Travis Mason (at right) can walk, talk and splice a line at the same time. With over 20 years in the Navy and a job he loves, his passion comes across readily while he’s explaining life in the forecastle of the USS Nimitz. Note the line on the floor he’s preparing for an upcoming underway replenishment of aviation fuel. (photo by author)
Amidst 350-pound anchor chain links and directly above USS Nimitz’s twin gold-painted 60,000-pound anchors, you will find Travis Mason in the forecastle.
The forecastle (pronounced folks ul) of an aircraft carrier for those unused to mariner-speak is in the bow (or front) of the ship.
Mason spoke with passion about the training he gives to the crew he oversees—a whopping 40% of whom are new to him every year.
Loud, very loud is how Mason described the noise of the anchor chains going out.
I have a hard time imagining what 40% turnover looks like, never mind what it does for job efficiency. Mason isn’t phased though, perhaps because over his 20 plus years in the Navy, he’s learned how to make things work. “We do a lot of training,” he says.
Interspersed with his commentary, a primal rumbling, rattling and screeching indicated that the steam catapults above our heads were launching aircraft…a lot of them. Imagine a screeching fan belt, banging metal trash can lids at near deafening volume; shake the ground you’re standing on and add heavy, feel-it-in-your-chest bass—that’s as close to what a catapulting aircraft feels like in the forecastle as I can describe. Mason just smiles the whole time. “Yeah, that happens a lot. Seems to happen whenever I’m talking in here.” He smiles again and continues splicing a hemp line.
As you’d imagine, the forecastle was spotless, each chain link painted a gloss black. He detailed an aircraft carrier’s anchoring procedure—with the ship in a slow reverse, the anchors are dropped, followed by link after link after link of chain. “It’s the chain that really holds the ship in place,” he explained. The ship will swing around on her anchor chains through the night; special swivels built into the chain prevent them from getting tangled.
And how does one coil the massive links when they are pulled back into the ship? It’s not an issue at all says Mason. “They pretty much take care of themselves.” They are so large, he says, that they’ve never gotten tangled and he doesn’t see how they ever could.
Spotless, well-painted and everything in its place. Mason said that as soon as the anchors come up, his sailors are cleaning and then painting the chains.
Mason’s hands were busy splicing a line together the majority of the time he spent with us. Hearing him speak so openly about the love he has for his job and the fact that after his upcoming retirement he’s going to be “doing the same thing, just not for the Navy” in the Pacific Northwest that he will soon call home made me smile—as well as the advice he has for the crew working for him—“I know they don’t all want to stay here. So I want to see them do what makes them happy.”
I attempted the bowline on a bight that his whirling hands effortlessly produced, but I need a few more decades of practice to even come close to Mason.
| Thanks to the United States Navy for the opportunity to visit the USS Nimitzand see and experience first-hand what life aboard looks like. |
As Captain Kevin Lenox of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz tells it, everyone will get their chance to be the most important person on this 1,092-foot, 4.5 acre floating piece of American sovereign territory.
And at about 2 a.m. on July 13th, 2019 one sailor did just that. Noting a slight clicking noise on the number 2 shaft, he called it in and the shaft was shut down to prevent any damage. “At that moment, that sailor was the most important person on this ship,” said Lenox. “I can’t be everywhere and I rely on everyone working here to do their jobs.”
(at right, Captain Kevin Lenox of the USS Nimitz. photo by author)
Climbing up and down a tight ladder way to check each of the four engine shafts is something that you can either speed through in 45 minutes and then take a 15 minute break or you can do the job thoroughly like the sailor did today explained Lenox.
A scheduled refueling of 1.5 million gallons of aviation fuel was delayed but Lenox was unconcerned. I need a driver “who can keep it to half a degree” and with one propeller shaft shut down, it makes the job considerably harder, said Lenox, adding that he regularly meets with groups of crew-members new to the ship and reminds them that at some point, each one of them will be the most important person on the Nimitz.
| Thanks to the United States Navy for the opportunity to visit the USS Nimitzand see and experience first-hand what life aboard looks like. |
After a year of daily use, I’m reluctantly retiring these.
La Sportiva markets the Akyra GTX as an “all weather running machine” and I can’t disagree.
These shoes have a welded TPU upper, an aggressive “Trail Rocker2” outsole, a La Sportiva “Ortholite” insole and a waterproof and breathable Gore-Tex lining.
