doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Swedish full chokes

Why did Husqvarna make such tight full choke shotguns? I just bought a Husqvarna 12 gauge and I measured the chokes at right barrel .032 and left barrel at .045. I then looked at a lot of other guns on line that were listed for sale and the chokes were described as full and extra full. or full and full, why?
Pete

European hunting includes lots of animals in addition to birds. I think that's the real answer to your question, but when you start with full, you can open the chokes as desired. The other direction doesn't work unless you go the choke tubes...Geo

It was not unusual for American doublegun makers to choke guns that tight, either. I have many that tight.

It wasn't just Husqvarna.

SRH

This is absolute pure speculation, but the capercaillie sits very high in the the tree tops during their hunting season. Perhaps our swedish brothers wanted as much range as possible! I'm sure that is not the reason why, but it's fun to think about!

How do you get "Fuller" than Full, that usually results in a spill over??

I asked this once before about German guns. The theory was since it is bad form not to have the gun slung over your shoulder, that would make ranges longer. ymmv

The answer it to keep folks like Mike Orlen busy converting ole' two pipers into user friendly configuration. Another option is to buy generic BLNE from Birmingham for not a lot more and have field ready gun from the start. I recommend 12ga because for upland use where Pb allowed one can use readily available Winchester Featherlites or equivalent Fiocchi loads available at many better sporting goods stores. In EU these are referred to as "trainer loads".

You may be on to something. When my Wife and I visited her relatives in Jamtland, the men all had modern, scope sighted, bolt action rifles for their Elg hunting, but their shotguns were Husqvarna Model 20s. The Elg (Moose) were just meat, but a Capercaillie was a trophy to be proud of and stories of their taking told and retold.

The constriction of the choke in these guns was tighter because they were made during the time shotshells only used fiber wads and didn't have shot protectors. "Choke" refers to the percentage of the shot load impacting within a circle of a given diameter at a given distance. The amount of constriction necessary to do this varies with the improvements in shotshell manufacture as well as shot size. Therefore, less constriction is likely necessary with modern shells, for the same level of choke.
Mike

Miller, you're on to something with full and fuller. I wonder what's going on with all the Thou and thous here when our esteemed Michael McIntosh proclaimed, generally speaking, that "choke in gun barrels is all but obsolete," "for the upland hunter especially, choke does more harm than good."

How about it, Stan? You're straight-up in my estimation, with tons of experience on range and in the field. How much difference generally in your shooting out to 40 yards with and without chokes? And how much difference do chokes matter in hitting and missing by those with less experience than yours?