You never know how a given choke will pattern until you shoot it with a given shotshell and look at the holes in the paper. Cylinder should pattern around 70% at 25 yards. That should make it as effective at 25 yards as full is at 40 yards (same pattern percentage).
Grouse and woodcock are not doves, ducks and turkeys. Because grouse and woodcock are relatively small and fairly fragile birds and are typically shot at close range, you can use relatively small shot--which means that 70% of even a 3/4 or 7/8 oz load at 25 yards is going to be a pretty dense pattern.
The gun I describe in the article in Pointing Dog Journal, a Sauer 20 gauge on which I had the (already fairly open) right barrel bored out to cylinder, works extremely well at skeet with 3/4 ounce reloads of 8 1/2's. I don't anticipate much problem with grouse and woodcock, at which I'll shoot 7/8 oz loads.
I'd guess that 23 yards would be on the long side of average for most grouse hunters, unless they do a lot of late season hunting. Most places, when grouse season opens and for the first few weeks of the season, you're lucky if you can see a bird 23 yards away.
Last edited by L. Brown; 07/13/11 07:08 AM.