After a year of slogging through streams, hiking in mountains and malls, facing snow on the trail and icy runoff in parking lots, I’m still a fan of this shoe. The sole grips well on everything but wet rocks and the tread compound holds up well over time.
I much prefer a shoe with a long-wearing tread compound that slips on slippery things over one that only sometimes loses its grip but wears down and soon needs replacing because the lack of any meaningful tread makes it begin to slip. It makes sense to me that I may slip on slippery things and I plan my route and speed accordingly. Even sticky soles slip, and often when you are least expecting it; I don’t like those kinds of surprises.
Gore-tex and I are not always on the best of terms. It’s almost always kept water out, but my issues have always revolved around how much dampness it keeps in. Through much experience, I’m a skeptic of the breathability claims of any fabric.
My feet sweat. A lot. After years of losing battles to athlete’s foot, several years ago I switched to wearing wool socks. All. The. Time. Problem solved. However, Gore-Tex footwear can still keep my feet uncomfortably damp at times. These shoes were the exception to my usual experience. My feet stayed dry with minimal dampness no matter the activity; the obvious exception being when water, ice or snow managed to get into the top of the shoe. Wool socks help with that too.
The Akyra fits well, has stayed stiff where I want it too (primarily the heel), grips underfoot well, is waterproof and vented my foot moisture adequately. It was a great shoe and I highly recommend it.
I’ve replaced the Akyra’s with La Sportiva’s Lycan GTX shoe, which I’ve read good things about. If it proves as comfortable and stable as the Akyra, they have another winner on their hands.
Tools that work well are beautiful. Tools that almost work well are irritations. Sometimes the difference between the two can be measured in hundredths of an inch.
I’ve been carrying a Benchmade 940. When the knife is open the blade length and shape are perfect for what I ask of it, it’s small and locks securely. In fact it was perfect for me with one exception…I couldn’t open the damn thing. My thumb would consistently slip off the stud, resulting in a blade that sometimes would open halfway, sometimes would open just fine and sometimes wouldn’t deploy at all. Tools that work well are beautiful, but my 940 was not.
Not wanting to give up on it, I searched the inter-web for a solution. In some obscure knife forum posting that I have since lost track of, someone had a similar complaint about this knife–their large thumbs didn’t play well with the thumb-stud. What’s more, this was not the typical “I’m just here to complain” posting because this guy had a solution. He took the wider and larger thumb-stud from a Benchmade 950 and put it on his 940. Problem solved.
Hmmm. But unlike this poster, I don’t have a seemingly endless supply of every knife produced by Benchmade.
So I emailed Benchmade and politely asked two things. If they would be kind enough to send me a deep carry clip for this knife (because I like how their folding knives ride in my pocket with this clip) and I also explained my issue with this almost perfect tool and asked to purchase a thumb stud for their 950 model so that I could change it out.
Shortly thereafter I heard back from Katherine at Benchmade who said she would put both parts in the mail to me, no charge. Great customer service from them, again.
Fast forward a week later and the parts arrive. I install the deep-carry clip and thumb-stud; the knife and my thumbs have been in sync ever since.
The new stud is oh-so-slightly wider and has a constant diameter all the way to the end unlike the original, it’s black (the original was silver) and stands proud of the sides of the knife (the original was narrower than the scales). So aesthetically, maybe it’s not as nice as the original. However, my 940 now opens every time I ask it to; that is a beautiful thing.
I recently came across a few articles in long-ago editions of Fine Woodworking on Shaker furniture. The simplicity, solid construction and good looks spoke to me.
The final finish coats are going on my attempt at Chris Becksvoort’s Shaker stool (Fine Woodworking issue #231). Making it with hand tools, as Chris suggests you do, was humbling.
Sawing a straight line is surprisingly difficult. I feel no shame admitting that I’m still not there. My lines meander. They slope. They feature a multitude of angles that are not supposed to be there.
I conversed with myself in French when chiseling the 1/8″ deep dados. Cutting two shallow grooves into the bottom of a board. Such a seemingly simple thing that requires patience, practice and persistence. I’m still working on the first of those.
I understand why a coping saw has that name. In shaking my head at my attempts to saw a curve, I found myself smiling and occasionally laughing out loud. The piece that eventually fell from the first leg resembled half of a shark’s jaw. The second was much the same. Please don’t tell Chris, but I cheated here and used a spindle sander to smooth the curves. (I’d do it again too.)
