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Choke for 00 buckshot
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Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
Regretably, there's no Tablet of Stone in The Temple of The Shotgun Gods with the Cosmic Truth about buck and chokes Writ there with a Finger Of Fire. It'd save lots of time and bandwith if there were.
Basically,Res, you're gonna have to go out and pattern until you find the best combination of load and choke in YOUR shotgun. There's no short cut here.
As a rule of thumb, start by figuring the longest shot opp you'll have in your house and add a yard for GOs. Then screw an open tube into your shotgun and try a few brands. Compare with your next tightest tube and continue.
For defense, tight patterns are the ticket. A 15" spread or less with few flyers is ideal. Once you have a winner, buy as much of that brand, size and lot as you can. Buck lasts a long time and we may need it much later than now.
HTH....
Basically,Res, you're gonna have to go out and pattern until you find the best combination of load and choke in YOUR shotgun. There's no short cut here.
As a rule of thumb, start by figuring the longest shot opp you'll have in your house and add a yard for GOs. Then screw an open tube into your shotgun and try a few brands. Compare with your next tightest tube and continue.
For defense, tight patterns are the ticket. A 15" spread or less with few flyers is ideal. Once you have a winner, buy as much of that brand, size and lot as you can. Buck lasts a long time and we may need it much later than now.
HTH....
Fred Fuller
Moderator Emeritus
Resident,
Welcome aboard!
Dave speaks truth born of long experience. Getting the pattern you want out of a given shotgun barrel is more of an art that a science, and can get to be a real pain- sometimes it just about seems impossible. Then there's that divisive issue of what constitutes the "best pattern" with buckshot. Some people like 'em tight, some people like 'em open.
If you are thinking only of home defense in the most literal sense, then the longest shot possible inside your four walls is the range you will want to experiment with. Getting an acceptable level of performance should not be a major problem unless you live in the equivalent of Buckingham Palace. Your goal is to keep all the pellets in the load inside an area the size of the thorax of an average sized person at the given range you have to work within.
If at your abode it is likely a gunfight could initiate outside the house, or migrate there, you will want to stretch that distance as much as you can before you have to switch to slugs. I live in a rural area with no close neighbors and try to stretch buckshot patterns as far as buckshot is ballistically useful (which isn't really very far, given the abysmal sectional density of spherical projectiles and their relatively anemic muzzle velocity). I like to pattern at 25 yards and figure after that I switch to slugs. Several of the 870s here (with MOD choke tubes in 18- 20" barrels) will produce patterns smaller than 10" at that range with their favorite reduced recoil loads.
lpl/nc
Welcome aboard!
Dave speaks truth born of long experience. Getting the pattern you want out of a given shotgun barrel is more of an art that a science, and can get to be a real pain- sometimes it just about seems impossible. Then there's that divisive issue of what constitutes the "best pattern" with buckshot. Some people like 'em tight, some people like 'em open.
If you are thinking only of home defense in the most literal sense, then the longest shot possible inside your four walls is the range you will want to experiment with. Getting an acceptable level of performance should not be a major problem unless you live in the equivalent of Buckingham Palace. Your goal is to keep all the pellets in the load inside an area the size of the thorax of an average sized person at the given range you have to work within.
If at your abode it is likely a gunfight could initiate outside the house, or migrate there, you will want to stretch that distance as much as you can before you have to switch to slugs. I live in a rural area with no close neighbors and try to stretch buckshot patterns as far as buckshot is ballistically useful (which isn't really very far, given the abysmal sectional density of spherical projectiles and their relatively anemic muzzle velocity). I like to pattern at 25 yards and figure after that I switch to slugs. Several of the 870s here (with MOD choke tubes in 18- 20" barrels) will produce patterns smaller than 10" at that range with their favorite reduced recoil loads.
lpl/nc
Nicky Santoro
Member
Little late to the prom, but IMHO, starting with Improved Cylinder is seldom the wrong choice.
sm
member
Agree with Dave and Lee
Off the cuff , general idea depending on loads being high antimony, copper or nickel plated, buffering media used, powder, other components, fps...etc...
.010 - .020 constiction to YOUR Bores diameter, and step in forcing cone.
Bore's vary, so for instance .010 "constricting" a bore of .735 versus say one .730...plays a role in this whole Art and Science of projectiles doing what they do at yardages.
Off the cuff , general idea depending on loads being high antimony, copper or nickel plated, buffering media used, powder, other components, fps...etc...
.010 - .020 constiction to YOUR Bores diameter, and step in forcing cone.
Bore's vary, so for instance .010 "constricting" a bore of .735 versus say one .730...plays a role in this whole Art and Science of projectiles doing what they do at yardages.
BIG variance in ammo performance w/ 00 buck
IMHO, cylinder or IMP cylinder are best.... But the VERY MOST important thing is gonna be the ammo...try as many different kinds as you can...You'll find a BIG difference in how they pattern....I use 00 buck strictly for HD, and I keep S&B 15 pellet 3" magnum loads available...These don't have a shot cup, and spread out like crazy from my Mossberg 20" cylinder bore...Which is just what I want at the ranges I might need for HD (40' in my house)...YMMV
IMHO, cylinder or IMP cylinder are best.... But the VERY MOST important thing is gonna be the ammo...try as many different kinds as you can...You'll find a BIG difference in how they pattern....I use 00 buck strictly for HD, and I keep S&B 15 pellet 3" magnum loads available...These don't have a shot cup, and spread out like crazy from my Mossberg 20" cylinder bore...Which is just what I want at the ranges I might need for HD (40' in my house)...YMMV
rs3604
Member
I would also start with IC and go from there.
I've used Choke brand 00Buck from an 18" 870 with IMP bore and could keep 4 to 5 pellets on a B27 at 50yds. ( 9 pellet reduced recoil ) At 25yds or less I've never seen it stray off the black. It's been a while since I purchased any, but they were selling for $11 per 20rnd box.
IMP which? Imr.Cylinder or Impr.Modified?
Dear Brasso!,
Was that:
IMP which?
Imr.Cylinder or Impr.Modified?
Modified choke is the tighest Benelly M4 comes with
Benelli is more reliable with regular recoil loads
Thanks
Brasso said:I've used Choke brand 00Buck from an 18" 870 with IMP bore and could keep 4 to 5 pellets on a B27 at 50yds. ( 9 pellet reduced recoil ) At 25yds or less I've never seen it stray off the black. It's been a while since I purchased any, but they were selling for $11 per 20rnd box.
Dear Brasso!,
Was that:
IMP which?
Imr.Cylinder or Impr.Modified?
Modified choke is the tighest Benelly M4 comes with
Benelli is more reliable with regular recoil loads
Thanks
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