explain the chokes to me please!!!!

[Jeffery8mm]

Beginner shotgunner here!  I am about to start using a shotgun more often when i stalk heavy cover for deer.  I have a 20 gauge for my huntsman reciever and a 410.  I wont use the 410 but it fits into the question.  I also want to purchase a 12 ga when I find this all out!!  The 410 is a full choke and the 20 is a modified.  What in the world is the difference.  What is a cylinder bore???  What is best for deer?  Birds?  How far is the effective rane of a 12 or 20 ga with 3'' buckshot and what type of buckshot works best?? can you shoot slugs out of a smooth bore?  The buckshot is what i am really interested in to use in heavy cover for a moving deer.
Sorry for all of the ?? but If you want to know something you should ask the experts and that is what we guys are on the NEF, right!!
Thanks
Jeff

[jbtazgrabber]

ok ill try this....choke is taper of the bore at the very end of barrel...a 12 ga. full choke you canot put a dime in the muzzle end of barrel ,,,a mod. choke you can...choke is the patern of shot....no choke.close range weapon no pattern of shot...imp. cly good for quail that get up at your feet...mod...mid rangegood for 25 yds or so...full choke will keep most of shot together at 30 +yds...yes you can shoot slugs in a smooth bore shotgun ..most recomend no choke.but i have seen h&r full chokes shoooot them great...buckshot has very limeted range 25 +yards i shoot a full choke...but the pattern open at 30 yds and not much knock down power past that make sure its leagel to hunt with buckshot in your state....ok hope this helps for now....JB.

[jbtazgrabber]

i see your on now does this anser your questions??

[Jeffery8mm]

Yep it helps.  I know a little more now than i did 1 hr ago!!!
Did I see in the muzz forum that you wife killed a dear??  must be nice to have your wife hunt with you!!!
Thanks for the input

[Markus]

One thing you asked that I did'nt see answered was the question about slugs. You can shoot with good results foster type or rifled slugs as a lot of people call them. They are cheap and fairly accurate out to 60 or 70 yards. They have taken a lot of deer over the years. One of the best is the breneke (sp). Do a search for smooth bore slug gun. The shoot besst out of cylinder bore or IC. They will shoot fine out of a mod choke too. If you are going to send the receiver back for the 12ga barrel I'd opt for a barrel with screw in choke tubes. Another thing worth considering when selecting chokes is shot type. A general rule of thumb is that steel and some of the other non toxics pattern one choke tighter. The only real way to find out is to shoot it through your gun.

[Jeffery8mm]

thanks
 still a bit confused but that is my normal state!!
It will all work out.
Jeff

[Major]

Jeff,

Think about the nozzle on a garden hose.   You can change it to give a narrow column of water or a wide spray pattern.   That is how a shotgun choke works too.   Starting with the Extra Full Choke think of the shot as the tight column of water.   As you change to Full, then Modified, Improved Cylinder and Cylinder Chokes then the shot pattern opens up just like the spray from the water hose does.   Does that help at all?   That is how it works for shot pellets, for a slug you don’t want the restriction there so the closer to a straight cylinder you can get the better off the slug will shoot.

[ScatterGunner]

hi jeff -

don't get too worked up about what choke you are using. i don't. choke is a barrel constriction or taper that gives you a larger or smaller shot pattern. a cylinder bore, that is no choke, will give you the largest shot pattern. improved cylinder gives you a slightly smaller pattern letting you hit stuff that is farther away, modified and full chokes provide smaller patterns respectively.

most rookie wing hunters tend to over-choke. the tight chokes can help for those second long 'hail mary' shots when using SxS's, pumps, or autoloaders. my experience is that seldom do you bag a bird on the second or third shot based on choke. concern yourself with mounting the gun, getting on the bird, establish the proper lead, pulling the trigger and following through.

(if there was only one thing i could recommend to a freshman wingshooter, it would be to shot skeet low gun.)

if you're on, you have the right lead and the bird is within a reasonable range, it will fold up like an accordian, or book if you prefer. most newbies i hunt with show up with 3" 12 gauges sporting full chokes and a 1 3/8 ounce load of #4's. they usually blow up the first few birds to the point where the dogs have trouble finding the beaks and feet that may have hit the ground. bird-burger. i can say that i was guilty of all these things when i started out.

for birds from bobwhite to grouse, a 410 with 1/2 oz of #8's with work fine regardless of the choke as long as the bird is 10 - 20 yards away. if you do the "flush-bang !" and actually hit the bird, it does not matter what gauge, choke or shot size it, the bird will be toast. bird dioxide.

for pheasant, start out with 1 1/8oz of #6's in a 12 or 7/8 oz in a 20 gauge. as you get better at you can go to smaller shot size. less meat damage, etc.

i personally use a 410 with a full choke for all birds from bobwhite to pheasant. i hand load everything, bobwhites up to grouse get 1/2 oz of #8's while pheasants are treated to a special meal of 1/2 oz of #6 magnum shot.

so remember, for birds, don't worry about choke, barrel length, or your hair style. mount he gun fast, get on teh bird fast, use the proper lead, follow through, and learn dog control, these few items will fill your bag long before any effects of the choke you use will.

i am not a deer hunter, there are many guys here more qualified to talk about buck shot and slugs.

have fun !!!!

sg

[jbtazgrabber]

yes this is her first year hunting...she missed the first shot during black powder...she said it was DEER SEIZURES....thats buck feaver times three.... but the scope was full of water so sheusing open sights....but she hit the next two right in the kill zone....yes im lucky kindof....she  still has a tag and we have both killed 2 deer each......but ofcorse  SHE WANTS ANOTHER.....NOT INCLUDING the extra expence of her new clothes more powder bullets,primers,guns  binoks,a bigger freazer....but....i m LOVIN IT...JB

[Tcallbuilder]

generally speaking the tighter the choke is the denser the shot pattern will be allowing you to put more shot on target at longer ranges.

so, tight chokes like (full, extra full) are designed for still targets at longer ranges
open chokes like (cylinder, improved cylinder, modified) will open up shot patterns at closer ranges.....making fast moving targets easer to hit.

this holds true in most cases.....with a few notable exceptions.
I grew up hunting in a (shotgun only) county of Va. and did some testing with buckshot in different chokes.
I found middle of the road chokes (modified,improved modified) always held better patterns with heavy buckshot loads.

Theory being.....the tighter chokes compressed the shot to much at the muzzle, flatning out some of the beads which caused flyers.

Slugs always grouped better for me in the more open chokes as well.

If your looking to build a good deer shotgun.....then i would go with a barrel with a choke tube system, and pattern it with different chokes to see which shot the best patterns.

TCB

[Jeffery8mm]

Now I am starting to get it.  The water hose helped out!!  Im a simple kinda man! Looks like I will be buying a few boxes of buckshot and see what patterns best for me.  
Jeff

Scattergunner; If i ever do any bird hunting,  I feel as if I have a good headstart!!  Thank you sir for your advise.  Might be something to take up while waiting on deer season!
Thanks guys