When the glue was dry and the clamps came off, the block plane came out. Crooked joints, roughly hewn mortises and angles that approached–but never quite reached–the intended 90 degrees were forgotten. Time stopped with the subdued swish, swish of wood shavings falling to the bench. I picked them up and held them, marveling at tenon shavings of translucent end grain.
Holding the stool, I can note the progression of my improvements. One dado has sharper shoulders than the other. Each piece of corner bracing showcases my progress towards my someday goal of sawing a straight line.
My wife said “It’s beautiful!” when she saw my stool. In writing my thoughts down today, I realize (again) that she’s right. It is. We all have flaws and loose joints. If only it was as easy to fix our imperfections as it is to acquire the skills of a master woodworker. Again, in writing my thoughts down, it occurs to me that perhaps it is: with patience, practice and persistence.
Covered in this article: • What is a magazine extension? • Overview of the procedure • Drilling vs peening • Step by step • Next up
What is a magazine extension? A magazine extension adds the ability to store additional shotgun shells in the magazine already on your pump or semi-automatic shotgun. You can choose, one, two or more rounds of additional capacity. For the Remington Tac-14, I chose a one round extension because it ends up even with the muzzle.
Overview of the procedure Always make sure any firearm you are working on is unloaded. Then check again. Keep any ammunition out of reach. If you are not comfortable working on firearms, then don’t. Seek qualified help. Any modifications you perform are at your own risk.
This is a simple procedure. You remove the barrel, get rid of the detent in the factory magazine tube and then screw on the magazine extension. Done.
Drilling vs peening There are two ways to remove the detent in the factory magazine tube. Drilling it out produces metal shavings, must be done with a reasonable amount of accuracy and permanently leaves two holes in your magazine. Peening can be reversed if desired, doesn’t leave any holes and if performed with a minimum amount of skill only takes two minutes. I prefer peening; you may not.
Step by step 1. Always make sure any firearm you are working on is unloaded. Then check again. Keep any ammunition out of reach. If you are not comfortable working on firearms, then don’t. Seek qualified help. Any modifications you perform are at your own risk. If you screw up and scratch or break something, it’s not my fault. If you follow my instructions and it doesn’t work out for you, it’s still your fault. We’ll be working with springs so wear safety glasses…eyeballs are expensive to repair.
2. Unscrew the barrel retaining nut. Set it aside.
Remove that retaining nut.
3. Rack the action about halfway open.
4. Look at the black plastic cap protruding from the magazine tube. If you push it in slightly and rotate it 90 degrees it will come out. Keep ahold of it so it doesn’t wander off under spring pressure. Set it aside and remove the spring.
Remove the spring retainer.
5. Now we need to remove the magazine follower. It’s bright orange plastic. I find it easiest to use the the spring and push it out. So grab that spring, push the loading gate up and out of the way and then push the follower out of the magazine tube with the spring. The follower may or may not push out. You may have to rotate it so that it can pass the detents in the magazine tube. Remove the spring and set both parts aside.
There’s the follower. Hard to miss, right?Use the spring to help remove the follower.Look at the follower. You may need to re-orient it so that it clears the detents in the tube.It’s out. Set these parts aside.
6. Now you’re ready to remove the dimples on the magazine tube. You will need a hammer (I prefer a dead blow mallet), a suitably-sized socket (it should just barely slide into the end of the tube), a small punch with a flat end, a larger flat-nosed punch (about 1/4″ would work) and grease.
7. Lightly grease the thick end of the socket and the inside of the magazine tube by the dimples.
This is the “thick” side of the socket–the side the attaches to your socket wrench; there is more metal here than the nut side of the socket. Using this end of the socket lessens the possibility of you bending or crushing your socket. With a quality socket, this is very unlikely to happen.
8. Insert the socket into the magazine tube. Secure the Tac-14 in a vice if you need to (use a towel so it doesn’t get scratched) or hold it with your other hand.
Socket and tube are greased and the socket is inserted.
9. Hammer the socket in until it passes the dimples. It will most likely get stuck there…this is normal and expected. The next step will free it.
10. Take the small punch and, with the action carefully secured, hammer each dimple in several areas to flatten it against the socket. Once you have successfully done this on each side, the socket will slide free. Keeping the socket behind the dimples, go over each area again with the larger punch, this will smooth out the dimples even more. Verify that you are happy with the inside clearances and that a shotgun shell (use an empty one) will freely move past where the dimples were.
