Choke tube selection and where to pattern in MD?

[nico]

I've previously used a briley extended full choke for trap. On a whim, I tried my factory modified choke for trap today and shot much better and more consistently than I have with the full choke. I normally dust about 3 or 4 birds if I'm doing well, but today I dusted close to half the birds I hit. I also shot two rounds of regular trap with scores of 24 and 20 and two rounds of wobble (which I had never shot before) with scores of 22 and 20, all of which are pretty good for me. I would attribute this more to my personal performance, but there were a few birds that I felt like I should have missed but still hit, so there's definitely more room for error with the modified tube. I would stick with the factory modified tube, but I like the convenience of having an extended choke tube (and for some reason the briley tube seems to stay tight better than the factory tubes) and was thinking about buying an aftermarket modified or IM tube. It would probably be Trulock because everything I've heard about them says they're comparable to Briley and cheaper.
I know the only way to know how a choke tube will perform is to pattern it, but how do you get an idea of how a tube will pattern if you can't use it before you buy it?

I was also wondering if one of the MD folks could direct me to a place where I could pattern my gun. I haven't seen a pattern board at pg, afaik OnTarget doesn't allow shotguns (and their target holders wouldn't be very good for holding Dave's description of the paper size you'd want), and Hap Baker is over an hour from me. Is there any local place I can go?

 

[Dave McCracken]

PGC has their patterning board on range 2, Nico. They'll sell you targets for $.75 and lend you their tape. From the fence to the board is 32 yards. Range 2 is not always open for patterning, sometimes they have skeet on it. Weekdays are best.

Take a tape measure along. Measure the usable pattern. What fills up 26-28" is probably close to optimum.

While you're there, try your IC tube also. This time of year, I can go down to IC for trap and still get good hits though little smoke. I'm not trying for smoke, it's an indicator of excess density.

Of course, use the ammo that you use for targets.

HTH....

 

[nico]

Thanks! I never realized that

I'm not trying for smoke, it's an indicator of excess density.

I hadn't thought if it that way. I figured getting more smoke just meant that with the full choke I was only hitting the birds with the edge of the pattern. Maybe I'll try IC on Sunday. Next week is my spring break so I'll definitely be taking advantage of the pattern board.

 

[dghboy315]

IWLA BCC chapter has a patterin board but you need to be a member or have a member take you to be able to use it.