Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Poly choke?

I have a Wingmaster 870 that has had a Poly Choke mounted. It was done well. It looks decent other than being an eye-sore. How does the PC compare to choke tubes?

I have yet to pattern it.

I inherited an older wingmaster that had one. I didnt like the looks of it, took it to the patterning board anyway. It actually patterned very well with some Fed 2 3/4 loads and twisted up to extra full. Just a tick behind a 3” 870 with a designated turkey choke as far as density. I still couldnt stand it for upland hunting and bought a 26” IC plain rib for it. I kept the poly barrel for another turkey option.

From what I know they work fairly well, you would have to pattern the shotgun with your load and see what restriction works for what you need. I just can't get past the lump at the end of the barrel and the sight picture.

Had one once on my very first 870.
I sent it to Poly-Choke when I was 15 yrs old....that was a long time ago.
It shot pretty well for what it was but the older I got the more I wanted a screw in choke and not that bulbous thing on the end of my barrel.
The one thing I remember I really liked about it was the bright orange bead they installed.

Something I quickly looked up

http://stevespages.com/NewManuals/PolyChoke/Poly%20Choke.pdf

I have a first year Ithaca 37R with Deluxe Polychoke. It’s such a vintage thing, just part of that era. I thought about whacking it and going with screw in chokes. It would have been too whippy. I chose to keep it and admit it’s grown on me.

DF

People bad mouth them, but one sure saved my uncles old M12 20 gauge. I had that gun rebuilt with a Simmons vent rib, oversize safety, tightened up, re-blued and the gunsmith cut the full choke 28" barrel down and cut in a recessed choke which he said would work well. Well it didn't and that barrel was thin and before screw in chokes hit the market. A ventilated Poly Choke was my only other option back in those days, but you know what? I like it. Changing it from an open to a more closed choke out in the field is way easier than messing with a pocket full of choke tubes. I did cut the last two vent sections off of it along the way and re-blued the end and it didn't hurt it any and even made it a touch quieter. I threaten to get a Beretta o/u for beating the brush, but that old Winchester is like an extension of my arm and the partridge and rabbits dislike it a great deal.

I bought a new A-5 in '63, just as plastic wads were coming into widespread use. My Modified choked gun was full with the new wads. Peters loaded spreader loads for a while and they opened the Browning up. After a few years, I could no longer find spreader loads so I installed a poly choke. It actually worked as advertised, but I hated it. I took it to a smith and the order read, " Remove poly choke, cut to 20 inches, install Lyman choke ." He misread the order and made it 20 " overall, rather than what should have been a little over 24". Bummer......hated shorty too. Then after a while, Browning came out with the Jappan made A-5 with Invector chokes. I bought a barrel. It fit the old Belgium action perfectly. Problems solved. Shorty is on the gun while in my bedroom. The Invector barrel goes hunting. Happy at last.

Jack

My Dad's old model 37 has one that brings the barrel to 24 inches in length. I think that the added weight of the polychoke makes it swing like a 26 or 28 incher. Don't care for the looks, but I love the way it points. As for the choke itself, no data to back me up but my impression is that with lead shot in small sizes, it's pretty much what it says it is. Not sure beyond that. I do know that #2 steel with the choke set on "Slug" was lethal on ducks.

They made extra barrels for each of the guns made, yet some thought a chanker on the end was the better option.

Did anyone make a quiver, scabbard, or some other holster-type device for carrying those extra barrels along in the field?

In the 1960's it was almost certainly the least expensive option and people weren't made of money like they seem to be now. And, as you know, older model 37 barrels had to be fitted individually to the receiver. Then you still had a fixed choke gun with a barrel length someone else decided on. Polychoke was a good solution, even if they offend some aesthetic sensibilities.

Back then, like today, chokes are mostly overrated. Most would be better off learning just how far an IC or Mod will take them instead of worrying about having the perfect choke. And except for skeet and trap the perfect choke for the given opportunity is rare.

In the 1960's it was almost certainly the least expensive option and people weren't made of money like they seem to be now. And, as you know, older model 37 barrels had to be fitted individually to the receiver. Then you still had a fixed choke gun with a barrel length someone else decided on. Polychoke was a good solution, even if they offend some aesthetic sensibilities.

Dang, I got distracted and appear to have double-posted! Not too good at multi-tasking. I don't feel that strongly about it one way or the other, LOL. Battue, you are right, choke is probably overthought and IC will suffice for 90% of shots. My father's 37 was originally modified and probably was too tight for use as a quail gun in the thickets of Eastern NC. I don't know why he didn't get IC to begin with, probably got a good deal on one in stock locally.

We grew up with a Rem M-31 skeet with solid rib and poly choke. I killed a pile of rabbits and squirrels with it. Even a few turkeys. My brother killed a deer or two with it also. Didn't appreciate what I had and it was sold to fund another. I picked up a Win M12 16ga deluxe field a couple of years ago from the Kansas City Cabela's. It was in great shape, but had a poly choke and was deeply discounted. I bit and brought it home. I have used it the past two dove seasons shooting the 1oz Herter's loads and it has been a hammer. I don't go looking for them, but don't shy away from them either. I bought a Ithaca M37R in 16ga from another Cabela's store that had a Poly but it would always eject the second shell at your feet and I took it back for a refund.

exactly right on the over thoughts on chokes..imo

battue, you are correct that IC was the way to go, but we were young and dumb, or at least mostly inexperienced, and the gun rag scribes of the day recommended Mod as our all round choice. It kind of worked well enough until the advent of plastic wads. All of a sudden we were using guns that mostly patterned full. I bought the poly choke after literally blowing up a quail at close range. On a previous outing, I had decapitated a dove. Saved me the trouble, but I was tearing up too many birds. On the other hand, I killed a pheasant at way too far on my first hunt for them. Spreader loads evaporated, so the choke dingus seemed to be my least expensive option. My final solution was the purchase of a Jap made barrel with screw in chokes for the A-5.

We were not made of money in the '60s. I skipped lunch for months to buy the Browning. Today, I own at least nine shotguns, counting two that my daughters keep. Dad had a saying, "poor people have poor ways." I think he was correct.

Jack

I had an old High Standard pump gun with a poly choke on it years ago. Liked it a bunch, shot it well and killed lots of game with it. The looks of it never bothered me a bit and the in the field versatility can't be beat. Lately I've been thinking of getting another. I actually find the retro look appealing these days.

I have a 1953 Sweet Sixteen with a Cyclone adjustable choke on it. It looks appropriate on a vintage gun. I'm also looking at a model 12 16 gauge with a Poly choke. They don't bother me at all. My Browning patterns pretty close to the markings on it and a little extra weight on the end of a shotgun barrel isn't a bad thing.

If a shooter is claiming missed targets because they find a Poly Choke distracting, I would opine they're probably missing the same targets with a standard barrel. The problem isn't the presence of the Poly choke but that the shooter momentarily shifts focus from the target to the end of the barrel to check lead and ends up shooting behind the target because they either slowed their swing or stopped it altogether.

I'm a fan of PC's.