choke tubes???

[Deltaduk]

new to the site and am looking for input on the new choke tubes that are on the market.Not to crazy about asking at the retail stores 'cause I feel like they are gonna tell me want I want to hear just to make a sell.Pattermaster,undertaker comp-n-choke,and haydel's choke tubes are the ones that I am inquiring about.I will really appreciate any input that is given.thanks

[Welldoggie]

I bought a choke tube from Mack's last year. It is called High Flyer (also ported). It does produce a better pattern than the factory tube....however, the ported tubes will wake up your hunting buddies in a hurry if you hunt in close together in a blind...they ought to package ear corks with each one.

[GulfCoast]

Allow me to be the sad bearer of reality [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img].

Other than possibly the patternmaster, a choke tube is pretty much a choke tube is a choke tube. A high quality tube from any maker is about the same as a high quality tube from another maker of identical constriction. Trust a guy who has probably spent $2K at least on sets of custom chokes before he got religion. Even as we speak I have 2 full sets of angleports, one full set of Briley, and one set of Seminole, and have had Clearviews and Rhinos sold with various guns. I have shot as much paper as anyone I know back when I was on a quest to win trophys. Take it from me, there is no silver bullet.

Most of the "sets" of duck hunting tubes, as well as the single "special" tubes, are made by Briley, AnglePort, Rhino and the other big boys of the aftermarket tube world. They are all, other than patternmaster, just parallel section sporting clays tubes with dressed up exteriors. The "sets" that I have seen, and miked are usuall a skeet2 (.008), a light mod (.015), and an Imp. Mod (.025).

The porting makes nada difference. Porting scientifically cannot reduce recoil. To be effective in reducing muzzle jump, the ports have to be at the top of the barrel, the the force of the gas going up pushes "down" on the barrel, to offset the natural muzzle jump. SO, if the tube is ported "all the way around" it can't help in the least, as the ports in the bottom wash out the benefits of the ports in the top. See any article by Ballistics Guru Tom Roster for the long version.

Wad stripper chokes, of which I admittedly have a set of angleports, don't do much either. I have tested mine, by benchrest firing, measuring the flight of the wads, and comparing the average to a standard choke by the same manufacturer tested the same way with the same loads, and not found enough differce in wad retardation to matter. Ditto on the patterning board vice ported and non-ported versions of the same choke. Likewise, studies done in the UK (where they take this stuff really seriously) indicate the wad has almost no effect on patterns, at least with lead.

I have never played with a patternmaster, so I don't know about them. They don't make any difference with lead shot, or every 27 yard/handicap trapshooter in America would use them. They don't. The patternmaster might make a big difference with steel, I dunno. Studies have shown a rifled barrel will produce the tightest shotgun patterns, but no one makes one standard or drop in. I believe that is what patternmaster is trying to do. Whether it can work in a short tube is outta my league (unless someone wants to send me one to play with [img]images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img])

All that said, different choke tubes from different manufacturers will make some difference in the 2D pattern that you get on paper. You want a pattern with the least amount of pellets in the outer core, and an even distribution throughout.

I would suggest you get a set of 3 Angleport or Briley extended sporting clays tubes in Skeet2, LMod and IMod for your gun, since they have impeccible reputations for quality and are the most widely used among "money shooters", and see which set patterns best in your gun, and sell the other on e=bay or classifieds, and go from there. Those 3 chokes, with steel shot, should give you a tight improved cylinder pattern, a tight modified, and a light full/full, depending on your shot size.

Good luck, and thanks for reading all this!

GC
The (former?)choke nerd

[ October 10, 2001: Message edited by: GulfCoast ]

[mottlet]

GC hit it on the head. i pulled sporting clays all summer and there are some real "choke nerds" out there, and man can they slow down a squad. the best shooters at our range always shot full over an improved mod. never changed.

just based on what i saw, i would venture to say, if you're shooting at ducks within thirty to thirty-five yards, chokes aren't gonna change much until you're hitting at least eighty percent of what you're shooting at. maybe you are, i dunno. i personally shoot a full all season and still try not to take long shots(no dog--cripples ain't no fun). all that being said, i would again agree with GC, Briley makes a pretty good tube.

mottlet

[greenheadhunter2000]

You guys listen to GC,because the man ought to know what he's talkin about.You gotta see his shooting bag.He has plastic boxes full of different chokes.And you ought to watch him scratchin his head tryin to figure out which one to shoot or what box he just took that one out of.lol

Sorry,GC,just couldn't resist it!lol [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[goosebruce]

Never shot a piece of paper in my life. But i do shoot a patternmaster, as well as my brother and hunting buddy. Watching hundreds of ducks killed with them, compared to our other chokes, I can say, without a doubt, they are tighter than fish snatch, and brother that is water tight. They are made to shoot BIG pellets, and that is their fortay. Bigger they are, tighter they are (100% with tactile buckshot in a pie plat at 30 yards, and lots of swat teams have scoped their shotguns, now effective to 90 yards with buck!). They also slow the wad to shorten the string, and you cant measure that on paper. You can see it seat of the pants, by how it smacks birds down like a tennis racket. They don't deal on their chokes, but buy fromthe website and you can return it if you dont like it, and lifetime warrenty. travis

[GulfCoast]

Heck, I shot the same tube all day, 'cept when I pulled out an extra gun for booger and GH22 when his bead fell off. Sheesh [img]images/smiles/icon_cool.gif[/img]

[Anatidae]

Yeah, he (GH22) musta bought that gun cause it was the 'best gun on the market'......(Translated, that means the 'cheapest') [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

Goose, I remembered what you said about patternmasters awhile back....'trouble is, I had to order 2...one for me, one for the wife. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] 'Course I'm keeping hers a secret for now (she doesn't know I'm gettin'em). I'll wait 'til she starts complaining about not hittin' the shots to tell her what I'm using. She gave me a lot of flack about considering a patternmaster before patterning the factory tubes (there's SOME merit to that, but I have to do the guy thing and get one, anyway). If she changes her tone, I may break-down and give her her own choke tube. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] 'Can't wait to see how they perform.

[ October 11, 2001: Message edited by: Anatidae ]

[gwall]

go to www.refugeforums.com - there is a thread on the patternmaster under shooting and shotguns forum - its pretty negative regarding PM

[Deltaduk]

Thanks for everyone input.Still can't decide if $80 is worth the chance.With so many different opinions.I guess they are just like a#%^holes ,everybody's got one.thanks to ya'll.