Low scores and missed birds have you doubting your scattergun skills? Before you sell old Betsy, check your choke.

It was sitting on the end of a dead tree limb, about 30 yards from my full-choked, single-barreled 20-gauge shotgun, patiently waiting for me to fire. I cocked the hammer, placed the brass bead directly on my target and pulled the trigger. My load of #7-1/2s didn’t touch a bit of that tin can’s imaginary fur or feathers as they thundered into the dirt behind my metallic quarry du jour. At first, I blamed the miss on my first experience with a full choke.

It was a lesson that took two more shells for me to completely grasp. The next string of shot landed in the same place—as well it should have since my shotgun was pointed in exactly the same direction. The ripped up earth that fell a little low and slightly to the left of that can finally signaled to my 13-year-old mind that perhaps if I put that bright brass bead above and to the right of that empty can of sliced peaches, I might just connect with it. And with that third Remington shell I first taught myself about the importance of patterning.

Do not pass go, do not count those clay birds as dead until you read this…

If you want to shoot better, “the first thing you should do is pattern your gun,” said Briley Manufacturing’s general manager Chuck Webb.

A lot of times a simple stock adjustment is all that’s needed to get your gun shooting where you’d like it to. A good-fitting shotgun is the most important factor in shooting well according to Webb. And as a man with over 20 years in the aftermarket choke industry, he should know.

“When you get a new deer rifle, you don’t just slap a scope on it and go hunting,” quipped Carlson’s Chokes owner Scott Carlson, who’s been machining these steel tubes since 1988. Carlson went on to add that—as nearly all competitive shotgun shooters know—shotguns rarely shoot to point of aim right out of the box. “It’s usually close, but sometimes being off of your point of aim means the difference between getting your limit and coming home empty handed.”

Patterning, according to my informal research years ago with that tin can, as well as four of the largest aftermarket choke manufacturers, should be your first stop whether you’re looking to improve your skeet scores, bag a turkey further out than you did last spring, or even dust more rabbits—in the field or on the clays course.

Shotgun Patterns: Five shots and you’re out

Normally expressed as a percentage, shotgun patterns measure the number of pellets that fall within a circular area at a known distance. Patterns are typically recorded as a 30-inch circle at 40 yards, with the exception of cylinder bore chokes, some skeet chokes, and all chokes for the .410 bore, which are measured at 25 yards. So, in a 50 percent pattern, half of all the pellets contained in the shell will land within that 30-inch circle. To find the percentage of any given load, just divide the number of pellet holes inside the circle by the total number of pellets contained in the shell. You can get the approximate number of pellets in a shell from most reloading manuals or do it the old-fashioned way—carefully cut the sucker open and count the pellets; be sure to keep some aspirin handy if you go this route.

What you’re really doing here is looking for a choke that will throw a pattern that is as large as possible without having pellets far enough apart so that the target can escape multiple hits. With shotgun patterns, you’re not after a perfect pattern—which I don’t think that I’ve ever seen—you only need to get one that’s good enough. And for shooting game and clay targets, good enough translates into a pattern that is even in pellet distribution over the 30-inch circle. Two notable exceptions to this are buckshot and turkey patterns—in which you’re after a tight center cluster of pellets.

Five shots for each different flavor of shell AND choke, each fired into a fresh paper target is George Trulock’s preference for determining your pattern. Trulock, owner of—you guessed it—Trulock Chokes, has been patterning guns with his aftermarket chokes since 1982, and has a few thousand rounds advantage on the patterning board on most of us. Trulock’s advice continues—average out the results, and it’s a sure bet that you’ll know two vital facts about your gun: where it’s throwing the densest pattern, which is not always at the point of aim; and how well it patterns. And keep in mind that even identical shotguns with the same choke firing the same shell may not pattern the same. Your patterns will change when anything in the shell change—whether it’s a different wad, powder, or primer, added Trulock. Patterning isn’t a quick process, but you’ll be glad you put in the time when you manage to take that tom cleanly in the fall.

Take two and call me in the morning

When it comes time to shop for extra chokes, you’ll find them offered in either a flush or extended mount. You’ll likely see a good bit of difference in patterning between the two when compared to your factory system, especially with the extended chokes. To understand why, you need to understand a bit about how chokes work.

