Chokes for Hunting

riflehunter77

Evening all just a question for ye on chokes.. My father just bought a new shotgun today a Lu-Mar Scirocco Field 12g. Now the father has been shooting and hunting for the last 40 odd years or so but all his previous shotguns have been fixed choke. So he is wondering what are the best choke sizes to leave in, he does not want to be messing about with changing chokes all the time. He will be mainly be using the shotgun for hunting phesants, woodcock snipe etc. Its hard to believe that there is 55 or so years shooting with shotguns between us and all we have ever used is fixed choke.

jwshooter

quarter and half will do every thing

ejg

Pheasant and a bit of duck 1/2 & 3/4, but as soon as woodcock take over then 1/4 & 1/2.

edi

pullandbang

riflehunter77 wrote: »

Its hard to believe that there is 55 or so years shooting with shotguns between us and all we have ever used is fixed choke.

You know sometimes you're better off with fixed chokes - it takes the decision making process out of the equation and you make the best of what you have. If you have fixed chokes, they are usually on the tighter side - especially some of the older semis. You learn to let the birds out that bit further before pulling on them.

With the multi chokes you sometimes wonder "did I have the right one in when I missed that last cock"? Then you start wondering should I change them, should I leave them? This can create doubt in ones mind which leads to hesitation which leads to a missed bird!
This is especailly true in clays....(speaking from experience):eek:

jwshooter

half for pheasants ,full for duck and pigeons, shot a crossing pigeon dead last sunday at 74 steps

Tikkat3

Barrel length is a factor also. I was always told on a 28 inch barrel, 1/2 and 3/4 and on a 30 inch 1/4 to 1/2.

Worked fine for me but I must say that without pattern testing the chokes from your gun, its very hard to know.

Choke and barrel quality varies patterns alot.

jwshooter

the barrel length only makes the gun more point able ,i have 32 inch barrels in my gun i find it gives me a sweeter swing on long range targets ,but i have shot 25s in olympic skeet with it.its what ever works for you

riflehunter77

Thanks for the info lads he has gone with quater and half. Grand shotgun as well have not seen a Lu- Mar before have not been able to get to much info either on them. He finds this one is a lot beter blanced and fits better than his previous Lanber so happy days all round..

greenpeter

riflehunter77 wrote: »

Thanks for the info lads he has gone with quater and half. Grand shotgun as well have not seen a Lu- Mar before have not been able to get to much info either on them. He finds this one is a lot beter blanced and fits better than his previous Lanber so happy days all round..
I Have a Lu-mar in 20bore, it was my first gun and it never gave me a minutes trouble. I bought it in 99 second hand now the father uses it cause it so easy to carry never fails to fire