Saiga-12 Choke

[Turbo.M777 11]

I've been looking at these chokes online today at work. Thinking about trying one. I have never had a choke before on any shotgun so I am inexperienced in this area.

 

http://www.carolinashooterssupply.com/product_p/sgm-choke-adpt-modified.htm

 

All I've learned is that chokes tighten groups and increase accuracy of slugs. I shoot a lot of lee slugs in addition to buckshot and target loads and an internet search brought up people having about half good/half bad results shooting slugs through a "full" choke. I am leaning toward the "modified" because of that.

 

Are there any cons to a choke? If not, then why isnt a "choke" just machined at the end of every shotgun barrel? From my research it doesnt appear that they wear out any faster than the barrel itself. Is it simply because people WANT a good spread of their pellets?

Edited July 12, 2013 by Turbo.M777

[evil85 16]

Most shotgun barrels have the choke diameter machined in. Or, like the saiga, some barrels are threaded to accept different chokes.

Choke diameter is changed to dial in the spread of the shot pattern to Taylor the gun for a specific shot type, size and range.

[renegade331 31]

I bought that set and love it. I've had no problem hammering clays with them. Cobra sells a pretty cool choke adapter that you ought to look into as well

[pedal2alloy 206]

Different chokes are for different things. Tighter chokes are for birdshot other types of shot. Slugs should have a more open choke like improved cylinder

[Turbo.M777 11]

Well, I went ahead and ordered the modified choke in the link from CSS. I figured I might as well try it. For science!

 

So what I'm understanding is that although chokes tighten your groups and accuracy, some applications you would actually WANT more spread which is why shotgun barrels arent machined with a permanent choke at the end. Amiright?

[gunfun 3,931]

Right. The idea behind chokes is to have the optimum concentration of shot in the biggest dense circle possible at a predicted target range.

 

Here is a primer on the topic. http://www.chuckhawks.com/dope_on_chokes.htm

 

A lazy way is to shoot a dusty backstop and see how big your dust cloud is and more importantly get a feel of the size where the dense area is in relation to your sight picture. I find that if people including myself are missing clay, it helps a lot to throw a milk jug out there and roll it around for a few shots to get your sense of aim to match what actually happens.

 

That page also has some extremely technical articles on choke performance.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/index2c.shotguns.htm (Scroll down to BARRELS, CHOKES AND PATTERNS:) Don't get mad if you find that math and science contradicts your opinions or proves that you've been sold some gunsmiths that makes no measurable difference. There was an interesting article there at one point that proposes a different patterning method than the normal 30" circle system.

 

 

 

The big idea is that if you know the size of your target area, and the range to shoot, you find the most open choke that is mathmatically certain to put at least 3 pellets within the size of your target.

 

Short story is shoot your chokes and find what puts the most evenly concentration of lead in the area you expect to shoot.

 

There is a tremendous amount of snake oil in choke marketing. In short, choke design was scientifically optimized a long time ago by W.W. Greener.(Something like 1860 IIRC) Current models are just minor variations on compromises between the Greener pattern and space requirements. Wad type can matter as much or more now, and some chokes are designed to work with wads, while others are designed to strip wads early. The only thing which can say one works better than the other is the lead on target.

 

I have been using the winchoke adapter cobra sells and am pretty pleased with the extended useful range I get with the tube marked "full". I also enjoy using a rifled paradox choke for slugs.

[Turbo.M777 11]

Right. The idea behind chokes is to have the optimum concentration of shot in the biggest dense circle possible at a predicted target range.

 

Here is a primer on the topic. http://www.chuckhawks.com/dope_on_chokes.htm

 

A lazy way is to shoot a dusty backstop and see how big your dust cloud is and more importantly get a feel of the size where the dense area is in relation to your sight picture. I find that if people including myself are missing clay, it helps a lot to throw a milk jug out there and roll it around for a few shots to get your sense of aim to match what actually happens.

 

That page also has some extremely technical articles on choke performance.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/index2c.shotguns.htm (Scroll down to BARRELS, CHOKES AND PATTERNS:) Don't get mad if you find that math and science contradicts your opinions or proves that you've been sold some gunsmiths that makes no measurable difference. There was an interesting article there at one point that proposes a different patterning method than the normal 30" circle system.

 

 

 

The big idea is that if you know the size of your target area, and the range to shoot, you find the most open choke that is mathmatically certain to put at least 3 pellets within the size of your target.

 

Short story is shoot your chokes and find what puts the most evenly concentration of lead in the area you expect to shoot.

 

There is a tremendous amount of snake oil in choke marketing. In short, choke design was scientifically optimized a long time ago by W.W. Greener.(Something like 1860 IIRC) Current models are just minor variations on compromises between the Greener pattern and space requirements. Wad type can matter as much or more now, and some chokes are designed to work with wads, while others are designed to strip wads early. The only thing which can say one works better than the other is the lead on target.

 

I have been using the winchoke adapter cobra sells and am pretty pleased with the extended useful range I get with the tube marked "full". I also enjoy using a rifled paradox choke for slugs.

Lots of good information! Thanks!

[gunfun 3,931]

Also, remember that switching loads will change the pattern.

 

 

Honestly, I don't get that technical about it for play. If I were going turkey hunting or something like that, then it would make a lot of sense to know what my furthest ethical shot would be/ what my most effective load is.

 

For me the practical effect of my full choke is moving my window of opportunity outward. So if we are casually shooting clays trap style, it gives me another 80 feet or so to shoot. This helps me to relax and not rush my shot. The way I set it up is first shot has no choke, followup has choke. So the more experienced shooter has enough range to clean up the misses, and the new guy has a wide spread up close.

 

With buckshot, it means that I have less holes in my pattern at my point of aim. So I get more hits. Nothing sucks more than aiming perfectly and seeing pellets kick dust in a perfect circle all around your target with your target perfectly in the center.