgun. 

I imagine the distances I will be shooting at will be between 25-40 yards. I bought a slab of 32g 6 shot expecting to use that type of cartridge for the majority of my shooting. I am just wondering what sort of cartridge to use in the full choke barrel? Something lighter like a 28g 7 shot to mitigate against the full choke?

I only had a quick shoot of the gun this afternoon so maybe it will work out well, but was just hoping to hear your opinions!

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The info I got on the chokes was on the attached image at the bottom. The model I have seems to be a Lanber 2085 or Expert II I think they were called. Proofed in 2003. I dont have much experience with shotguns but I thought it unusual that you would have a fixed full and 1/2 when the vast majority of similar Lanbers seem to be fixed at 1/2 and a 1/4

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Don't even worry about it.

Far too many people get hung up on exactly what shell should be 'perfect' or what might be wrong in a particular choked gun, without ever going to the most basic thing - patterning the gun, and finding out where the shot actually lands.

Point it in the right place and pull the trigger on something within range, and it'll drop to either a 32g 6 or a 28g 7. The only difference might be at the extremes of range (and I'm talking 50 yards or so) where the No.7 shot will have a little less killing power.

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Don't get hung up on chokes and wether or not you have the right choke for the right job at this stage - plenty of people spend their lives changing from one choke to another and forget to concentrate on gun fit and swing - if your gun is pointing at the target then you will hit it, plenty of time in the future to decide which choke suits your type of shooting best.

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11 hours ago, Croohur said:

Thanks lads! For a guy just starting out I needed to hear that! I will head out and do a bit of patterning tomorrow and see what develops. 

Sensible. It might just be that as the gun is not new and as it also appears that it is no longer choked as per new, then the previous owner might have done the same thing and had it adjusted to suit his needs. He might even have been using fibre wads. All something that you'll never know. Don't be surprised if it actually shoots 1/4 by 1/2 or possibly even 1/4 by 3/4.

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On 11/10/2018 at 09:06, wymberley said:

Sensible. It might just be that as the gun is not new and as it also appears that it is no longer choked as per new, then the previous owner might have done the same thing and had it adjusted to suit his needs. He might even have been using fibre wads. All something that you'll never know. Don't be surprised if it actually shoots 1/4 by 1/2 or possibly even 1/4 by 3/4.

Well the dealer did gauge the choke at the time and said that it was 3/4 and a 1/2. He has a lot more knowledge than me, so that may well have been correct. Havent had a chance to pattern as it has been blowing a gale over here in Ireland. I did take it out today during high winds, more for a walk with the dog than anything. Long story short , got my first young woodie with a shotgun. My little terrier retrieved it after it fell in the next field. She got the legs and the heart as a reward.

20181012_091642.jpg

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12 minutes ago, Croohur said:

Well the dealer did gauge the choke at the time and said that it was 3/4 and a 1/2. He has a lot more knowledge than me, so that may well have been correct. Havent had a chance to pattern as it has been blowing a gale over here in Ireland. I did take it out today during high winds, more for a walk with the dog than anything. Long story short , got my first young woodie with a shotgun. My little terrier retrieved it after it fell in the next field. She got the legs and the heart as a reward.

20181012_091642.jpg

I'm sure that the nominal boring of your gun is precisely as the dealer told you. In addition to that you also have choke which is a performance and which may or most likely may not prove to be the same as the nominal boring. It's odds on that if you do get chance to pattern the gun (properly) this fact will start to make sense.

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46 minutes ago, Gordon R said:

That is a very nice Lanber. Whilst the rubber slip on recoil pad will do the job, over a period of time, the colour of the stock will be affected. The covered up part will be darker than the rest, which would be a shame for a decent bit of wood.

Ah, well the reason for that is - as you can see in the first photo there was a thick rubber recoil pad. It was too long for me, I couldnt get my finger around the trigger comfortably. So I took it off and put on a cheap Tourbon slip and have been adjusting the inserts in it while practicing mounting to try and get the LOP right. It is only temporary, I will be getting a thin, recoil pad I think of some description. Around 10-12mm thick and non stick, not like the jacket magnet that was on it before!

2 hours ago, wymberley said:

I'm sure that the nominal boring of your gun is precisely as the dealer told you. In addition to that you also have choke which is a performance and which may or most likely may not prove to be the same as the nominal boring. It's odds on that if you do get chance to pattern the gun (properly) this fact will start to make sense.

Thanks, this is great advice. Just need a calm, dry day now in Ireland for some patterning....

Edited by Croohur
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