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22" vs. 19" barrel. Need opinions please


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I'm planning on buying a Saiga 12 gauge shotgun and I was planning on buying a 22" barrel with the changeable chokes, but a Saiga owner emailed me and told me that he likes his 19" barrel better, both for looks and for performance. I only plan to use this shotgun for clay pigeons and for rabbit hunting, no self defense. I'm worried that the 19" will cause poor performance when trap shooting with my buddies and their "conventionall" shotguns with 24-28" barrels. Which length should I get? Also, which length is more likely to come with the bolt hold back feature installed? Thanks.

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I first purchaed a 22" with extra full choke (no bolt-hold-open) - it is a killer trap gun!!! Guys with "conventionall" shotguns look at me and laugh... They take their eyes away when we're done!!! :) Da hell with those :dollar: 3000- :dollar: 4000 Perazzi guns - it is not what you shoot out of - it is how you shoot!!!

 

Then I got a 19" threaded bbl (with bolt-hold-open) - true - it is a very cool looking gun! As for performance - I need to buy a set of chokes to be able to tell you... I shoot skeet using 7 1/2 shot because I have no choke at all and stay above 20. I'll get the choke and then will be able to try trap with it...

 

I would imagine 22" treaded bbl will do equily well in skeet and trap! Those poor rabbits too!!! :)

 

As for the bolt-hold-open - *most likely* 19" treaded bbl will have it in - but you will need to ask the dealer to make sure it has it!

 

:ph34r:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Can someone explain what the different chokes are good for? Is the full choke good for trap? I want to get a 12 only to shoot trap and jackrabbits, but I also would like to be able to shoot slugs every once in a while. What kind of choke would I want for these activities? Or would the non-threaded barrel be ideal for this? THanks.

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chokes are kinda like a funnel at the end of your barrel...a full choke is the tightest funnel of your choices , it will give you the tightest pattern and effectively the best distance , and so is a good choice for trap , but you dont want to shoot slugs through them because they can split the end of your barrel (generally speaking...you could probably get away with it for a while but it is not a good idea )....a cylinder choke is basically no funnel at all , and gives you the best spread at shorter ranges , but loses accuracy as ranges increase faster , a good choice for skeet , obviously no problem with slugs....improved and modified chokes are steps between the cylinder and full chokes...improved cylinder gives you a slight funneling , and modified gives you a little more , so you can adjust between spread and distance depening on your situation , as far as i know slugs are safe to shoot thru any choke BUT the full....

if this is your first shotgun you may want to go with the threaded barrel so that you can try the various chokes out and see which one YOU like best for the shooting your doing...at the price of these Saigas , if you want a single purpose model in the future you will know exactly what your after ....

Edited by Silverfox
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...a cylinder choke is basically no funnel at all, ...a good choice for skeet

Silverfox is correct except for.... You really have to be a good & quick shot and know exactly what you are doing to shoot skeet with no choke at all!!! I would suggest using MODIFIED choke for skeet if you're just starting out!

 

Chokes that you can get from EAA:

 

CYLINDER 0.0 - SLUGS (the threaded bbl model usually comes with it!)

MODIFIED 0.5 - SKEET

FULL 1.0 - TRAP

 

I agree again, you really shold get a threaded bbl if you want all of "these activities"! :smoke:

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EAA is now selling 'improved cylinder' chokes as well...unfortunately they dont have a set including them yet , so it would have to be bought separately if you had planned to buy their full set...still cheapest to just buy the imp/mod/full chokes individually and forget the thread protector since the threaded barrel model comes with a 0.0 cyl. choke (at least , mine did )..you save almost $10.00 that way...

i really am not the guy to be recomending what chokes to use for skeet because i have never done it before..lol...so thank you Makc , i learned something valuable from that ( now i wont have to make a total ass of myself if i try skeet in the future..lol..) i was just thinking about how the different chokes are used for different purposes and used the wrong example , but , you get the idea..lol....ive been shooting (mainly rifle) for about 27 years but im obviously still a little 'new' to shotguns and clay shooting...lol....it was actually the Saigas that got me interested....

Edited by Silverfox
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In that case...

 

CYLINDER 0.0 - SLUGS (the threaded bbl model usually comes with it!)

IMPROVED CYLINDER 0.2 (or 0.3) - SKEET

MODIFIED 0.5 - SKEET

FULL 1.0 - TRAP

 

It depends on how fast you shoot Skeet - if you shot it right when it leaves the "house" then IC is better, if you like to lead them a bit - then use MOD!

 

Normally, when I had an OVER & UNDER shotgun (my beloved Browning Citori Lighting Grade VI), I would install IC in one bbl and MOD in the other! It is easier to shoot doubbles this way! You get the flying away first with MOD and then the one that is comming towards you (it is really close to you now) with IC. But in S-12 we ony have 1 bbl so I use a MOD myself! :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

i do a lot of blasting, not so much hunting with my shotguns. I have one gun with rifled barrel that is used only for slugs. you wont have any rabbit left if you shoot one with that puppy...trust me on that one : ) as for what *I* prefer to use for clays and small game, i use a ported full choke turkey tube that was rethreaded for the saiga for me by a friend of mine. muzzle break AND full choke at once. they go for about 50 bucks and you need to have a machinist rethread them for the saiga, but that might be what you want for a choke. i swear by mine. takes down deer with buckshot at 75 yards as well as controllable patterns at the skeet range. I dont go for those short barreled shottys. I have one that i almost never use because it just seems to have less power and poorer patterns than my other shottys...so i would suggest either a factory full choke on the 22" bbl for what you are doing, with a cyl. choke for slugfest days...or just do what i did and get a seperate gun for slugs altogether. the rifled slug barrels shoot way better downrange than the plain bore on the saiga with the cyl. choke. the slugs will keyhole at long range on those smooth bores.

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