The cross-section of a typical choke goes something like this. The portion of the tube that goes into your bore first (towards the chamber end) is a few thousands of an inch less in diameter than your bore, which prevents the shot charge from impacting on the bottom edges of the choke and eventually sealing it into your bore by grinding the threads together. Next there is a gradual necking down of the choke walls up to the stated constriction of your choke. And finally, towards the muzzle end is a parallel section in which the diameter of the choke stays the same. It’s this parallel section, or rather the length of it, that will be the dominant factor in determining how well your choke patterns—this portion of the choke stabilizes your shot charge as it leaves the barrel. “If you’re looking to get the best patterns out of your shotgun, you want an extremely long parallel section,” said Randy Mitchell, owner of Seminole Gun Works, in the authoritative voice of a man who’s seen many improvements in the choke industry throughout the course of his career. Mitchell recommends no less than a one-inch long parallel section.

And interestingly enough, most manufacturers have taken this lesson to their product line. Shotgun manufacturers tend to follow what our industry develops in short order, affirmed Webb. You really don’t see anybody making chokes the length of the old Browning Invector or Winchester systems, which came in right around an inch in overall length—much too short to take advantage of the one-inch parallel section recommendation. We’ve learned a lot since those systems came out, and nowadays the trend is definitely to use extended chokes, he added. Somewhere right around 2-3/4 inches is the optimal overall choke length according to Webb.

“The main reason most people want aftermarket chokes is because they want more variety than what came with their gun, or they want a better quality choke,” said Briley’s Webb.

But what makes for a better choke?

Materials. When you’ve got hundreds of pellets screaming down your barrel at over 1,000 FPS, you don’t want to worry about your choke being your weakest link. Look for something guaranteed to take the heat—all of the chokes offered by the manufacturers quoted herein are made from 17/4 stainless steel (one even offers titanium chokes, which are just as strong and shave off a few ounces of weight), which in most cases translates into a choke that will take much more abuse than your barrel. In fact, according to Webb: “The hottest shotgun shells now produce about 15,000 PSI. The average barrel will burst at around 85-95,000 PSI, and our 17/4 stainless steel chokes will typically burst at 175,000 PSI.” Not something I’d recommend you test for yourself, but it gives you an idea of the safety margins built into those tubes.

Porting. If recoil drives you up the wall, by all means look for an extended choke with porting. Will you feel a difference? Well, the jury seems unclear on that issue. “Personally, I don’t feel a significant difference. However, I’ve had customers who are sensitive to recoil who tell me that they can feel the change,” said Trulock. My contacts at Briley, Carlson, and Seminole Gun Works echoed similar sentiments. In short, if recoil is an issue for you, every bit helps. Keep in mind though that ported tubes get dirty quicker and increase perceived muzzle blast.

Matching your choke to your barrel diameter. Some manufacturers will make custom chokes for your shotgun based on its exact bore diameter measurement. Because they’re paired to a specific gun, if you sell that Beretta 682, you’ll need to let the chokes go with it. This is a valid option if you shoot competitively or are obsessed with patterning your gun to perfection. You will see a difference when using tubes made for your precise diameter compared with using tubes that are sized for your model’s average bore diameter, but in most cases, it won’t be enough of a change to impact the way you shoot in any significant way. Custom chokes typically add a few dollars to your price tag, so only your level of competitive drive and your checkbook will tell you if this is an option for you.

Okay, what do I pick?

“That’s probably the most frequent question that we get here,” said Seminole Gun Works’ Randy Mitchell. “And all I say to the person on the other end of the phone is ‘Tell me what you’re shooting.’ and I can give them just what they need.”

“If I could pick only three chokes, I’d have a Skeet 1, Skeet 2 (light modified) and an improved modified,” reasoned George Trulock. “My thinking here is these chokes will work quite well for all upland and small game hunting with the right shell behind them. They do good work with steel shot for waterfowl shooting and with the improved modified with Hevi-Shot for turkey hunting, you could do alright if you picked your shots.”

Clay shooters take note. Briley’s Chuck Webb is ready for you. “There’s really no set of chokes that will be perfect for every course. I typically recommend a six-pack that will handle nearly everything that you’re likely to encounter.” Webb’s set includes: skeet (2); improved; light modified; modified; and improved modified.

Turkey, Waterfowl, and Non-toxics, oh my

First off, if you’re shooting steel or anything other than lead, take the time to verify that whatever choke you want to use is rated to handle the extra stress. The reason is this: steel shot is much harder than lead and will transmit much more energy to the choke when it strikes the choke’s constriction. If the tube is not designed to handle this additional stress, it will deform, and may become wedged in there permanently.

