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

I am in the process of setting up a dedicated grouse gun. I recently bought a 12 ga. Ugartecha choked MOD/FULL. I am considering opening it up to Cyl (.000) and Skeet (.005). I hunted with a couple hardcore grouse hunters last fall and both had their o/u's choked this way. Common sense tells me Skeet and Imp. Cyl. would do less damage to the gun's worth. I don't consider an Uglie to be a reasonable candidate for tubing, would double the cost and not improve resale value much. Opinions?

Really?
JR

It's your gun do as you wish. You are not dealing with a classic gun or one which is rare. You have a good shooter, that should be altered to make it fit your needs. I might go cyl. and .010 but .005/7 would be fine as well.

The present chokes are not useful for what you wish to do with the gun. So change them. Mike Orlen is reasonable and fast...Geo

I have a 20 ga that has Briley chokes. The right barrel choke for grouse is somewhere between .000 and .003. I use a .009 in the left barrel.

I think it also depends where and when you hunt and if you use a pointing dog that works well.

I have hunted in Minnesota several times where many shots were over 25 yards. The birds get hunted hard in parts of that state.

And he offers a 10% discount on work, not shipping, if you are registered on shotgunworld.com where he is a moderator in the gunsmith section.

I do use a pointing dog, and will use this gun for blue grouse in Colorado and ruffs in Wisconsin primarily. I've got several wonderful guns that are tubed or tightly choked for prairie birds. The Ugartecha is a bird specific gun that I hope will fit the forest niche. I'm already an advocate of open chokes, my "go-to" gun has always been a SKB o/u that I tubed Skt1 and Imp cyl. I rarely change the chokes.

Steve

I use the chokes that my guns come with at IC/MOD. They measure .008/.018 and have worked well for me. Being older and slower, they suit my style. I've hunted Woodcock for years and they have worked well also. With the leaves down now here in Michigan, I've had a banner week.
If I were to go from a MOD/Full I'd chose Skeet/ Mod. I read somewhere that a two choke difference in a gun is very usefull.
Karl

Cobbhead, I completely see and agree with your point about opening the chokes on a gun too much that it kills the resale. I've found that I either fall in love with a particular gun and keep it for a loooong time, OR use it for a year and then it gets moved along. Opening to CYL/SKT does kill the secondary market when you go to move it. I spoke with my local dealer on the same issue a while ago and he agreed- IC/MOD is the classic combo that will always sell. Less than than on a choke combo and you are pigeon-holeing a gun into a certain hunting style. Only close bird hunters will want CYL/SKT gun.

The solution I've found is the RST Spreader Loads. They do make a huge diff in the guns I've been shooting, just be sure to pattern them and see how they do. Also PolyWad makes spreaders too.

.02cents.

From patterning board experience in setting up a dedicated grouse gun I found this out. At 15 yds or less it doesn't matter much, any choke is too tight. from 20 to 30 yards you will see a big difference in the spread of the patterns . Spreaders won't show a dramatic difference below 15 yds in a skeet/cylinder choke. IC/Mod works well with spreader loads in the open barrel to 25yds. I ended up at cyl/M and shoot 7/8 Oz 7.5's, 20 Ga. no spreaders, No complaints. As Karl pointed out after the leaves are gone you are going to be able to take some longer shots. Later season birds rarely hold and will flush "out there" too. I love my pointer dogs but have seen a very few that could work a spooky grouse and point them after the young'ns are gone.

Chief