Choke Tubes

[KahrMan]

I am going on a sandhill crane hunt in a couple of months.  This will be my first time shooting steel shot.  

Does anybody have any experience with steel shot chokes and if so what brands do you like?

 

 

[ShaunM]

Indian Creek or Jebs. Im partial to Indian Creek. Their Turkey chokes are awesome so I figure their waterfowl chokes are just as good.

[KahrMan]

Thanks.  I will check them out.

[TomInMN]

40 minutes ago, KahrMan said:

I am going on a sandhill crane hunt in a couple of months.  This will be my first time shooting steel shot.  

Does anybody have any experience with steel shot chokes and if so what brands do you like?

 

 

The general thought is that steel shoots "tighter" than lead. A mod lead choke will shoot more like a full when you put steel through it. Generally, steel through a full choke is a no-no, but some are marked as okay for steel.

Have you tested the chokes you have with the loads you intend to use? If they pattern well, no sense in dropping the coin on new ones...

[KahrMan]

26 minutes ago, TomInMN said:

The general thought is that steel shoots "tighter" than lead. A mod lead choke will shoot more like a full when you put steel through it. Generally, steel through a full choke is a no-no, but some are marked as okay for steel.

Have you tested the chokes you have with the loads you intend to use? If they pattern well, no sense in dropping the coin on new ones...

I have not. The chokes are marked no steel. 

[Quavodus]

Yeah, a lot of chokes say lead shot only. I guess if they were something like 17-4 stainless, they might work. I don't know if the steel shot rated chokes are heat treated or not.

[TomInMN]

1 hour ago, KahrMan said:

I have not. The chokes are marked no steel. 

That's interesting. The Full typically is marked no steel, but the not open ones are silent more often than not.

Takes the guesswork out of the equation, eh?

[chances R]

If you get a chance at crane, make the most of it with TSS shot.  You won't be shooting that much anyway.  Generally a quality choke in IC or lite mod will work well.

[KahrMan]

1 hour ago, chances R said:

If you get a chance at crane, make the most of it with TSS shot.  You won't be shooting that much anyway.  Generally a quality choke in IC or lite mod will work well.

Really?  That is surprising. I assumed we would be using IM or Full. 

[chances R]

Tight chokes on super hard shot can have the opposite effect on pattern density.  That is why a quality choke with long parallel section gives a better pattern as a rule.  Of course it is always preferred to do your own testing or contact your choke maker.  May not be a lot of info with the TSS shot.

[Quavodus]

I've never shot any TSS but, turkey hunters love it though. chances R, you brought up an interesting point though. I had never thought about harder shot not working good in tighter chokes but, that's makes sense.

[AuEagle]

14 hours ago, chances R said:

If you get a chance at crane, make the most of it with TSS shot.  You won't be shooting that much anyway.  Generally a quality choke in IC or lite mod will work well.

Yep, have shot many ducks, geese, etc with steel with  IC tube in Beretta 303. No issues.