Pattern Master choke-anyone tried it?

[DBR]

I have tried a Pattern Master Choke with my 20" Rem 870 12Ga using Federal Tactical OO Buckshot. It patterned 7"-9" at 25yds and stopped the shot cup at about 7yds. With a mod cyl choke the pattern was about 12"-15" and the shot cup went thru the card board quite forcefully.

Has anyone else used this choke with other loads?

What would it do with slugs - I don't know whether or not I should try it?

What would it do with sabots?

Thanks for any info.

 

[SShooterZ]

I've got a few friends that shoot them in their SBEIIs and swear by them. They sure seem to knock the hell out of geese.

 

[bgold]

I have a PM choke, but have only used it with steel shot. However, it performs quite well for me, used for certain applications.

It sounds like the choke was working quite well for you as well. I don't think I would try it with slugs, though. A good rifled choke would work much better.

 

[grendelbane]

Your experience with the PM choke and buckshot mirrors mine.

I have fired slugs successfully through mine. They were was not any great deal of difference in accuracy between the PM and an IC choke. I used conventional Foster type slugs, and I do not think that there are any problems doing so. I do agree that there are better choices.

Some buckshot loads did not show much improvement at all. The Aguila buckshot showed very little improvement. I would expect S&B to act about the same.

 

[Fred Fuller]

I tried one back several years ago. It was during the days before Wilson bought out Scattergun Technologies, I had the 870 I was using at the time sent from one company to the other- one place to get the choke tube put in, the other to get sights put on- before it came home to me. The PM choke tube worked really well with the Federal LE low recoil buckshot I was using at the time, but I found I could get as good or better patterns with a $14 RemChoke MOD tube and $3 per box of ten rounds Estate low recoil 00 buck. That meant a LOT less money for the tube and a good deal less for the ammo too.

I've been thinking all this time the instructions with my PM tube said 'no slugs' but I could be wrong. I definitely never fired slugs through it, given its construction I would still be hesitant to do so. But slugs work well for me through a conventional MOD choke tube, and I'd rather have the versatility of selecting a slug if I needed it- thus that PM choke tube resides at the bottom of the parts box somewhere.

Of course YMMV,

lpl/nc

 

[sm]

Lee's experiences mirror mine.

I remember Scattergun Tech when they were Scattergun Tech they built a good gun. I buy nothing from NW AR.

PM chokes were part of the equip race for some. I watched some work, and I watch some not, and watched some go TU when a slug went thru them. With permission I sent a slug thru one, sent the PM downrange with it. Oh well, the old boy was needing a shorter bbl anyway, had that 28" sent in , made 20" and then external knurled chokes installed. He took note of what I and some others were doing.

Like Lee, 20 points of choke was doing equal to - if not better than all the razzle dazzle. Sometimes 15 POC sometimes.

The $8 factory Winchoke was doing great with Standard Buck and Slugs. Its brother needed a wee bit of FC work, and then mirrored. Pellet, buck or slug.

The $15 aftermarket external knurled from 12 to 20 POC [Skeet II to Mod] were again giving great pellet, buck and slug performance.

The one gun at the time I had that really ticked off folks was a $85 bone stock 870 with 28" plain bbl. Pitiful looking thing, internally solid, and only thing I did with gun was put a Decel recoil pad on it. I had torn up a old factory one originally stuck on it - breaking ice, and busting in a passenger door glass...

That gun tossed tight buck, cloverleaf slugs - adding to insult, had tossed deadly patterns with AA Magnum #4 for ducks and when steel shot was "mandated" - steel patterns unbeliveable! It outshot folks spending from a C note to thousandths of dollars to "get a gun that'll shoot steel".

1) Bore dia differ, so 20 POC on a .729 is different that 20 POC on a bore .735.

2) Years ago I /we made our own Reduced Recoil buck and slugs. WE shot critters with them , we shot pattern boards.

I personally do not own any RR loadings.

Sometimes the fix for a gun problem is not at the muzzle end.