HP extended chokes: What is the real deal?

[Thomassss]

Beretta says Extended chokes are better for clays and flush mount is better for hunting,
But they really dont explain why? I don't believe an extra length is all that great.
Comments

 

[PapaG]

Ad hype. Extended in the field might be more subject to damage. Or, might protect the muzzle. Take your choice.

 

[jmr40]

Chokes that extend beyond the barrel are longer. That means the choke is more gradual and you're likely to get better patterns. Especially with super tight patterns. Turkey hunters have been using extended tubes forever. You can't get that much choke restriction with the tube completely inside the barrel. Guys using some of these super tight chokes and modern shot shells are killing turkey at 70-80 yards now.

Extended tubes typically offer many more options to fine tune patterns. Most flush fit tubes come in Cylinder, Improved Cylinder, Modified and Full. Extended tubes are offered in those chokes and some in between, and when you get to turkey tubes several notches tighter than full.

Pick your sport; competitors are always looking for anything that will give them an edge and most clays shooters use extended tubes. For an elite shooter the difference between a Light Modified tube and a standard Modified tube might make a difference. I would miss equally with either.

Flush mounted tubes are adequate for most hunters (turkey being the exception) and they cost less.

I hadn't thought about the extended length having a greater chance of damage in the field. Maybe, but I've been using extended Extra Full choke tubes for turkey hunting for 40 years. Never heard of that happening to someone.

 

[MEHavey]

They look cool....








(And I've put them on all my shotguns. )

 

[hunt127588]

I always hunted with flush mounted tubes. I thought they worked fine for my needs. However, a few years ago, I went out on a limb (for me) and ordered a Carlsons light Modified tube. My shot hit percentages went way up. I can't tell you if it was the fact that it was a better choke tube or longer. However, the results didn't lie. I honestly think it was the slower constriction of the longer tube allowing for less deformation of the pellets. My thinking is this is the same principle as back boring a shotgun. I have no qualms hunting with an extended tube in the field.

 

[Barnfixer]

I like extended tubes for two main reasons, protecting the barrel and changing without tools. I’ve had good and bad patterning tubes in flush and extended. The last hunting shotgun I purchased came in 26” or 28”, I went with 26” knowing I’d be using extended tubes. That said, the two best patterning barrels I have are vintage remington skeet and mod trap fixed choke type.

 

[Bill M.]

Flush chokes weigh less. Maybe a factor in mounting the gun. Extended chokes easier to change and to read the choke while in the gun.

 

[Jim Watson]

Flush looks better on a uppercrust SxS or OU game gun.
An extended choke puts the constriction outside the barrel so a replaceable part can get pounded by steel shot.

 

[Varminterror]

These are (most of) the chokes I have deployed over the last ~20 years for my coyote calling shotgun. I have a few more Patternmaster chokes and a handful of other turkey chokes, all of which are extended chokes.

I’m far more a wheelgunner and rifleman than I am a scattergunner, but in shooting, hunting, and patterning these, I have not noticed any detriment by the “extra length” or the “higher muzzle weight” of extended chokes, but I HAVE been able to tell the difference in the pattern spread and depth of the shot column. Wingshooting, in general, I might acknowledge that a ~1” extended choke swings more like a 2” longer barrel, but in general, again, that’s an advantage, not a detriment. For fast handling, shorter barreled shotguns, 14” to 20”, I have not noticed any detriment to performance, and appreciate the added benefit of some stabilizing and smoothing muzzle weight. I WILL acknowledge that folks can and do take all kinds of game and win all kinds of scattergun shooting sports with both types, so neither is definitively better, but overall, the influence on the shot column appears to be more noticeable than the influence on the dimensions or handling.

And personally, beauty is in the eye of the beholder - a purpose built trap gun with adjustable rib, adjustable comb and buttstock, ported barrels, and extended tubes is a purpose built machine, with features meant to excel at its task, and THAT can always be beautiful.

So eh, I get the physics, I get the ideas and theories, but in my experience, there’s just no downside to extended chokes (cost notwithstanding).