After the second round of peening, the dimples should be relatively smooth.
11. Set your tools aside. You can cold blue the marks on the magazine tube if you want.
12. You’ll need to use the new follower and spring that most likely comes with your extension kit. I used a kit by Scattergun Technologies (SGET-V-1).
13. Insert the follower, thick end first.
14. Install the barrel then put the wave washer on.
15. The new spring goes next. Below is an image of the new longer spring compared to the factory length one.
16. Screw on the new magazine tube retaining cap. Verify that you are happy with how the plus one extension functions.
What is it? What would you use this for? That’s a short barrel How to shoot the Tac-14 Next up
What is it? “The shortest allowable distance between powerless and prepared.” is how the Remington website describes the Tac-14. Based on Remington’s popular and proven model 870 action, this 12-gauge pump action firearm (not a shotgun) weighs 5 pounds 10 ounces empty.
The Tac-14 has a capacity of four plus one and an overall length of 26.3.” Its 14″ barrel has a cylinder bore and a bead front sight. It will accept 2-3/4″ or 3″ shells. The Tac-14 is available in 12- or 20-gauge.
A Magpul MOE forend and a Raptor pistol grip provide the control points.
The 12-gauge Tac-14 weighs 5 pounds, 10 ounces empty.
Designed to meet minimum firearm requirements before National Firearms Act (NFA) rules take effect, the Tac-14 is sold as a firearm and not a shotgun. Those same NFA rules apply should you consider altering this firearm in any way. Know the law before you attempt any upgrades.
The Tac-14 is not a new concept. I won’t touch on the who created it conversation, but Serbu Firearms (with a beautiful NFA firearm), Mossberg and probably some others have already entered this space.
Just like with any firearm, certain modifications may render the Tac-14 subject to NFA regulations. Know the law before you change anything.
What would you use this for? The Tac-14 falls squarely in the self-defense market. It’s maneuverable, light and holds five rounds. Whether you’re looking for a firearm for home defense, a tool to fend off grizzly bears when fishing or exploring in Alaska or need something in your RV to ensure your family is protected, I can see the Tac-14 in any of those scenarios.
That’s a short barrel Yes, it is. Know where your hands are at all times. Especially during rapid fire strings, it’s possible to have your hand slip off the forend…with the end of the barrel so close, bad things could happen. Use common sense when learning to shoot this firearm. For improved retention and peace of mind, grip tape is available for the MOE forend as well as straps that attach via M-LOK hardware. I don’t find a strap necessary, grip tape works well for me. Those with less grip strength may find the strap aids in retention. A retention strap ships with Remington’s semi-automatic version of this firearm, the Tac-13.
It’s short, yes. But with practice it’s manageable, fun and accurate at defensive distances.
How to shoot the Tac-14 The Tac-14 is a surprisingly fun firearm to shoot. I think everyone’s first thought is to fire this from the hip. Sure that’s one way to go, but not what I’d recommend. When the firearm is at the outer reaches of your arms (picture a pendulum) it’s more likely to do things that you don’t want it to. I don’t know you or your skill level, so the following should be attempted at your own peril. My recommended technique is to bring the Tac-14 up to eye level and use opposing forces to keep everything under control. Firmly hold the portion of the forend closest to you and push forward with your left hand (for right-handed shooters) while using your right hand to securely hold the pistol grip and pull it rearward. You’ll be able to sight down the barrel and with practice it becomes an accurate way to shoot the Tac-14. Additionally, this technique keeps your forward hand as far from the muzzle as is practical. It’s a 12-gauge, so the recoil is noticeable; if you’re reasonably fit and take your time, it’s not unbearable. Managed recoil 2-3/4″ loads are especially well-behaved. As with any firearm, know how to safely operate it, know your abilities and practice, practice, practice. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
Sources: Mossberg Firearms www.mossberg.com Remington Arms Company www.remington.com Serbu Firearms www.serbu.com
About this review: This Tac-14 was personally acquired. I have not received any compensation for this review.
You’ve downed your animal and are ready to start cleaning it. You’re probably realizing (or remembering) that from here on out, the fun part is over and it’s work. Your next steps will determine just how much work you’ve signed yourself up for.
The work begins after your animal is down.
