I have been wondering about the benefit of full choke lately. Many of the older SXS guns that I'm drawn to have at least one barrel choked full, and in fact measure as such.
I'm an upland hunter and target shooter, not into early mornings in a frozen goose blind, or smeared in camoflage grease waiting for a tom turkey.
Everything I've read, from Brister to McIntosh, says full choke is ineffective at best. Since so much shot is deformed, it's worse than a more open choke, say modified. Perhaps in pre-shot cup ammunition days, there may have been some benefit, but with modern ammunition it appears unecessary and may in fact give much worse patterns.
So what's the benefit of a full ckoke barrel, if any?
If there is no benefit, why do some stubbornly insist that opening a full choke barrel harms the value of a "shootable" SXS?
