doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Why choke tubes?

I have been thinking recently that I should own a .410. Being a bird hunter that already has too many SxS's I'm not sure what I would do with a .410. But, I think I need a .410 so I've been looking. I found an AyA with 30" barrels. Very nice condition and at a fair price. The only thing that stopped an immediate purchase were choke tubes. This gun was originally fixed chokes of IC/Mod. but has had Briley tubes installed. My first thought was that this gun had a barrel regulation issue and this was an attempt at correcting that issue. Other than observing if the tubes are centered at the muzzles any hints on determining why these tubes may have been installed?

Dennis

Probably just to make it more versatile. Except for skeet IC in a.410 has pretty limited appeal, at least to me...Geo

Shooting quail. I have several .410s, and the last one I bought, the Dickinson, I ordered with fixed full and full, for doves. A 28" .410 with tubes is great for quail. You can open up the first barrel for close shots. I have to make myself slow down on the flush every now and then if I shoot quail with a full choked .410. Even a 11/16 oz. load can mess up a bird pretty bad at 10 yds.

Really, the whole deal with choke tubes is versatility. Being able to match the gun to the game at hand, quickly. Personally, I wouldn't be afraid to buy the gun just because someone had Brileys installed in it. It may or may not have been regulated before the tubes were installed, but there is a better chance they were installed to increase versatility than to correct POI, IMO.

If, you think you should own a .410, you probably should. I'm hosting a dove shoot tomorrow in a 96 acre peanut field, and I've about decided to wade into deep water with the Dickinson and try her on these big, fast, late season doves. It will be the ultimate test of the gun. I will post the results tomorrow evening if I do indeed use it, good or bad .............. but I may not mention my shell/bird ratio.

SRH

Thanks for the replies. I will have to stop back at the shop and look at the gun again. My primary use for a .410 would be the occasional dove shoot and quail.

Stan, good luck with the .410 on your dove shoot.

Dennis

Stan, that reminds me of my days in Albany in the '60s dove hunting on the edge of a peanut field, leaning against a tree on the edge of a pecan orchard. In those days it was more like box/bird ratio but I sure enjoyed the peanuts and pecans!

There were even more doves in GA in the '60s than there are today, Sam. I grew up in it, and have been doing this since I killed my first one at age 8, in '59. There was more corn acreage in GA, back then, and doves flourished. We've got a healthy population in my part of the state because this is such an intensely row cropped area, and there's lots of center pivot irrigation for us to grow corn under.

Albany is a beautiful area of the state. I was there in September, and there's still lots of peanuts and pecans there.

SRH

Choke tubes are a poor mans version of a second set of barrels or a second gun. My problem with choke tubes is getting the birds to fly around in circles or hold for the dog long enough to change them. There is no perfect all around choke combo and more so in the smaller bores. But if you vary loads, shot size and velocity you can adapt a choke to a wider range of use. Having quickly changed tubes gives you even more flexibility. But you will still have the second best choice installed about half of he time. Just the way it seems to work.

See the Dickinson Report for an update on today's shoot.

SRH