In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.

Choke Tube Question--Hevi Shot specifically

idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
edited March 2003 in Ask the Experts
Regarding the choke tubes being manufactured by several companies (Remington, Briley, Mad Calls, etc...) specifically for turkey hunting with Hevi-Shot.....

Are these Hevi Shot Turkey Chokes just as constricted as a normal Turkey Choke and built tougher to stand up to the hardness of Hevi-Shot or are they less constricted (like a Modified or Improved Modified) where the increased performance of the Hevi-Shot actually does the job in keeping a tighter pattern at longer distances?

I bought an Improved Modified Briley choke but now I'm thinking about ordering one of their Hevi-Shot-specific Turkey chokes. Would I be buying the same thing under a different name or are most Hevi-Shot-specific chokes just as constricted as a normal lead-only turkey choke and built tougher?

I have a couple of people whose near-expert/expert advice I respect telling me different things. I'm not second-guessing them but $80 is a good bit of money to spend on a choke tube.
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • varmit huntervarmit hunter Member Posts: 1,674 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I can only speak for the MAD. It has very little constriction. All chokes handling heavy shot should not be tighter than a standard modified.

    The most important things, Are not things.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    So would you suggest possibly that a Briley Improved Modified should work fine? The guy at the gun store says that he uses the Briley Improved Modified for hunting geese with Hevi-Shot and he's been quite successful. Seems to me that a choke tube that is adequate for goose hunting should be adequate at shorter ranges for turkey hunting. I'll be patterning it next weekend.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • woodyd70woodyd70 Member Posts: 266 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'm not sure how tight you want your pattern, but most of the choke makers out there are makin' 'em pretty darn tight, even for the heavy shot. I have the rhino .670 on my turkey gun and this would be the equivelant of a xx full.............not to say a modified is a bad choice........if you're looking for a 10 to 25 yard turkey gun, the modified would probably be the better choice. If you're wanting to keep your pattern together at the longer 30 to 45 yard ranges, you almost have to go with the super full options. The rhino is an awesome choke, the best I've ever seen. I have tried many such as the undertaker, kicks, comp n choke, etc.....and have found the rhino to outshine the others by a long shot.... The rhino will run you the $80 bucks you mentioned or more, but I can honestly tell ya that I wish I had bought this one first and it would have saved me the hundred I had invested in the others previously mentioned that I no longer use. I personally enjoy the super tight patterns because a lot of my shots here in the swamps of South Carolina can be both long and somewhat obstructed. I feel much more comfy shooting the tight patterns with the hevi shot loads for my purpose. Hope this helps.........

    woodyd
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I respect everyone's opinions here which obviously are derived from experience. However, I'm back to square one. Someone tells me not to use anything tighter than a Modified choke and then I read that someone uses a Rhino with Hevi-Shot which is equivalent to an XX Full. Is the Rhino so tough that it can handle something so hard as Hevi-Shot with a XX Full constriction?
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 50,951 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Idsman, talk to Mike at Briley: (713) 932-6995. He will give you the straight skinny on the Briley chokes. They are a little spendy, but are top quality.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Okay, I'll give Mike a call. Does the figure ".675" refer to constriction or choke tube diameter? I know that performance is going to be dependent on more than just the hcoke tube and the load but everything I have read tells me that ".675" is the optimal measurement for use with Hevi-Shot when using Turkey loads.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 50,951 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    .675 sounds about like a nominal bore for a 16 gauge. Choke constrictions are usually expressed as .006 or .008. That would be the amout of constriction tigher than cylinder, if yo see what I am saying. .675 would be a bore diameter, so if you shoot a 12 gauge, you could measure your bore at cylinder and subtract .675 from the bore measurement to get to the amount of constriction you want and thus the choke you need to buy to achieve that.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • MPinkstonMPinkston Member Posts: 799 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I recently posed that same question to the experts at Bass Pro Shop and here's the way I understand it. If you shooting hevi-shot (which is both heaver than lead and harder) through an ordinary "lead only" tube, it should not be constricted any more that full. However, using a hevi-shot rated choke tube, you may use extra-full or super-full. Bass Pro Shops has a Super-full hevi-shot choke tube on sale for $19.99. My store was out but they are going to "turbo" one in for me.



    aguncollector@prodigy.net
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    So I am guessing that a rough tough Rhino choke tube is the way to go in my situation. I'm not sure what the turn-around time would be on a choke tube ordered directly from Briley. I know they have a Hevi-Shot-specific choke tube for about the same price as a Rhino. Briley is an excellent name in the business but I know too many people that have used Rhinos for turkeys who have had great success. I appreciate all of the expert advice. Looks like I have my heart set on either a Rhino or a Briley. Time to flip a coin.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • woodyd70woodyd70 Member Posts: 266 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    idsman75, here is a guy I would highly recommend that you contact. I have posted this guys info here before, but it has been a while. You need to speak with Ray at Nitro Ammo in Missouri. He custom loads ammo for all types of turkey shotguns, and almost exclusively uses the rhino choke tubes. Even if you're not interested in using custom loads, he can probably get you the Rhino tube as soon as you want it, even overnite. Now, if you don't mind paying a little more for your loads, he'll hook you up there also. I shoot the 12 ga. 3 1/2 inch loads from Nitro Ammo in the 4x5x7 magnum load. These are loaded specifically for my gun (winchester super X 2, nwtf camo 3.5 inch magnum), and for the rhino choke. I'm gonna tell you what the gun will do at 40 yards, and I wouldn't blame you for not believing it until you see it, I didn't either...........Now I do, for sure....This combo will put between 225 and 250 pellets (hevi shot) inside a 10" circle at 40 yards...........absolutely devistating to say the least........I literally hung up my 28" barrelled browning light gold 10 gauge when I saw this, and have never turkey hunted with the 10 gauge since.

    http://www.nitrocompany.com/

    When you get to this website, choose the "proper test patterning" option on the home page and read what he has to say, and at the bottom, it will show the # of pellets in a 10" circle you can expect with the custom loads using the rhino extended choke on several different patterned guns: such as Browning, winchester, remington, mossberg, etc......

    Hope this helps,

    woodyd
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Sign In or Register to comment.