doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com No choke?

The back ground on what I did (some heat expected) is this. My father owned a Ithaca 37 feather weight 20ga. He had a Herters choke put on it about 60 years ago. We and he thought he was a terrible shotgun shot until I bought him a Franchi 48al about 30 years ago and we saw he wasn't bad at all. After his passing I took that Ithaca to the pattern board and discovered that floating the target center just over the gun's bead resulted in the very top of the pattern edging just below center. After some time thinking about what to do and eliminating barrel bending as akin to voodoo, I sawed that choke off. The gun now makes very nice even patterns just where I like them at 25 yards. I am asking this: would this gun now be steel shot compatible with bird shot sizes, should that be required, or is the forcing cone a issue, and can you convince me I don't need chokes tubes, if tubes are even do-able? I am thinking that this gun weighing less than 6 lbs is going to be one of my go to guns going further into my old age. I hunt grouse, woodcock mainly with a club pheasant or two in the mix and plan to shoot at some crows. Doves are going the way of wild pheasants around here and I would use a different gun for them anyway. Thanks.

I shot lots of steel shot up to about 9 years ago. The trap club I shot at required it (a long story) so everyone used #7 steel shot and I never had any problems with it except once with a thin-walled choke tube. I even used it on a few full choke guns with no problems.

Steve

You like the way it shoots. Why add choke tubes? Tubes would make it more versatile of course, but if what you shoot is within the 25yd range more or less, what's the need for versatility?

Steel shot today is plastic collared so that barrel scoring is no longer an issue. The biggest part of the problem with steel is "bridging" of larger waterfowl/turkey size shot at the choke. If you no longer have choke that should not be a problem. Small game size shot usually flows through the choke restriction just fine anyway.

Your gun, but my path in your shoes would be shoot it as is...Geo

Thanks for the replies and advice. I take it then my worry about the forcing cones in this gun, with steel shot, should not be a worry? I most likely won't be using steel but I don't know what is in the future. Thanks again.

I guess you know that the forcing cone is in front of the breach at the end of the chamber. It just ramps the projectile package into the bore from the chamber. Never heard of that being a problem with any size steel shot...Geo

You wouldn't have believed how easy and how little that barrel would have had to be bent to center that pattern. We did it on my first cousin's M12 Win. 16 ga.. Just a little bend, then shoot. A little more, then shoot. In 10 minutes it was perfect, and there was no noticeable difference in the appearance of the barrel. I have never seen anybody more amazed, or happy.

SRH

My first 'real gun' after the usual .410 single was my mother's 20ga Rem model 31 pump. She'd fallen into a gully while bird hunting in middle Ga and bent the barrel a little sideways. I learned to shoot that gun by allowing for the sideways bend so I didn't have to lead a bird going one direction but had to double lead on one going the other way.

A Country gun trader/gunsmith took my gun outside to a tree with two trunks. He put the barrel in the crotch and bent it with one try to where it shot straight. I never could shoot that gun right after that!...Geo

I wouldn't worry a bit. With your description of how you use that gun, you don't need any choke. And no choke is fine with steel.

It was very common to have adjustable chokes cause a gun to shoot low.

I have a 1949 Ithaca 37 with a polychoke that shot low. I bent it and now it is fine.

Small bore 37's are wonderful bird guns.

I just bent a rifle barrel for POI today and you are quite correct Stan. I moved its impact about 3" and was shocked how little it took. I built a jig and carefully measured how much I bent things. All it took was about .025" in the middle and things came right into line. I did not measure for spring back as I tested my results on target and was very pleased. Next up is my old mans 11-48 barrel. That thing has shot about 10" low and to the right since I was a kid.