Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Re-choke Browning M12 20ga

Recently picked up a Browning Model 12 Grade I in 20ga. Gun is in excellent condition with very nice wood.

These come with fixed modified chokes, but would like to either open it up to I/C or get tubes. Need open choke for grouse and wood cock.

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions/experiences would be appreciated. Thanks

Check out this thread...

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...ne-threading-for-rem-chokes#Post12339274


DMc

You might want to try spreader loads from Polywad or RST before you open up the gun's choke.

Say it cost you $75 bucks to open the choke, the upcharge for spreaders is roughly $3.00 a box so the delta's break even point is 25 boxes of shells. How long will it take you to burn through 625 shots at woodcock and Grouse? 15 years? I'd leave it alone at first but buy a couple of boxes of spreaders to see if you like the way they perform.

Thanks


Now there's a thought. I may check around and do some research on that.

Browning really did a great job bringing back some spectacular firearms.

I don't care if you're a doubles man, over-under guy, or whatever..., nothing points and shoots as naturally as a Model 12. I especially liked their Model 42s. (Just wish they'd included a 28" barrel in addition to the 26 for the clay target games.)


DMc

Another sneaky trick to opening patterns is to mix shot sizes, say 6's & 8 1/2's if you reload.


DMc

Mike Orlen does top notch work, he does the work on my sxs's. I picked up a pair of Hungarian sxs's that I'm shipping off for tubes next week. At last check he gets $45 to thread a barrel and $29./tube plus shipping, $55 to open a fixed choke.

You're right. They are a nice shotgun but the mod choke is a bite wierd. I always use an SKB M100 20ga for grouse but when I picked up this M12 and knew I wanted to try it out. The price was right enough not to lose my shirt if I changed my mind.

Those spreader loads might be problematic here in Canada. Need more google on that.

I would need to find a solution north of the border. Guns are getting to be too evil to ship across the line.

You might check with Mike on shipping just the barrel from Canada for work. I just imported a set of barrels from Canada for an O/U. I just needed to get an import permit as an individual.

Mike might be set up to import barrels for work. You might check with Carlsons also, I think there prices are close to Mikes, their turn around time is longer.

Not sure what s weird about the fixed modified choke but I have the twin to your gun and use it for everything from doves to quail , preserve pheasant and yes even grouse in the thickets of the Appalachians try it as is you might be surprised. Mine is pretty effective on all the above. I really don't worry much about choke anymore. As I said shoot it some before spending your $$ you might be pleasantly surprised.

Bangeye is giving you great advice. Modified is the do it all choice of chokes.

I have used the mod choke for most of my shooting .. It isn't perfect but does lots of things very well.

there's a 3rd option....




DMc : )

We get grouse and woodcock pretty close here. Even IC can be a bit tight sometimes. I will try to find some spreader loads here in Canada before getting it reamed.


Not!

DMc, twelve years ago, I was wasting time at a Ft Worth gun show. I bought a minty model 42 modified choke. I bought a few boxes of ammo and patterned each. My most consistently impressive loads were 2.5" #8.5 clays loads. They patterned better and penetrated better than 3" HV loads in 7.5 shot. About that time, youngest daughter gave birth to a son. I had only patterned the 42, so I put it in storage for the grandson. Tragically, he died in an accident a few days before he was three. I never touched the 42 without tears welling up for several years.

They say time heals all wounds, but not really. Three years ago while packing the stuff for the dove opening, I bumped into the 42 and thought "why not?" I included it and a few boxes of #8.5 target loads along with a nice 20 for back-up. I did not quite limit out, but I have never had more fun at doves. It would have been perfect if a 9 yo grandson had been pulling the trigger. Did the same the following year. Percentage wise, I did about as well as with the twenty, but I don't think that I shot at anything over 25 yards. After the dove become more wary, a larger gauge is needed. I am seriously thinking of adding a 28 ga to my holdings.

