Quote:
Originally Posted by Stan Hillis
The late, great Michael McIntosh once wrote in a magazine article that, due to the improvements in ammunition (plastic shot cups and progressive burning powders) , choke boring is obsolete today. He was a great double gun writer and enthusiast but I have always suspected he occasionally wrote things to see what kind of "fallout" would occur.
Choke boring is certainly not obsolete, just ask pigeon shooters, crow shooters, dove hunters, turkey hunters, etc. I played the registered sporting clays game for over twenty years. I began by thinking I needed to swap screw-in chokes to match the station's presentations. I worked my way up to AA class, while at the same time searching for just the right gun. A Perazzi MX8 trap gun came my way, choked full and full. I swapped the buttstock to one more suitable for sporting, and had the chokes opened to .020" and .020"(M and M). I soon punched my way into M class shooting that gun, some 13 years ago. I still shoot it at sporting, though I no longer pursue the tournament "circuit", and have never questioned my choice. IMO, tight chokes will make a better shot out of you, all else being equal. Dust promotes self confidence, chips do not. Self confidence helps you get into the "zone".
|
Stan, and others, I don't doubt the veracity of the many comments about tight chokes and shooting clays, but my original post was focused on upland bird hunting. If the "smoke" so often cited equals an exploded bird with ruined meat, that doesn't build any confidence in me that I can bring home birds worthy of a good meal (and not waste something I consider precious).
Please don't get me wrong, I am not disagreeing with the statements about tight chokes and their relationship to promoting good shooting habits on clays. When you're in classic woodcock cover and you are able (not always the case) to raise the gun on a bird about to helicopter away at maybe 15 yards, give me open chokes. I might get the bird and in doing so, not ruin the meat (although any choke with a direct hit at close range is bad news for the night's dining).
And, if using open chokes was a remedy for poor shooting, the vast majority of guns offered to the public would have them, don't you think? Why has the standard choking on field guns evolved away from full/full to something more like ic/mod?
As I read Stan's post it also reminds me of a caveat I forgot to make at the outset -- my choke recommendations don't include the .410. I'll take Stan's recommendations on best chokes to use on doves.
I should also note that although I have come up with what I think might be the best choking for upland guns over a range of game, I very often shoot original condition guns that have tight chokes and am not willing to alter them out of respect for their originality.