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What's the Best Choking for clays?


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As I said way back in '09, I use 1/4 & 3/8, (not quite a half choke) in my O/U and I've never found the need to use anything tighter.

 

I've tried tighter chokes but they don't work for me, I definitely get better quality breaks using more open chokes.

 

You simply don't need 3/4 & Full with modern plaswad loaded ammo, fact.

 

Cat.

 

When I was writing my reply you happened to be one of very very few people I could think of who prefers less than half.

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When I was writing my reply you happened to be one of very very few people I could think of who prefers less than half.

Well, at the French Compak champs near Bordeaux last year I choked down to skeet and quarter in 7 of the 8 layouts and still did a 186 ex 200, in fact my worst score was on the one layout that I stuck with quarter / 3/8..and on the simmo pairs there were a good few longish birds, but they broke OK with quarter, I suppose it's what you have confidence in, as you well know, shooting is a mental game..!

 

Cat.

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I usually shoot a MK60 with fixed 1/4 and 3/4, if I miss it means I have to improve....I seem to have some way to go !

 

I also have a Remy 1100 with a skeet barrel and a short stock for my wife to shoot [when the sun is out and above 20C!!] which breaks most things but I agree the longer clays are the most missed. lack of skill or holes in the pattern? Most likely a bit if both I'd say, the important part is we are having fun

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Well at least it is talking about shooting views and idea's, not something just for the sake of it..

Regarding posting and reserecting old topics, Why add to it if you are not interested in giving a viable answer to the Question asked, and moun about people replying to quite emotive subject.

Carry on boys, and lets all listen eh.?.

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firstly mate, chokes have been done to death, secondly there are plenty of ideas already with out a load more of the same thing, not that im bothered but now just replying to you.

and please please point out where you get that im moaning from? maybe the :lol::lol: faces give it away that im hardly moaning,sorry if my input upset you :whistling:

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Lol,,, Was I talking about You, must have a guilty complex ?,

No, as how it has been mentioned by monitors on here, if it isn'relevant why say anything at all.

That was my point, So, leaving this to the guys who really have experiances they have to share..

My point is finished, carry on if You like..

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Re picking up an old thread.

This is new and interesting for me as a fairly new shooter and also quite new to this forum.

 

Nothing wrong with resurrecting an old thread if it is valid.

 

I was already asking myself these questions and I now feel better informed.

 

Cheers

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Heres another one to get u thinking and talking buy yourself a choke gauge and measure them not one will measure what is stamped on them i have several sets of chokes acquired from buying s/hand semi autos out of six sets of chokes one is as stamped being Angleport the worst being Briley and Comp n choke every Teague is tighter than stamped Jess Briley and mr Teague being the godfathers of choking. .My point being there is nothing exact about choking it depends just as much on your barrel and choice of cartridge i have a Briley SK choke which throws almost full on the pattern plate Its good to talk just dont take it to seriously Happy days

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Heres another one to get u thinking and talking buy yourself a choke gauge and measure them not one will measure what is stamped on them i have several sets of chokes acquired from buying s/hand semi autos out of six sets of chokes one is as stamped being Angleport the worst being Briley and Comp n choke every Teague is tighter than stamped Jess Briley and mr Teague being the godfathers of choking. .My point being there is nothing exact about choking it depends just as much on your barrel and choice of cartridge i have a Briley SK choke which throws almost full on the pattern plate Its good to talk just dont take it to seriously Happy days

 

Valid point - most after market chokes do tend to be a little on the tight side, the rationale isn't hard to figure out as the ferocious breaks for a given constriction can make one think it's somehow the engineering and magic of the taper :rolleyes: that XYZ has breathed into their chokes that is responsible. It can work the other way too occasionally, I had a Beretta Optima stamped half which measured and shot like 1/4 so I gave it away :) . I know at least one super shot who uses LM a lot in his CG and his breaks and results are the envy of most but I do personally suspect that in reality they're throwing tighter.

 

Worth remembering that choke is a performance rather than an absolute based on constriction, what I maintain is to choose one that time and again gives you complete confidence in the break signatures that it produces. I quite like LM myself but compared to 3/4 it has time and again produced less impressive breaks on rangy, slow or edgy Teal. I once shot and missed a load of quartering away rangy/edgy low birds in practice trying to see how LM would cope :oops: screwed in 3/4 and hit the next half dozen birds rather well ! Coincidence, accident, luck, who knows but since it's the crosses I'm after rather than the physics involved :lol: it's irrelevant.

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In as much as choke gauges have any purpose - which is arguable - it's worth pointing out that they are intended for standard bore guns. For a 12 bore this would be 0.729" or 18.4mm. Most modern clay guns are overbored which means a choke gauge is no use since the choke internal diameter is a constriction from actual bore size not a standard fixed value.

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I suppose it is all down to what pattern your choke/cartridge combination is throwing at the given range that you are shooting, and I would guess that apart from the limited few that have access to a pattern plate the only way that most shooters assess this is by the way that the clay breaks, or doesn’t! :hmm:

 

For the average club shooter very few misses will be down to holes in the pattern of the choke/cartridge combination, much more because the shot pattern was not in the same place at the same time as the target. As I only shoot practise and so compete with myself, (any others on the squad being incidental to the objective) I use 7/8 bottom Full top, it is where I ended up, not where I started and although the odd one or two might get past me, nothing gets through the pattern! :whistling:

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I suppose it is all down to what pattern your choke/cartridge combination is throwing at the given range that you are shooting, and I would guess that apart from the limited few that have access to a pattern plate the only way that most shooters assess this is by the way that the clay breaks, or doesn’t! :hmm:

 

 

I know a very good shot who states the difference between chokes 99% of the time isn't the "if" but the "how" of a break :good:, the blurred line comes when the "how" can be said to help the "if" because for most people repeating the process is somewhat easier when the break signature is convincing and easy to believe in :) .

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As I said way back in '09, I use 1/4 & 3/8, (not quite a half choke) in my O/U and I've never found the need to use anything tighter.

 

I've tried tighter chokes but they don't work for me, I definitely get better quality breaks using more open chokes.

 

You simply don't need 3/4 & Full with modern plaswad loaded ammo, fact.

 

Cat.

totally agree with this.

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Dazlindazza - chokes won't alter how far the shot travels, they constrict the pattern. A typical example of a shotgun pattern is a 30" circle, a full choke will send more of the shot to the centre of the circle an open choke will have the shot more evenly distribute across the circle. My advice would be not to get to stressed about chokes, for sporting I use quarter and half and only change if changing discipline

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