Best,

Jack

BTW, I have one of those dinguses (looks like a Lyman choke) and a Cutts on a Model 12. Once had a PolyChoke. I cannot recommend any of them. I used a spreader load. They were no longer readily available after the gunmakers started choking for plastic cup wads, so I first got a PolyChoke. Later had it replaced with a Lyman. The gunsmith (?) misread the order. I wrote" cut the barrel to 24" then install the choke." He misread and sent it back at 24" overall. This was on a Belgium Browning A-5. I eventually replaced the barrel with a Japaneese made barrel with screw chokes.

Jack

Come on now...., you know that's a thing a beauty, and an engineering marvel!!!


DMc

JT, I can't imagine losing a grandchild. I have 5 and hate to even think of such a tragedy befalling any of them! We have to trust in God's plan and take solace in the fact that His intentions were to draw us closer to Him. God had a need and a plan for your grandchild that exceeds our understanding. Prayers for you and your children.

Many years ago I was fortunate to have been invited to dove hunt in Mexico with a group of Doctors that hunted the San Fernando Valley every year. We'd fly to Harlingen, where we rented 12 person vans and would caravan the 2-hours, to a (luxurious by Mexico standards) hunting lodge.

I used to skeet shoot with (at Alpine BTW) with 2 friends that were regulars on the Mexico trip and was the reason I was invited. We always shot .410's on the skeet field and since I was serious about good scores I shot an over/under as most serious skeet shooters do.

My first trip to Mexico was an awe inspiring experience. Doves were problematic in Mexico, as they were so numerous, they could devastate grain fields causing crop yields to be decimated. You would find yourself shooting a case or even two of shotgun shells within a 3-hour period, (Usually 7-10am before it slowed down, then starting again from about 3 to 6pm.)

On my first morning of shooting I had to urgently relieve the morning coffee that was threatening to explode my bladder. I propped my O/U 410 against a tree and took care of business. Once done, I picked up my shotgun by the barrels and seriously burned my hand. I had no idea my barrels were hot. Not only were they hot, they were scalding hot! Thank God I was with a group of Doctors!

This was my first introduction to pump action shotguns and the Winchester Model 42. Using an over/under limits you from scoring triples, quadruples, and thereon, which drives up the fun factor to addiction levels! No plugs required in Mexico.

These Mexico trips lasted about 10 years or until it was no longer safe to travel to Mexico. Our annual pilgrimage moved to Argentina, which has even greater numbers of dove and tens of thousands of ducks! At this point in my life I was busy making babies with my wife and the increased cost of international travel succumbed to home based priorities.

I never went back to O/U's. Even though I've continued to shoot skeet, the 42 is still a favorite, but I mostly shoot automatics now. The autos were just too unreliable to be stuck with outside of the United States. I've been through a gambit of 410's. The 870 is too whippy to score well at clay target games but the 42 (and Model 12) is one of the best designed shotguns ever made! (IMHO)


DMc : )

PS: I'd gladly take an 870 on any "jump shooting" outings! Didn't mean to belittle the 870.

I guess I'm weird. I like adjustable chokes...

Too bad your gunsmith thought you wanted a self defense shotgun with an adjustable choke. I think I'd be looking for a new gunsmith.


DMc ; )

PS: Why buy spreader shotgun shells. Just mix shot sizes together at the reloading bench and you'll come out BIG $'s ahead.

Self defense gun with a choke is exactly what that barrel on the A-5 is. As a S-I-L says, you can tell that I am serious when I install the inventor barrel to hunt with the Old Browning.

I use two O/U guns. A twelve Beretta SP IV and a Browning Syprtposed Pigeon Grade twenty. They do have their limitations for follow up shots.

I probably should not have mentioned grandson. Sometimes I still miss him so much.... God knows our number of days before we are born. My continued thanks to God for letting us have him for almost three years. And many thanks to Him that the child's death was instant. There was no suffering on his part. Also, God makes it possible for us to go on. A last blessing, since the kids already had a daughter, there would likely not been more. While trying for another boy, we ended up with not one, but two more beautiful and bright granddaughters. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

BTW, ther mom teaches and their dad farms and ranches. There is something a little different about farm/ranch girls. They have been going to check crops and cattle with their dad ever since they hit sippy cup status. And yes, even the four yo knows the difference between bulls and cows, and it is not just the hump on their back.

