# choke tubes for steel shot



## CCCP (Jan 11, 2009)

I have a question . My firearm manufacturer "does not recommend" shooting steel through anything tighter than a modified choke. I plan to put Improved Modified (IM) and Full (F) chocks. I plan to use #2 or BB shot size for duck and geeze.u 

Can someone share what choke tubes he is using for steel and what is shot size ?


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## toasty (May 15, 2008)

Do not shoot that big steel shot through your factory IM and FULL chokes. They will swell and ruin the chokes and could potentially lock your choke into your barrel (trust me I know from experience).

There are a bunch of aftermarket choke like briley, carlsons, etc.. that you can safely shoot big steel shot through, however I would ask if you've patterned your loads your your factory mod and ic chokes? People think the tighter the choke the tighter the pattern, but that does not hold true for steel shot. When you get too tight, you pattern "blows up" and you get poor patterns with tight chokes especially with big steel shot.

The tightest patterning chokes for steel shot that I've seen are extended Mod and LM chokes like Carlsons or Brileys. Cabelas and sportsmans have them for about $30 and they are well worth the money.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

I shoot the Carlson choke Mod and i shot 3inch number 2's I was shooting 2 2/3 number 2's.My buddy shoots the Carlson full and he shoots 3inch number 2's and knocks the ducks dead.I also have the patten master short rang in my Remington and shot 3 1/2 number 2's and same with the other loads. I love both choke both well worth the money. The Carlson one is less money but as good as the pattern master.Can't go wrong with any one of these chokes.


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## Donttreadonme (Sep 11, 2007)

toasty said:


> Do not shoot that big steel shot through your factory IM and FULL chokes. They will swell and ruin the chokes and could potentially lock your choke into your barrel (trust me I know from experience).
> 
> There are a bunch of aftermarket choke like briley, carlsons, etc.. that you can safely shoot big steel shot through, however I would ask if you've patterned your loads your your factory mod and ic chokes? People think the tighter the choke the tighter the pattern, but that does not hold true for steel shot. When you get too tight, you pattern "blows up" and you get poor patterns with tight chokes especially with big steel shot.
> 
> The tightest patterning chokes for steel shot that I've seen are extended Mod and LM chokes like Carlsons or Brileys. Cabelas and sportsmans have them for about $30 and they are well worth the money.


I agree 100% with Toasty. This last weekend, I patterned my new (to me) Benelli Super Black Eagle and have the best pattern with 2 3/4" 1 oz #3's @ 1550 using my Kicks High Flyer Mod. The factory Mod was also a good pattern. With my 3" 1 1/8oz. #2's @ 1550 the Kicks Mod was also the best but the Factory IC also looked very good.

The only way to know what will work best FOR YOUR GUN is to pattern it on paper.


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2010)

i have a kicks high flyer xfull in my benelli SBEII. 3" 1 1/8oz #4s hold an awesome pattern from my gun, as well as the 3.5" #2s and BB.


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## CCCP (Jan 11, 2009)

Toasty
" however I would ask if you've patterned your loads your your factory mod and ic chokes"

No,
And I must be honest I don't know how to do it. Could you please explain how to do it ?


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

Take a large 3x3 or larger piece of butcher paper or cardboard and mark an aiming point on it, then draw a 30”circle around the aiming point. Fire one shot at the aiming point with your chosen load/choke at whatever range you choose. This will show the number of pellets your gun puts in that circle at that range and any holes in the pattern will be visible. Do it with all the loads you usually use and that will tell what load/choke combo works best in your gun. 

I like Briley chokes, but Carlson’s makes a good chokes too, I use both.


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## toasty (May 15, 2008)

Mojo1 said:


> Take a large 3x3 or larger piece of butcher paper or cardboard and mark an aiming point on it, then draw a 30"circle around the aiming point. Fire one shot at the aiming point with your chosen load/choke at whatever range you choose. This will show the number of pellets your gun puts in that circle at that range and any holes in the pattern will be visible. Do it with all the loads you usually use and that will tell what load/choke combo works best in your gun.
> 
> I like Briley chokes, but Carlson's makes a good chokes too, I use both.


Mojo pretty well summed it up nicely. I would add that there are some trap shooting ranges that have places to pattern your guns if you don't want to set it up by yourself. I've even seen some guys use newspaper to pattern on rifle shooting boards. Based on your shot size selection, you're looking for longer ranges, so I would pattern at 40 or 50 yards, that is where patterns really become evident and more important. Count up the pellets that hit inside of 30" and divide it by the total pellets. Most guys are looking for 75-85% patterns for longer shots. You also want to see the pattern is evenly disbursed throughout the 30".


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## kev (Feb 7, 2008)

I'll admit it's been a long time since I've bothered to pattern anything. I guess that can mostly be because I'm lazy and whatever I shoot always seems to be "good enough" for me. Kudo's to those who take the time and get the most out of their shooting system. 
For those of you that do alot of patterning, here's a trick that I learned a long time ago that may save you some time.

Get a 4' x 4' square of 10 ga steel from the local supply house. A touch spendy, but remember this is a long term deal. Paint it with white paint mixed with motor oil. It makes a nice solid target to shoot at and when your through "reading" your results you simply take the roller and roll over it again. The oil doesn't allow the paint to fully dry, so you can do this hundreds of times without having to re-paint. If you have somewhere you can leave it up, you can just leave it outside, and use it over and over. I put mine in a garbage sack when I was done. I used one "painting" for 3 years at one point.

Later,
Kev


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## huntingbuddy (Sep 10, 2007)

> ="dkhntrdstn" patten master shirt rang


 I am trying to figure out what a patternmaster shirt rang is. Is like a shirt phone or something. Just curious, I can't figure out what you are trying to say.

I have a Pattern Master Long Range for my Benelli M2, I shoot Kent 3" #2's and it pounds birds, it is freaking awesome but it is a little pricey. I took it pheasant hunting and shot #4's through it and I didn't have one pheasant run from me after I shot it. In fact I even had one literally land on my feet after I shot it. Get what works best for you.


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## BRL1 (Sep 12, 2007)

huntingbuddy said:


> [quote="dkhntrdstn" patten master shirt rang


 I am trying to figure out what a patternmaster shirt rang is. Is like a shirt phone or something. Just curious, I can't figure out what you are trying to say.[/quote]

You can't get Patternmaster Short Range out of that??


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

> BRL1 said:
> 
> 
> > huntingbuddy said:
> ...


 :lol: I grew up in the south and sometimes I can't understand what Dustin types, that's pretty sad!


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

BRL1 said:


> huntingbuddy said:
> 
> 
> > [quote="dkhntrdstn" patten master shirt rang
> ...


You can't get Patternmaster Short Range out of that??[/quote]

You got me.


Mojo1 said:


> > BRL1 said:
> >
> >
> > > huntingbuddy said:
> ...


Mojo yes it pretty sad.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

There I fixed it for you guys. :mrgreen:


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## CCCP (Jan 11, 2009)

Hey guys , English is my second language. :mrgreen: You lost me with your jokes a long time ago. But thanks anyway.


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