Choke tubes

[Chevy]

I have a 12ga smoothbore shotgun without a choke tube. I have others with but was wondering if a choke tube is needed for good paterns on game like turkey?

[Uncle Nicky]

It's not absolutely essential to have a specific turkey choke tube, but it certainly helps.I'd keep the shots within 30 yards.

[Elmo]

Smoothbore is only good for slugs and home defense. I think you would need any choke if you want a pattern of any kind.

[Geno C]

i have a modified choke tube on my 12 and at 20 yards it patterns about a 10" circle.

[Early]

If your 12 gauge is choked full...most singles are...then it will kill turkeys with 6's all day, as long as you limit your shots to 30 yds. or less. If it more open-choked...use 5's...maybe even 4's.

[Pygmy]

Most smoothbore barrels have some degree of choke, unless it is a riot barrel, which would be cylinder bore or no choke (constriction) at all, or a slug barrel which is usually choked cylinder or IC. Choke is merely a constriction or reduction of bore size near the muzzle to compress the pattern.

The choke should be stamped on the left side of the barrel, just ahead of the reciever.

Most likely it is F or Full, Mod (modified) or IC ( improved cylinder).

Full produces the smallest, densest patterns and is effective at the longest range.

With the right loads, many 2 3/4" 12 gauge guns produce killing patterns out to 40 yards or a bit more.

Modified should do the job out to 30 yards or a bit more...

IC is pretty open for turkeys.

You'll need to pattern your gun to see what loads pattern the best...I would suggest # 6 shot because the higher pellet counts generally deliver denser patterns than 4s ot 5s. However every gun is an individual.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Pygmy

[mike rossi]

In case somebody isnt aware, if the gun has threads for a choke, dont shoot it without a tube.Removable choke tubes have only been around like 25 years or so; there are many guns with fixed chokes. Yes, you can use fixed chokes for turkeys and you dont need a super tight special turkey choke either.

Any gun, choke, and legal ammunition combination will work - but you need some range time to determine your effective kill distance with that combination.

You can experiment with different combinations to find the optimum; but that isnt a must, its more the Indian than it is the bow. A huge market has been created in fairly recent years for specialized turkey guns, ammo, and chokes. Whether you invest in special gear or not; some range time and practice judging distance goes a long way.

Range Finders take a lot of the guess work out of it. The concept of putting the range finder on game, reading it, then picking up your weapon is wrong. Its actually used before game is sighted by taking readings on rocks, trees, etc. for a frame of reference.

Personally, I like to keep my shots within 35 yards. If you shoot turkeys in the body, eventually you will roll one over and it will get up and fly away - aim for the head & neck.

Edited May 7, 2012 by mike rossi

[mike rossi]

Smoothbore is only good for slugs and home defense. I think you would need any choke if you want a pattern of any kind.

Elmo, you are refering to a cylinder bore, not a smooth bore. Cylinder bore means the bore is not constricted or "choked". Smooth bore refers to the lack of "rifling" in the barrel of shotguns. Rifling is spiral grooves in the barrel of rifles; hence the name; to spin the bullet. (Im not getting into that). Shotguns were/are sometimes refered to as "smooth bores".

Look at the inside of the barrel of a shotgun (except slug barrels - see below) and a rifle - you will see the difference.

Shotgun barrels designed specifically for "rifled slugs", are NOT smoothbores, they have spiral rifling inside the barrel and are ussually "cylinder bore". I guess technically they are rifle barrels; although they have always been called slug barrels.

Edited May 7, 2012 by mike rossi

[Elmo]

Thanks for clarifying. Yes, I was thinking of cylinder bore.

[Chevy]

Great info guys. The gun is a Mossberg 500 with a slug barrel. Smooth bore. Just wanted to know how it would preform compared to a gun with a choke tube. I'll look to see if there is anything stamped on the barrel.

[Early]

Ahhh...Smoothbore slug barrel......That generally means Improved Cylinder, which is way to open for turkey hunting. (Make a great close cover grouse gun, though!)

[Chevy]

The stamp on the barrel says "cylinder bore". Probably Improved cylinder and too open for turkey as Early suggested.

Maybe good enough for rabbits which i'll try next winter.

[mike rossi]

An old hunting partner told me years ago his Ithaca Deer Slayer had a rifled barrel, I took his word for it - but thinking about it, Im not sure that wouldnt be considered a rifle? Slugs are called "rifled slugs" but I think I remember that is because the slug itself has spiral groves? And that the old groveless slugs were called "pumkin balls? Its all a blur now I dont hunt deer, but could someone clarify that for me?

Sounds like you got a few guns and are not a rank beginer, but the following is for the benefit of the readers who need more info.

Cylinder is not the same as improved cylinder (IC). Cylinder has no constriction; but IC does choke the barrel.

I directly communicated with some of the outdoor writers who are ballistic guys, like Brezny. According to them; generally large shot produces more uniform patterns, but tight chokes with larger shot tends to degrade the pattern. Smaller shot produces denser patterns and is more compatible with tighter chokes, but the pattern has more stray pellets. High velocity loads also increase stray pellets, according to these guys. Hard shot such as steel and other non toxic shot produces better patterns than lead shot, according to them.

I use an improved modified choke with 3 inch shells containing 2 ounces of non toxic shot. The best shot size for pattern quaility varies between brand of shell and gun to gun; but these 2 ounce loads are available in #4,5,6,7; as well as duplex loads. If I was using 3.5 inch shells I would opt for the heaviest payload available. If I cant find 2 ounces, I ussually can find at least 1.75 ounce loads. Heavier payloads have more shot & lower velocities, both of which are factors in producing better patterns. If your gun is chambered for 3.5, by all means use them.

[Elmo]

Grooveless slugs are called sabot slugs.

[adkbuck]

I would not hunt wild turkey without a full choke, I heartily recommend a super-full or turkey choke, lots of great screw-in models on the market. The wild turkey is too wonderful a resource to not be killed in an clean and humane manner. Pattern the gun and make sure your sighting system is dead-nuts on and you know how your pattern opnes up with increased range. They have to be hit in the head and neck for a clean kill. Don't shoot unless you are sure you will make lethal shot. Remember you want as few pellets in the body as possible to avoid wasting meat. I attached a pdf file that has a good summary of shotgun chokes and other useful shotgun info. For a good summary of turkey chokes check out: http://www.turkeyand...-shotgun-chokes

shotgun_statistics.pdf

Edited May 8, 2012 by adkbuck

[Pygmy]

To answer a couple of Mike's questions...

In New York, a rifled shotgun is not considered a rifle..As long as it uses shotgun ammunition, it is considered a shotgun..

Yes, indeed,rifled slugs were called that because they have grooves on them to impart a spin to the projectile.

Pumpkin balls were bore size round balls loaded in shotgun casings..They were notoriously inaccurate and as far as I know they are no longer produced. They were replaced by rifled slugs back in the 1930s or thereabouts. Many slug hunters referred to rifled slugs as "punkin balls" but that is a misnomer.

Elmo... The term "sabot" has nothing to do with whether the projectile has grooves or not. The sabot is the sleeve that encloses the projectile, contacts the bore when fired, and then falls away after the projectile leaves the barrel.. The first successful sabot slugs were smooth hourglass shaped projectiles (BRI), but in recent years many other bullet types have been used.

[Elmo]

Thanks for the correction. Good to know.