Best,

I’d open it to IC with no regrets or second thoughts. These are shooter guns, not collectors items, so have no worry about devalue. If you decide later you need more choke, it’s a simple matter to have Briley install thin wall choke tubes.

I'm thinking I/C is the way to go. Should have been choked that way from the factory anyways.

Not a huge bit of collector value with this shotgun, but it is a Grade I with very nice wood, near mint with box.

Probably harder to do in Canada, but maybe you can find one of the Winchester/Miroku Model 12's to trade for. They're the same as the earlier Brownings, but they were choked IC instead of MOD.

You're right. Not sure if I've ever seen one of those for sale here. Nice shotguns.

Haven't seen it mentioned. Maybe just try some cheaper promotional loads. Their softer shot may open up your patterns.

Right after plastic wads were introduced, I bought two cases (20 boxes each back then) of spreader loads each year at a wholesaler in Amarillo. Same price as regular. Then they kind of disappeared from the marketplace, or he stopped carrying the them?? Then I got promoted again and shipped of to larger cities in areas where I didn't need a thousand shot shells in ten years. Not that many quail opportunities. I did not realize they are still around.

Jack

ROFL! I remember bringing several guns through the crossing near Sumas, WA years ago on my move to Alaska. All my Canada paperwork was good. Cutest little border guard you ever saw was trying the usual border guard banter to see if you were legit. you know, lone while male traveling into Canada, must be high on the list of profiled bad guys or something. At one point she was frustrated that I made no mis-spoken responses, so she blurted out "You like guns, don't you?!" It was hard not to burst out laughing! I don't remember my exact reply but my UNSPOKEN thought was, Yes, dear, and what do YOU like?

Have you shot it or are you just assuming its too tight because it says "MOD" on the barrel? I use to think I needed more open chokes too but find most fixed chokes throw a better pattern and if you spend some time shooting and can get past the mental part of chokes I bet you will find MOD is really a good over all choke.

The pre 64 M-12's really pattern well. I have a 16 gauge 28 inch full I shoot skeet with all the time and though Im sure the full cost me a target from time to time I dont see it as a real problem.

So go shoot the hell out of that gun and if you give MOD a honest run I bet you find it perfect

Grouse/woodcock hunting here requires a very open choke as shots can be very close and fast. Pretty carry the shotgun at ready at times. I had a 20ga 870 for a while and switched it to a SK as the IC was found to be too tight.

I've shot a lot of grouse and woodcock with a double 20 choked full and mod.
If you can't hit them with a mod you're not going to hit them with a skeet.

Way to go .......... You're some awesome.

All I know is choke can be a very mental game.
You see it every day on the sporting clay courses
I put in lt mod or mod and always seem to have the
right choke. Very few targets I miss and think I would
have broken with less choke.

Plus, every time I open a choke I regret it. I still say shoot it for a bit and then open it up if you REALLY feel its necessary.

Go to a pattern board set 15 yards away and shoot it with a modified choke, then shoot it with a skeet-1. Your pattern will be about 3- 4" larger. That's 1 1/2- 2" on ether side.
Are you missing by 2"?
Chokes help with inches.
Try this, go to a skeet range and shoot a round with a mod then shoot a round with a Skeet-1. I bet your score will not change by more than 1 clay.
To help out a mod get some Herter's Select Field Super Spreader Shotshells. They are cheap and work great.
Super Spreader
A modified will work better all all around than a skeet-1. What happens when they get out to 30-35 yards? That skeet-1 is fairly useless and the mod is working fine.
I have hunted this season with my new Browning Feather with IM and LM chokes. The misses I got were my fault, not the chokes.

I had one of those abrowning model 12s in 20ga.
That mod choke worked very well for me.
Suggest you shoot it a bit before you drop some money on the choke.

I took the easy way out of this and bought an Ithaca M37 Featherweight 20ga with 26" bbl and IC choke. Weighs in at a trim 6.25lbs.

First shotgun I ever owned was a M37 bought new in 1975 for $175 so this one was a no-brainer. The M12 was a very nice shotgun but this Ithaca holds a bit more sentimental value.

Great advise and great looking gun SuperCub!


DMc