doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Choke opening process?

Lenard,
That is a very fair question. First, at gandermountain, it took two attempts to open the barrels to the POC that I requested. Second, the milling left several deep gouges in the bore of both of the barrels. I have tried to polish the gouges out with OOOO steel wool but they are too deep. Now I must admit that the POI did not change and the gun patterns well. Mr Orlen's work was very nicely done (milling was perfect with no gouges) and the gun patterns well. So, you could make the argument that both choke jobs were good - at least when it comes to the patterning board.

Sliver,
I understand what you are saying and I have a tendency to approach life in a very similar fashion!

A good adj. reamer will cost around $130. Don't buy the cheap ones- they leave gouges and don't cut worth a damn. A couple of us have opened up 15 to 20 SxSs from the muzzle with no problem . I own an inside dial caliper so we know where we're starting and what's being removed. A friend had a Darne, and it had " jug chokes " in it. Don't know if that's common or not for them. I'll be getting a Remington 1894 Trap gun that has only I/C choke in the right barrel. Gonna jug choke that side and try to bring it back to Mod. choke. Paul

A good adj. reamer will cost around $130. Don't buy the cheap ones- they leave gouges and don't cut worth a damn. A couple of us have opened up 15 to 20 SxSs from the muzzle with no problem . I own an inside dial caliper so we know where we're starting and what's being removed. A friend had a Darne, and it had " jug chokes " in it. Don't know if that's common or not for them. I'll be getting a Remington 1894 Trap gun that has only I/C choke in the right barrel. Gonna jug choke that side and try to bring it back to Mod. choke. Paul

The "right way" is the method the individual operator can perform correctly the first try. The most professional one is, I suppose, a chamber and near muzzle piloted reamer that carries the choke profile out to the muzzle. The other end of the spectrum is a self centering cutter/grinder used very slowly and cautiously with frequent pattern shooting to verify POI vs POA. This method will generally be used to cut a short parallel section between the choke constriction and the muzzle, thus reducing the overall constriction. Both, and all varieties in between, can work if the operator is skillful and careful enough.

A lathe can be used to very finely control depth of cut, speed of cut, concentricity, ridgidity of fixturing, etc. In the hands of a pro, it will dramatically reduce risk of wrong cuts while increasing productivity.

Stevehaun, The reason for the gouges is that when reaming a choke, use only minimal cuts, like .002 at a time. Secondly, the mistake the guy at Gandermountain made, was reversing the reamer. One particular point that Ralph Walker made, was that the reamer must be turning clockwise as it is pulled out. Or, as Ralph says in his literature, it will cause gouges. I know, I did it on one barrel while learning. Because I was taking more out, I worked those gouges out getting to the dimensions I wanted.

I have bought the reamers, several sizes from Brownells, and never had a problem one with them. Take care of them, use lots of oil while cutting and clean them frequently while opening chokes. With care and patience, and a lot of measuring, one can do an admirable job. And for all of us gun nuts who do open chokes, it allows us to cut to get the pattern we want. There can't be enough good said of that practice.

Lenard

I have sucessfully reamed several chokes using the Brownells's adjustable set by basically the method Lenard described. As he said use light cuts only & "never" turn any reamer backwards in a hole, adjustable or otherwise. The set I bought came with instructions writen by Ralph Walker. It is noted though, those directions did not differentiate as to type of choke. So again I "Warn" "IF" you have no paralell section to start with you are purely operating on "Luck" to maintain alignment. I know Lefever, fox & i believe several other US makers used the "Taper" choke systemn. I would strongly recommend against using an un guided reamer to open one of these. When you make that first cut, you have only one point of contact & no way to insure alignment. Once started crooked it will then continue to follow the hole you have started.

Gentlemen,

I have learned a bunch on this thread. I equally appreciate both your words of cautiousness and encouragement.
Tomorrow is the "opening chokes" day. I will post results of the operation.