I’m on foot; I’ve hiked supplies to last me 10 days several miles into the national forest in Colorado. In and out, it’s all on my back…no horses, no ATVs, no vehicles. By far the best method is hunting with friends who have no problem helping whomever is successful hike out their meat. With this kind of help you may only have to make one trip. But even one trip can be a nightmare if your meat isn’t optimally loaded.
The end result
My goal is to be comfortable. I want to be pain-free before, during and especially after the hunt. That goal infuses every decision I make. In the context of packing out my animal, I’ve made the important decisions in advance. I’ll be boning out all of the meat. If I’ve shot a bull or buck, my preference is always for a European mount, so I’ll only need the head. So how do you best get over 200 pounds of meat and an elk head out of the woods?
Most important question
Where are you going to put it? Backpackers carry substantial loads every day and place their heaviest items—food, stove fuel and bear canisters—high and tight to their spine. Learn from their example. Moving the weight to the absolute bottom of your pack bangs into your butt with each step, overworks your hip flexors and leg muscles and saps strength fast. Strapping the meat to the outside of an already loaded pack shifts your center of balance comically far; I’ve seen hunters compensate with nearly 45 degrees of forward lean, which guarantees a nasty, miserable trek. Meat is very heavy and often leaks a lot of blood when compressed in your pack. If you’re with me on loading high and tight to the spine, a thick, unscented black trash bag keeps the blood from soaking anything else in your pack.
I don’t use the “meat shelves” that are all the marketing rage on packs. They don’t put the weight where it needs to be for miles of hiking with lots of vertical gain and loss.
Your options
Game bags. My shoulders and quads still tingle from memories of hauling my first elk out with game bags made from stretchy cheesecloth material. Everyone I’ve ever hunted with has a set of these bags and for quartering an animal or undoubtedly every situation where you are not strapping the meat to your pack they work. When you place them in your pack the stretchy material immediately transforms into meat bowling balls that limbo their way to the bottom of your pack. They are hard to strap in place and I don’t recommend them for packing meat out for any serious distance. To cure the problem of excessive material stretch, I tried a synthetic game bag designed for boned out meat that had minimal give. What I didn’t anticipate was that these bags—over a foot wide by 30 inches in length—are simply too broad to secure in my pack. Again I’m sure I’m not the ideal user for this bag…what I want to accomplish is a little more extreme.
What I finally found is a strong silnylon sack make by Kifaru that measures 9” wide by about 24” long…it holds an honest 70 pounds of meat and has a strap that will allow you to–strength permitting–pull it up a tree for drainage and critter protection. I put jackets, sleeping bags or whatever I can under the vertically oriented meat bag to support it and keep it as high and tight to my spine as possible. And with the meat in the trash bags, nothing leaks on my gear.
Summary
For comfortably packing meat out and hiking miles to make that happen—with multiple round trips—keep the meat in a tall, narrow tube. Pack the meat in your pack, tight to your spine about midway up your back extending up towards your neck. Following this formula won’t negate the fact that you have another 70 or more pounds on your back, but it will maximize your chances of being able to make multiple trips without reaching for an excessive amount of ibuprofen when it’s all over.
At the end of the hunt the difference between a great pack and a just okay one will save (or trounce) you. Learn from my mistakes and both your body and wallet will thank you.
With sixty pounds of elk meat on my back in addition to my normal load of the survive-the-night stuff and four miles to go to the cooler in the back of the truck, I’m looking at the Colorado mountain stream in front of me with less than my usual enthusiasm. While perhaps not plunging, the water is quickly threading its way down a steep, rock-covered narrow gorge. Dead trees have been strategically thrown across the stream at waist or chest height. This should be fun.
It was round one of a tough hike made harder by a pack that wasn’t fully up to my expectations. Add in that I should have loaded the pack better, and I was in lots of pain after the second trip the following morning for the last of the meat. I avoided a third agonizing round trip because my friend Dave carried a load out with me the previous day.
Packs
Daypacks range in size from miniscule to about 2,000 cubic inches (ci). They usually have a minimal amount of padding and lack a hard frame of any sort to transfer weight. Midrange packs come in from 2,000-4,000 ci and large multi-day packs start at 4,000 ci and can run to 7,000 ci or even larger. These two packs (mid-and multi-day) usually incorporate an internal (or external) frame to help transfer heavy loads from your back to your hips which helps tremendously with long-term comfort. These size ranges aren’t set in stone; I just want to give you an idea of the three sizes I’ll be writing about.
