Choosing The Right Choke For Your Home Defense Shotgun...

[catnphx]

I found this article a great educational read for me regarding my new 590A1 cylinder bore choke. They state (in Chart 1) that my choke will produce approximately 80% of the shot inside a 30" circle at 20 yards.

Condering that my 590A1 is for HD and I've got no shot longer than 10 yards inside my single-story house, I'm fine with the cylinder bore choke. They also say (in Chart 4) that my cylinder bore choke will produce an effective pattern of 20" at 10 yards.

Granted, certain loads and guns might produce slightly different results but the information was interesting. And you certainly need to assess your own home or needs to determine what kind of choke works for your SG. Any thoughts or counterpoints?


http://www.wildfowlmag.com/tips_strategies/shotgun_062304/

 

[Rossignol]

Re: Choosing the Right Choke

Youre absolutely right right about assessing ones individual needs!

I think you'll find there are loads producing far tighter patterns. "Nitesite" on here did a really well done write up on TheHighRoad about the exceptional patterns produced from the 590's cyl. bore using the Federal Premium VitalShok low recoil with FliteControl. He was kind enough to allow me to cross post the entirety of his findings here;

http://www.mossbergowners.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=562

I think you'll like what you see!

 

[catnphx]

Re: Choosing the Right Choke

Youre absolutely right right about assessing ones individual needs!

I think you'll find there are loads producing far tighter patterns. "Nitesite" on here did a really well done write up on TheHighRoad about the exceptional patterns produced from the 590's cyl. bore using the Federal Premium VitalShok low recoil with FliteControl. He was kind enough to allow me to cross post the entirety of his findings here;

http://www.mossbergowners.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=562

I think you'll like what you see!

Yes, good info and thank you, Rossignol.

My longest shot in the house is likely to be 10 yards (12 yards in a few unlikely spots) so my question is does it really matter? Given my HD short distance, nearly any 2 3/4 00 buckshot should do the trick for me, right? I want to avoid severe overpenetration because I have kids bedrooms to worry about.

 

[Rossignol]

Re: Choosing the Right Choke

I hear ya on the concerns of over penetration. I too have youngins all around.

A 00 buck is likely to penetrate more than any of us would like. Its a .33 cal ball. There are some differnces in the hardness of those 8 or 9 lead pellets. The plated buck is likely to go through more than a softer unplated shot. (I'm rationalizing, I have several tests I wanna do on this subject as health and time permit. Please dont take any of this as gospel.) If youre able, do your own tests with a few different loads at those ranges to test both the group and the level of penetration so you are better able to decide what you are comfortable with. You may also want to try a different shot size, like a #4 buck? Personal defense rounds tend to be lower velocities, say from 1300 FPS to 1100 FPS. So one of the things I am wanting to test, is if that lower velocity will = less penetration. In my mind, the logical answer is yes.

So back on the subject of chokes. I dont think it is a must in an HD scenario to have a choke as with modern shot technology youll be seeing patterns from a cyl. bore of 30".

Much of what we're discussing may be reduntant to some folks, it may seem like a "duh!" conversation. But it certainly doesnt hurt to have this info readily available for those of us with questions! (Especially since this is probably one of the most common questions! )