Chokes and cartridges for duck shooting

Cbeirne82

Im taking a friend of mine out duck shooting on a boat at the weekend and am just wondering what the best choice of chokes and cartridges are.

The gun i will be using is an u/o bettinsolli diamond LX 30" barrells multi choke. I normally use an improved cylinder choke in the first barrell and a modified choke in the other with a 28g no. 71/2 cartridge in the first barrell and a 32g no. 6 cartridge in the second barrell for upland shooting and find this works well. So for ducks i was thinking modified in one and full in the other using a No. 5 in the first and a no. 4 in the second. Does this sound like a winning combination to those of you who know about these things?

The other gun is a Bakil s/s 28" barrells fixed choke so was just thinking a no. 5 for the first shot and a 4 no. for the second.

The cartridges i have a ely maximum 4's.

Any advice would be appreciated.

J.R.

Depends on what range they will be at - if out to 35 metres I would use the Eley Maximum 4's in both barrels with three quarter + full chokes.

Chopperdog 2

cbeirne,

your shot choice sounds quite adequate, I think that if you follow from here that the rest will all come down to shooting ability.

Good luck with the ducks.

Cbeirne82

I would expect that we would be encountering the ducks at various ranges but would be hoping to take them around the 30 - 35 yard mark.

Anyone else with any views?

stevoman

Cbeirne82 wrote: »

I would expect that we would be encountering the ducks at various ranges but would be hoping to take them around the 30 - 35 yard mark.

Anyone else with any views?

i was usiing 32g 6's on monday and hit them ok but i pulled one down from the elements on wednsday night with a 36g5 on the second barrell so im gonna use them from now on in my second barrell.

jwshooter

stevoman wrote: »

i was usiing 32g 6's on monday and hit them ok but i pulled one down from the elements on wednsday night with a 36g5 on the second barrell so im gonna use them from now on in my second barrell.

flighting mallard dont go over a 36 grm 5 a 4 with full choke wolud be better over the pond i would use a 36grm 6 with quarter choke coluld be a good eve on them wind and rain hear

terminator2

32gram no 6s should be fine

coolhandspan

complete overkill with 4s 4s are better in second barrell only, 6 and 4 better combination, no need to choke down gun too hard, happy huntin

meathstevie

32g 6's in a 3/4 and full and there isn't a game bird in Ireland that you can't hunt with that setup except maybe the larger geese.

Double Barrel

" duck shooting on a boat "
Be careful and SAFE.

No.4s and No.5s are a good choice and commonly used for ducks, 1/2 and 3/4 or Full choke seems to work for me in open water. If you are shooting mostly teal No.6 is adequate.
Larger pellets because they are heavier, retain their velocity better and so killing power over distance is greater than the smaller sizes.

coolhandspan

good advice double,
please do not go out shooting in a boat in high winds. best bet is to pull boat into reeds[watch for stones]

4,5,6 all good cartridges, personally 6s are fine in calmish weather for all ducks