Daypacks: Little wonders…
Daypacks keep your essential gear when beginning your hunt from a cabin or a vehicle. Just large enough to get you through the day, they’ll hold rainwear, survival gear, food, water and whatever else you like to keep with you. They are svelte, lightweight and designed to carry small loads. I’ve managed to backpack many miles in and then hunt for a week from a daypack. It wasn’t ideal and it wasn’t very comfortable on the hike in or out (not to mention loading it with elk meat) but I made it work.
Midrange and Multi-Day: Packs with a backbone…
Midrange and multi-day packs are very similar, usually it’s only a matter of size that sets them apart…think small SUV vs large SUV. The step up here is that these packs usually feature an internal frame structure that drastically increases the amount of weight you can comfortably carry. The trade-off is that they are larger and a little heavier than daypacks. With a well-made pack in this class, the only limit to the weight you can haul is usually your level of fitness. I’ve hauled 70 pounds of meat with ease and gone on winter camping excursions where my load was well over 100 pounds.
Packs need to stand up to all kinds of abuse. Including getting gnawed on by curious pine squirrels.
What are you looking for?
At this stage, there is no shame in not knowing what you are after. In fact, that mindset is advantageous. Let me say it now: The perfect pack doesn’t exist. I’m fine with that. I do lots of different things outside–photography; mountain biking; backpacking with the kids; hunting for squirrels or elk or geese–and no one pack will help me to do all that. It’s about expectations and compromise.
Are you hunting from a cabin? Hiking in from a parked car? Or packing in all of your gear and setting up base camp miles from the road? How comfortable do you have to be? Can you still deal with using a daypack when you have to carry out an elk quarter—four times? Can you handle the size and weight of a larger pack for day hunting, even if you don’t harvest an animal? Are you hunting where it’s flat or where you need to traverse steep ridges all day?
What works for me…may not for you
I prefer to hike in several miles to be closer to the animals, further from hunters and closer to where I think the action will be. I’ll camp out for a week or more if need be. I’ve done this with a daypack but don’t recommend it. Cramming all of my gear into and onto a small pack isn’t fun, fast or comfortable, never mind how it feels to haul out as much of your animal as you can and then repeat until done. I’ve moved on to a large multi-day pack with ample room for everything I want to bring–after I down my animal and debone it, I can immediately carry meat back to base camp. I’ve downed an elk within a football field of tree line and had to traverse hundreds of feet up and down and back again over several miles just to get the meat to our base camp. Being able to haul as soon as I’m done deboning the animal and having a pack that makes repeating this process comfortable is extremely important.
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.
Skeet, sporting clays shooters and hunters alike may want to investigate ordering a set of custom choke tubes, available from several manufacturers. Custom tubes offer you an advantage in that they are keyed to your gun’s precise bore diameter, not a general measurement. As a result your patterns will improve, though not by leaps and bounds.
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.
Briley Manufacturing’s general manager Chuck Webb recommends this six-pack of chokes for sporting clays shooters—two skeet, and one each of improved, light modified, modified, and improved modified. The chokes are color coded in addition to being labeled with two-letter abbreviations so know exactly which choke you’re looking for.
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.
Aftermarket extended chokes offer significant advantages when compared with their shorter factory counterparts. Show here are (from l to r): Browning Invector 20ga vs. Carlson extended; Beretta 682 12 ga. Mobil Choke vs. Trulock extended; Remington 870 12ga. vs. Seminole Gun Works extended turkey choke.
“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.
Titanium seems to be showing up everywhere—why should shotgun chokes be any different? Available from Trulock Chokes and finished in an attractive and durable coating with is applied on a molecular level (believe it or not), they save you several ounces of weight.
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.
Selecting the right waterfowl choke is an area that you may want to reevaluate. The general word: pattern that gun, and with non-toxics you typically only need to use a choke one stop more open than you use with lead at comparable distances.
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.
Turkey hunting, arguably the arena in which your choke will play its most crucial role, is a great place to begin your choke patterning. Remember that the tightest constriction available to you is usually not the one that will pattern the best in your gun.
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.
Carlson Chokes offers an array of chokes, choke wrenches, and even a very handy “speed wrench” that zips your chokes out of the bore in mere seconds, and without any scraped fingers or knuckles.
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.
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.
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