So what about trying to hit something with steel, or any of the array of non-toxic shot materials currently available to waterfowl hunters? What you may not realize about most modern non-toxic shot is that it patterns extremely tight, and as a consequence; you have to open up your choke to compensate. “In a lot of cases all you need is a skeet choke,” advised Mitchell.

Full choke is just too tight for waterfowl nowadays, agreed Webb. With the steel and hevi-shot loads out there today, in most cases all you really need on the end of your barrel is a light modified choke. If you’re after geese, you might want to step up to improved modified. Full choke is reserved for real long-range shooting—like pass shooting geese—to Webb’s way of thinking.

For turkey hunting, you’ll got a different objective—an extremely tight central pattern. “Our three most popular chokes have exit diameters of .670, .665 and .660,” said Trulock, who added that some guns prefer a .680. “We also make a .650 and .640 but they’re better suited to card shooting as you need to use smaller shot like #8,” Trulock said. The most important lesson here is the following: the smallest exit diameter does not always give the densest pattern. Trulock said that they find that smaller exit diameters tend to make for more erratic patterns. “We’ve patterned hevi-shot extensively, and get really good results with their #6 shot with our .670 turkey choke. In fact we had several patterns going 60% at 70 yards with #2 shot.” Additionally, Trulock suggests the following for gobblers: .670—#4 lead and #6 hevi-shot; .665—#5 lead; and .660—#6 lead.

The only choke you need

Is the one that works in your gun for what you’re trying to hit—whether it’s clays or doves, turkeys or tin cans. All manufacturers will be able to give you a starting point if you’re unsure yourself of what you might need; after playing around with chokes from all of the aftermarket manufacturers interviewed herein, you won’t go wrong no matter whom you pick. I gave each manufacturer the same hunting and clay shooting scenarios when I spoke with them—each recommended a choke constriction that closely matched the recommendation of their competitors. The important thing to remember—the only way to significantly increase your chances of success—is to spend some time on the range and pattern that gun. Shoot till you don’t want to shoot no more, as my dad always used to tell me. It’s supposed to be fun after all.

Choke Constriction Guide

The following are the generally accepted measurements of choke constriction. Note that some manufacturers use slightly different amounts of constriction; the list is in order from least to most constriction.

1. .000″ Cylinder
2. .005″ Skeet
3. .010″ Improved
4. .015″ Light Modified
5. .020″ Modified
6. .025″ Improved Modified
7. .030″ Light Full
8. .035″ Full
9. .040″ Extra Full
10. .045″+ Turkey

Source List

• Briley Manufacturing, Inc.: 1230 Lumpkin, Houston, Texas 77043; 713-932-6995; www.briley.com
• Carlson’s Chokes: 720 South Second Street, PO Box 162, Atwood, Kansas 67730; 785-626-3700; www.choketube.com
• Little Skeeters: 633 Commerce Street, Thornwood, New York 10594, 914-769-5509; www.littleskeeters.com
• Seminole Gun Works: 3049 U.S. 1,, Mims, Florida 32754; 800-980-3344; www.seminolegun.com
• Trulock Chokes: 113 Drayton Street, Whigham, Georgia  39897; 800-293-9402; www.trulockchokes.com

Sub-gauge options

There’s something about using one shotgun to fire several gauges that’s always appealed to me. It’s not like I don’t already have enough trouble cleaning a round of skeet on a regular basis, but should that day ever arrive, I’d like to shift from a 12 to a 20 gauge with as little readjustment as necessary. I’d like to use the same gun if possible, and that’s an increasingly popular option for many competitive shooters. The numbers of hunters giving shooting sub-gauge shells in their guns in growing as well. There are two basic systems available that will let you shoot almost any smaller gauge in your current over-and-under. A full-length tube set, made of aluminum with steel chambers and functioning ejectors, like those offered by Briley is the most elaborate and effective option. This kind of system is also usually the heaviest, and they cost a good bit more than competing chamber insert systems, though for the serious competitor, they can’t be beat.

The chamber insert, which uses your shotgun’s original barrels to fire whatever gauges you’d like works better than you might think. Looking at the patterns produced by shooters using Little Skeeters, for example, I was very surprised to see pellet counts and more importantly, decent pellet distribution, that would easily break clay birds at skeet shooting distances. Seminole Gun Works also offers their Chambermates, an insert similar to the one offered by Briley.