Vernal,
Since you have some mystical "insight" to what MM's intent was when he wrote that article, which by the way, was in the Sept.-Oct. 2010 issue of SSM, I am going to include here two inarguable things printed therein.
The title of the article is "More Things We Can Do Without"
and
A quote from the article ........ "An upland hunter can do himself a treat by installing Cylinder bore tubes in both barrels and losing the others".
One question. Do doves, desert quail and wild pheasant fall under the category "upland birds"?
SRH
Mr. Stan,
What choke constriction do you use for pheasants, desert quail and doves?
Vernal
Since you asked .......... I don't hunt pheasants. I don't like to eat the things, and they are not wild where I live, but I shoot doves and ducks, a lot.
I begin the dove season with a .410, with full and full, with 11/16 oz., or full and modified chokes. After the first couple shoots I go to a 20 ga. with 7/8 oz., in the early season with a LM in one barrel and an IC in the other. By the second season I go to a IM and a LM. Late season, big purple-necked migratory birds get shot with a 32" 16 ga. L.C. Smith with full and full chokes, and 1 oz. 7 1/2 shot. On a rare day in the late season I will take one of my 12 ga. Foxes, which will have at least M and F chokes. I pride myself in providing edible doves, as I dearly love them, and all this talk about blowing them to bits is pure BS. The choke does not control my trigger finger, I do, and I don't shoot them in my face. I am ready for the high flying doves of the late seasons, though.
For ducks, it's easy. If I am shooting woodies in a little beaver pond I shoot the most open choke I can get my hands on. I have been known to use a -.005" (that's commonly called a "negative"), with 1 1/8 oz. of the cheapest steel loads I can buy. Doesn't take much to deck a woodie at 15 yds. For decoyed big ducks I use my BSS which is choked .018" and .018", with 1 1/4 oz. of steel at 1550 fps.
I've done this long enough to know what I need and, McIntosh notwithstanding, cylinder rarely is it. Only for the ultra close woodies. What really bothers me the most about that article is that he feels he needs to dictate to experienced upland hunters his mantra of no choke. Everybody is not a freakin' grouse/woodcock hunter!
Results? No "shot to pieces" birds here. Good table fare.
For wild quail of all types, M and IC in a 20 ga., or M and F in a .410.
I disagree with your perception that MM was trying to educate us about the effectiveness of today's shells as opposed to yesteryear's. I think he was trying to "stir the pot". Reread his opening statement in the article if you think I'm wrong.
SRH
