Barrel Length, Choke And Chambers For Hunting Shotguns
BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 8 months ago
I found this article to be quite useful if you’re a shotgun shooter (for hunting or anything else).
If you have additional resources you’d like to add, please feel free to do so in the comments. Or simply add to the discussion in the article with your own experiences.
On March 9, 2021 at 8:31 am, redclay7 said:
My modest but years long experience in wing shooting and clays tends toward longer barrels for smaller gauges and tends to tighter chokes as you move into the 28ga. and .410 bore sizes. Heavier shotguns will still swing as opposed to the whippet-thin small bores unless they have longer barrels. If/when you buy a screw-in choke shotgun, you might consider buying all of the other choke options by that maker at the time of purchase in case the one or two extra chokes don’t work as you wish and later on screw-in chokes on discontinued models or gauges are harder to find. Case in point: the 16g. Browning Citori….redclay7
On March 9, 2021 at 3:55 pm, Levi Garrett said:
The article does a pretty good job of explaining things, in my opinion. Shotguns are extremely versatile, and you can shoot anything from large game, to small game, to any birds with the same gun (provided you choose the appropriate barrel, choke, and load). Whichever route you choose to take, it’s important that you pattern your gun before using it to see what is actually going on at different distances. One gun will “like” a different combination of choke and shell from another (true even of guns of the exact same make/model). It might seem overwhelming, given the multitude of choices in shells and chokes, but find a combination that performs well in your specific gun.
On March 9, 2021 at 6:26 pm, Brad said:
For waterfowl I prefer a modified. If your shooting steel it doesn’t spread as good as lead. It has a tendency to try and clump together and a full choke produces a real tight pattern.
On March 9, 2021 at 8:47 pm, Sisu said:
I enjoyed reading; and, signed up for alerts. … A discussion of patterning, and adjusting for ‘irregular’ patterns (I would find) might help others. Given the affinity for shotguns manufactured “in the past” – what techniques from the past might mitigate the variability of patterns resulting from different manufacturers without patterning each load ?
Separately, I would caution against using ‘slugs’ (rifled or not) in ‘bird guns’ regardless of gauge and choke – my ‘gut’ is the barrel of older guns may not be suitable.