Which choke for waterfowl?

[kennygarza]

I'm using the 870, and I think it comes with IM. Should I go with IC for the steel shot? I'll be using 3" #4 for ducks, 3" and 3.5" BB for the geese. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
KG

[mete]

For waterfowl you usually want a tight choke such as full. However with steel shot you get tighter chokes. With my Benelli 3" steel BB I get extra full patterns with Mod choke. 3" BB has a maximum range of 300 yds [ know this for safety] but an effective range of 25- 45 yds. My pattern is so tight I often take head shots ! In any case ALWAYS pattern your loads !

[JohnBT]

What he said: pattern it. I'd bet on MOD or IC, but you just never know about a particular gun until you try it. The FULL choke tube in my 870 Express sprayed #1 and BB 3" steel all over the place.

I'm shooting Hevi-Shot now, a little #2, mostly #4 & #6, at mallards and Canadas over decoys. This year we're hunting a tidal marsh instead of an island in the river where it's about 1.5 miles wide, so the shots tend to be a whole lot closer.

Anyway, after some pattern board work I've put the IC tubes in all three guns (got to have back-ups and loaners, right?): 2.75" 1100, 3" 870 Express & 3.5" SX2. With the SX2 and 3" #4 the pattern is good to about 50 yards. I'm thinking skeet tube now because the 25 yard patterns are too tight and we spend most of our time trying to get close shots (without shooting the decoys.)

John

[birddog]

I was told by several knowledgeable waterfowlers to only use IC with steel shot.

;)

I used that for a year, then for the last 10 years have been using modified, with better results at typical waterfowl ranges.

[MCgunner]

As a general rule, drop back a choke tube from lead for steel. IOW, you want a full choke pattern for geese and pass shooting ducks? Go with a modified with steel. I think it's Remington heavy shot, but there is one of the non-toxic alternatives that tells you to use the same as you would with lead. I know it's not Federal tungsten-iron, what I use on geese. I've patterned that out of my Mossy and modified seems to work best, though full is pretty tight, just a few more flyers and holes in the pattern. It seems to mess the pattern consistency up.

Over decoys, I have used IC effectively. In fact, out of my mossy with steel it'll reach out about as far as steel is effective on ducks, maybe 50 yards. I shoot 4s or 6s on ducks. Modified will tighten the pattern some, but IC works okay, too. Since I rely more on calling and decoys than I do any pass shooting, I've used the IC a lot. To me, duck hunting ain't pass shooting. Get down on a pothole, put out a dozen deeks, pull the call out. That's 80 percent of the fun, the calling to get 'em to set over the deeks. The rest is just the shooting and cleaning and eating, not bad, but the calling is what I get off to. That's why IC works best in the duck marsh for me.

As far as the gun's health goes, you can shoot steel though a modern full choke no problem. It's just that your best patterns are probably going to come with modified or IC. As somebody said, you should first pattern your gun 'cause not all shotguns fit the trend, but most I've seen, and I'm a life long duck hunter down here in the Texas marshes, most will throw their best/densest patterns with modified. The general rule of backing off one choke seems to work in most cases in my experience.

[Camp David]

I was told by several knowledgeable waterfowlers to only use IC with steel shot...

I believe they told you that not based upon target (waterfowl) but load (steel shot) and its effect on shotgun!!! Full choke with steel shot on anything but the newest shotguns will damage weapon, buldging barrel, especially if shotgun is more than a few years old. Most older weapons will not handle steel shot in any choke (full, modified, improved cylinder), but of these, Improved Cylinder or IC with steel shot has the least impact upon a barrel. I understand the new shotguns handle steel shot well in all bore restraints (chokes) but care must be exercised...

As far as waterfowl on water from blinds at normal ranges, I would recommend at least 12 gauge, 2-3/4" or 3", with loads ranging from #4's to #6's, in modified or full choke with older lead loads, or IC with #4's with steel shot. 16 gauge and 20 gauge have been used on ducks and geese by many with good results, but I would go with 12 or even 10 as a more preferable gauge for heavy loads.

==
This may not be the place, but this whole issue makes me sad in one respect... I have an old beloved nickel finish Winchester Model 12 Pump 12 gauge Duck Gun, full choke; a relic of a bygone era when you could shoot ten times your current bag limit from cedar blinds along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway, over 50 or more carefully carved decoys, when your load of choice was #2's in lead shot and you typically shot five boxes (100 shells) before 7:00 am! The Winchester Model 12 pump handled it all; downing geese (snows and canadians), ducks (blacks, mallards, teal, and canvasbacks), and assorted other fowl (wood ducks mostly). That's when duck hunting was golden...Now this particular weapon unfairly sits unused in my corner office, untouched for several years now since the advent of steel shot and daily bags of two fowl! I pity the pump, as it fulfilled its role of provider well... the best shotgun bar none.

[MCgunner]

I've used Mossies since the steel shot law went into effect in the early 80s and have had no problems with the standard Mossberg choke tubes. My current gun is about 15 years old and has been hunted with heavily with no ill effects.

Barrels of old vintage tend to bulge with lots of use with steel over time, or so I've read. I've never actually seen this as most of the guys I know saw the new law as an excuse to buy a new gun, LOL. I've also read that doubles can separate due to the bulging if used with steel. I've fired a very few steel rounds though my old twice pipe I bought in 1971, but I've retired it for newer pumps. Besides, that thing was too light for waterfowl. When I was young it didn't hurt me, but as I got older, the thing just pounds too hard on the shoulder.

You can effectively use a 20 gauge 3" over decoys, not a problem, but the duck hunter's standard is the 12 gauge for good reason. All I own is a pair of twelves now. I hunt dove with a 12. I'd like a 20 on doves, but I never got around to buying one. The 12 works, just like to have something a little less for small birds.

Note, also, there are special chokes made just for steel that protrude from the barrel of an interchangable choke tube gun. I've never tried these, but I sorta have had my eye one one that was ported to reduce recoil. If it worked, that might be worth the thirty bucks or so it cost to me anyway.

[kennygarza]

I have a modified choke in there right now, but I picked up IC last night. I need to get to the patterning board asap. I have some #6 left over from an earlier hunt, but some say I should step up to #4? I've been looking at the Academy and Wal-Marts, but they are all out of the #4. Probably tells me something there.

[JohnBT]

I always shot 3" #1 or #2 steel if I wasn't just after geese and shooting BBs. Everybody has an opinion. Mine is: just because it patterns at 40 doesn't mean it'll work at 45.

John

[MCgunner]

I shoot 4s later in the season when there are more high flying big birds that are decoy shy. 6s work early in the season. I've shot 1s and 2s for quite a while and figured out there was really no need in such large shot. 4s put more shot in a better pattern and kill big ducks just as far away in my experience.