If you had to use just one choke for everything!

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AW13

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Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Messages
928
Location
East Sussex
There has been so much debate and many varied opinions on which choke is best and which type of cartridge to use it made me wonder what would happen if we removed all debate regarding chokes and just used one choke for all clay targets, i'm not including game shooting.  

I appreciate that different choke manufacturers may have a different diameter for any given choke designation or make of gun but to keep it simple -  if you could only use one choke [in both barrels for an O/U] which would you choose.

I’m hovering between IC and Mod bearing in mind we get close targets and long range targets, I’d probably go for a Light Mod, .015”.

 
if were talking ALL clay disciplines I would go 5/8 (just to be awkward ?)

 
I already do.  3/8th in both barrels.  Supposedly K80 fixed chokes are a little tighter than typical, otherwise I would have just gone for 1/2.  I fiddle with cartridges instead and use piston wad 9's on anything really really close.

 
I believe studies and exhaustive tests have revealed that the best all round choke just happens to be half and real world experience would seem to back that up. Bear in mind we all seemingly over-estimate the sort of ranges that typical targets are broken, a half choke will break (but not crunch up) very distant going away's and good as pulverize pretty much anything showing face inside 40 yards ( which is a deceptively long way :smile:  ). 

I have tried several times to cut down to more open chokes but always went back because the likes of quarter or even LM just don't seem to instill the confidence you need to be able to leave them in there all the way through a round. 

The other benefit of half is that it also happens to have just enough margin for error to live with closer targets without making you feel too relaxed which often results in unforced misses when relying on the open pattern of  Skeet choke instead of your own skill. 

 
1/2 & 1/2 in mine for the past 3yrs. Experimented with putting skeet in for close targets but didn't really notice any difference in my kill rate.

 
1/2 and 1/2 for me. To be honest most of the stuff I shoot in the South East could be killed with 1/4 and 1/4 happily.

 
I shall buck the trend - 3/4 in both  :)   

Having just thought, they all have 3/4 in them, in at least one barrel. Oh the joys of fixed choke :D  

 
Pair of 3/8th in mine. Going to move to a pair of half chokes though to (hopefully) gain that little bit of accuracy.

 
I like to fiddle with chokes every now and then, but if I had to choose one, it would be 1/2.

 
1/2 and forget about it. although I am running 3/8 and 1/2 in my DT11 but mainly because I am too tight to buy another flush fitting 1/2 when I already have two extended 1/2's but my gun doesn't fit in the cabinet with the extended chokes in. 

 
last weekend I shot my Miroku MK60 which is 1/4 and 3/4 fixed and I managed a very good score, for me. I have considered having the top tube opened to either 1/2 or 1/4 but I am loath to alter the original spec.  I rely on the barrel selector depending on the 1st target distance, and if they are both close then i just have to be very careful and focus very hard.

With the semi I usually just leave a 1/4 in [unless practicing skeet] but I might swap it for a 1/2 to see how I fare with the slight tighter 'one choke does it all' approach. 

 
¾ I think I would lose more targets from being too open than too tight, plus I use fibre carts, clay gun is now set to half and three quarters

 
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