Recommendation for chokes

[vinny1892]

Hi ive been trying different loads in my remington1187 using a full choke(.670)id. My patterns are not as impressive as i like to see. Ive used winchester xr long beard ammo along with remington 4x6 ammo and hornady nickel plated 6 shot. All weights are 1x3/4 ounce loads and number 6 shotsize. The patterns are good in a 30 inch circle but for a turkey target i was getting on average 10 pellets inside a 10 inch circle 6of which are in the vitals. Whats everyones recommendations on opening up the choke or restricting it?

[Johnch]

A "Turkey" tube if you want a real tight pattern

Most people ( Me included ) Buy one or several of the extended of the choke tubes just made to shoot turkeys with
Yea I know if you can always get the toms to come in close , the turkey choke tube isn't needed

But I want every pellet I can get to hit

I don't understand all the reasons , but the chokes made for turkey hunting have 2-4" of the choke tube sticking out past the end of the barrel
And it WORKS

Bad thing , no 2 guns pattern the same with a given choke tube
So it might take 2 or more choke tubes to find one that patterns in your gun

And IMO FORGET Remington's Turkey tubes , Quality control has gone way down in the last few years there
They don't even make all of their own choke tubes
I shoot one of Remington Versamax shotguns
Love it .... but a Plastic front Bead on a $1100+ shotgun that you use in tight cover hunting ducks LOL
Took less that 1 season to break it off

John

[vinny1892]

Ok awesome and what are your thoughts on the carlsons line of chokes made for the remington guns?

[sigep1764]

I use a set of Carlson Chokes on an 1100 that I sent to them to have the barrel threaded as well. I used the gun for trap. That was 15 years ago and they and the barrel are in perfect shape with around 20k rounds through it. Their coyote choke is devastating out to 70 yards. I haven't ever tried their turkey chokes, but I would expect similar performance. Very happy with them.

[vinny1892]

Awesome ill look into one they seem fair priced. Im not paying 70plus for a choke that does the same thing as a cheaper one.

[megasupermagnum]

You are only getting 10 pellets in a 10" circle at 30 yards? That's very bad, something is wrong there. The first thing I would do is confirm that you are in fact hitting to point of aim. A lot of guys use 100 pellets in a 10" circle as the standard for maximum range, me personally, I think 75 is fine. 10 is not ok. There is no reason your gun can't put 75 pellets in a 10" circle at 40 yards, let alone 30 yards.

My recommendation is 1#, make sure you are hitting perfect. You might need to add sights to correct it.

#2 try a Carlsons, non-ported, turkey choke. .670" is a good constriction.

#3 try Federal grand slam, #5 shot if you can find it.

[Johnch]

IMO Carlson choke tubes are a OK brand

Also .... Not all loads pattern well out of all barrels
I use a 23" slug barrel that takes choke tubes to hunt turkeys , Remington only made these for a few years

I tried a number of different factory turkey loads
Some that others shot great patterns with , didn't in my barrel and choke tube

So I tried a number of loads till I found one that did

Also I would put a Red Dot sight on your shotgun
It makes putting the best part of the pattern on the turkeys head

John

[CastingFool]

I use a Hastings turkey choke on my 870, and it has a constriction of. 645". At 35 yds, my pattern is about 22"-24". I use 3" winchester 2 oz of copper plated 4's. 40 yd kills is normal.

[megasupermagnum]

The thing that gets me is he claims 10 pellets in a 10" circle at 30 yards. A cylinder choke should be able to that. The more I think about it, the more I think the POI is off.