Choke regulation recommendations please

[Iggy]

Evening all,

I’ve just treated myself to a lovely 32” Invictus M-Spec, fixed choke Sporter (3/4 and Full) and very pretty it is too with a lovely wood set.

I’ve had a bit of a play with it and despite the tight choking shot it ok. Part of me wants to keep things as they are and just allow my scores to drop while I learn to be more precise/accurate…..the other part of me wants to maybe open things up a bit….maybe 1/2 and 1/2?

If I opt for the latter, does anyone have any good recommendations to open the chokes up in the midlands area - Staffs/Cheshire/Derbyshire/Shropshire?

I know that Wiseman's in Cannock (where the gun came from) are the UK CG appointed gunsmiths, but they have done some choke work for me a while ago and I wasn’t overly impressed.

Would appreciate any advice out there, thanks in advance

Ian.

 

[Mike]

Do you not fancy having it Teagued?

Or are you a fixed choke shooter?

 

[Iggy]

I like the balance/way it feels as a fixed choke although I guess Teague thin walls should retain that - however I understand that not all M-Specs have enough in the barrels, in the right place, to fit multi’s

Quite like the simplicity of a fixed choke as well though

 

[FreeShot]

You won't get much (but a peace of mind) by opening them to 1/2 - IMO .020 is still tight(ish) choke - I'd leave it as it is

 

[Mike]

I can understand your feelings about a fixed choke gun but Teague can just open your chokes too.

What happens to your warranty if you open the chokes up?

 

[Freddypip]

I would be tempted to leave them as they are for the moment.

Are the barrels chrome lined and would that be redone ?

 

[chesterse]

Again Tim Greenwood near Hodnet would be your man, he has a huge honing machine and has made a brilliant job of taking choke out for me in the past.
He has been seriously ill though but the last I heard he was on the mend so it might be worth giving them a call.

 

[donna]

Again Tim Greenwood near Hodnet would be your man, he has a huge honing machine and has made a brilliant job of taking choke out for me in the past.
He has been seriously ill though but the last I heard he was on the mend so it might be worth giving them a call.

Top man is Tim and an excellent gunsmith. Glad to hear he is on the mend.

 

[Rosey]

I would leave it be and just enjoy it

 

[Iggy]

Thanks all for taking the time to reply and offer advice, it’s much appreciated

I’ve had a look online and Teague (if there’s enough meat in the tubes) can multi the gun, for £600 including 4 x flush fit chokes….alternatively they can adjust the fixed chokes for £200.

I’m not sure what the warranty position would be, it came with a 10 year warranty, but I also ‘assume’ (that could be a mistake) that CG supply these 3/4 and Full on the assumption that owners will open them up?

According to the Teague website, turnaround time is about 4 weeks, so given that it’s July already, I may shoot it as it is for a few months, and the if I’m still not sure maybe send it off to be Teague’d over the winter period when the weather is (even more) crap, and I shoot less?

Am I over thinking this…..not that I’d ever do such a thing of course

 

[MartynB]

Easy to take out , not feasible to put back . Also consider that steel shot is coming ( like it or not ) within the foreseeable future . So you may find that your opened up for lead chokes then pattern tighter than you want . ( I’m not saying that’s a fact , just hypothesising. Then you’d be looking at opening them up again . A multichoke job would give you more flexibility .

 

[Mike]

I think you're being quite sensible about it really

Teagued is the way to go though, it just makes the gun more versatile and if you have to shoot steel then you will able too.

3/4 and full is hard work on some shoots to be honest.

 

[SBL]

Callum, our Yorkshire shooting friend recently had his K80 done by Teague. I’m sure he can share details on the time it took.

 

[RAMark]

I would rather be "over choked" than under choked every day of the week with the exception of being forced to shoot steel.

Choke largely depends on what ammunition you are using. You will be amazed how much this can vary

 

[Yorkshire Clay Shooting]

Callum, our Yorkshire shooting friend recently had his K80 done by Teague. I’m sure he can share details on the time it took.

I can and will . The gun came back amazingly quickly from being proofed after the machining work had been done. Just over 2 weeks. I could in theory have used the gun then the reason it took longer is I made the decision to have the chokes coated by Teague as the normal silver colour wasn’t in the scope of my project. This did add another 2 and a bit weeks. I did drop the gun off and pick it up so it wasn’t floating around in the post and for the cost of sending and getting back etc it wasn’t much more in fuel due to the Mrs’s particularly economical car. Back to the chokes tho. The machining work done is faultless. The fact that this 1987 ish gun now is future proofed now due to me opting to pay the extra I think £30 for steel proofing makes it all the sweeter. The gun smokes clays now. It was by no means a bad gun and the pattern prior to the Teague choking was by no means bad. But now it absolutely dusts clays. I opted to get 2 x 3/8 2x 5/8 and a super cylinder. The 3/8 have been in since it came back and I can’t see me removing them anytime soon. Besides for cleaning obviously .

In short do it

 

[Iggy]

Thanks very much Callum, that’s a really compelling write up!

If turnaround is only a couple of weeks, I may opt to get it done sooner….think I’ll give them a call and see what they say.

Interestingly I’d also plan to take/collect the gun rather than trust it to the postal service, knowing my luck it would either arrive folded in half or vanish all together.

Good to know it’s worked out well for you and always good to hear real life experiences.

Thanks for the tip on steel proofing too, good shout.

 

[Mike]

I can remember when a man in a van from Teague used to pick customers guns up from where you lived.

That's going back a few years

 

[MartynB]

Thanks very much Callum, that’s a really compelling write up!

If turnaround is only a couple of weeks, I may opt to get it done sooner….think I’ll give them a call and see what they say.

Interestingly I’d also plan to take/collect the gun rather than trust it to the postal service, knowing my luck it would either arrive folded in half or vanish all together.

Good to know it’s worked out well for you and always good to hear real life experiences.

Thanks for the tip on steel proofing too, good shout.

It’s worth taking it just to see the engineering workshop . I asked if I could have a look around and it’s great to look at the machining centres . The barrels waiting to be worked on ranged from bread and butter Miroku trap guns all the way up to new English side by sides , still in the white . Proper engineers .

 

[Yorkshire Clay Shooting]

Thanks very much Callum, that’s a really compelling write up!

If turnaround is only a couple of weeks, I may opt to get it done sooner….think I’ll give them a call and see what they say.

Interestingly I’d also plan to take/collect the gun rather than trust it to the postal service, knowing my luck it would either arrive folded in half or vanish all together.

Good to know it’s worked out well for you and always good to hear real life experiences.

Thanks for the tip on steel proofing too, good shout.

100% go for steel proofing I cannot understand why someone wouldn’t with the potential lead ban looming. As I said the actual machining was quick and the barrels came back from proof quickly also. This is dependent on how busy they are and how close to day when they send the guns to proofing you are when your gun is ready. I think strictly speaking it’s 4 weeks they quote for multichoking. And it just so happened the stars aligned and mine happened to be done quicker. As also mentioned if you wanted the coating so they aren’t the silver finish that does add on a fair bit of time. 2 weeks dependant again on if your chokes are finished around the time they send a batch to the coating company.

 

[Yorkshire Clay Shooting]

I can remember when a man in a van from Teague used to pick customers guns up from where you lived.

That's going back a few years

Wow that’s an amazing thing to have once offered. I would have 100% took advantage of that rather than sit in a car for 7 hours there and back