Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Tested some turkey and buckshot chokes today. I'm a bit surprised.

I now have 3 extended turkey chokes for my Browning A5 12 gauge. That's in addition to the strandard full choke that came with the gun. I took the gun out today and patterned each choke multiple times at 40 yard with Winchester Long Beard XR 3 1/2" #5. The A5 takes the Invector DS tubes.

Here are the chokes, top to bottom:

Kicks Gobblin' Thunder .680
Carlsons Extended Turkey Choke .665
Patternmaster Code Black .665.


Here is the control pattern I shot with the standard Full choke tube that came with the gun. Disregard the couple of buckshot holes. It's actually a pretty danged good pattern for the stock Full choke tube.


These next three are the last shots (of two or three) I took with the extended after-market tubes.

Here's the Kicks Gobblin' Thunder .680. Not too bad, but there's some empty spaces in there. And I don't think it did as well as the stock full choke.


Here's the Carlsons Extended Turkey Choke in .665. Likewise, its a respectable pattern. But I still think the stock Full tube did better.


Here's the Patternmaster Code Black .665. I was actually disapppointed in this choke. It shot high on every shot (3). I have no idea why. And the pattern is not as dense as I had hoped. I have a Code Black in Invector Plus on a BPS and it shot to POA and was very dense. But this one is a disappointment.


They're all killing patterns. But If I take my A5 into the woods this spring, I will likely just use the standard Full tube that came with the gun.

I tested some buckshot chokes, too. My Winchester SX4 12 gauge with a Trijicon RMR has become sort of my dedicated buckshot gun. It takes Invector Plus tubes. Like the A5, I've accumulated three extended after-market tubes specifically for buckshot. Then I have the standard Full choke tube. Here's the after-market tubes. They are, left to right:

Kicks Buck Kicker
Carlsons Buckshot Choke
Patternmaster Big Game


I used Winchester XX High Velocity 00 3 1/2" 15 pellets at 1,450 fps.

I shot the stock Full choke tube at 40 yards as a control. 9 pellets on the paper.


Then I shot the Kicks Buck Kicker. It seemed to shoot low, with only 4 pellets on the paper (2 nearly through the same hole)


I shot the Carlsons Buckshot Choke next. 8 (more like 7 1/2) on the paper.


Then I shot the Patternmaster Big Game. Again, as with the turkey choke above, I am really disappointed in this choke. Only 1 pellet on the paper and it was shooting way right. I shot it three times and it shot right three times.


Again, I will likely stick with the stock Full choke in the future.

I do think the ammo had something to do with it. This ammo is hot for a buckshot load. I've seen it do better with slower velocity loads, like Federal Hi Shok copper plated 00 3" 15 pellets at 1200 fps, and Winchester Super X lead 00 3 1/2" 18 pellets at 1200 fps.

Last, I tried my Browning Citori White Lighting again. I have a Browning extended XF in the top barrel and an extended Full in the bottom. All at 40 yards.

I shot the first set with Winchester Long Beard XR 3" #5.

XFull


Full


The I shot it again using the same shell in #6

XFull


Full


It seems that #5 and #6 like the Full choke better in this gun.

With some of today's modern shot shells, less is more. Thanks for sharing.

Well, full looks good enough in the 3”. 5s and 6s ought to reach out to 50 yds cause that target turkey at 40 is seriously dead.

That's defintiately no more evident than with these after-market buckshot chokes. None of the ones I have work as well as the stock Full choke, and with bigger buck shot, the Full doesn't pattern as well as the the stock Modified.

I like the Win. LR a lot. I shoot the 3" #4 and #5 in my Mossberg 500. I've killed several at 40 yards and a bit further. Your patterns look good 10Glocks.

That full choke is getting the job done for sure on turkeys.

That Full choke patterns more tightly and consistently than the Xtra Full choke. I find that a bit strange. Browning doesn't advertise the choke diameter and I've never measured it. All of my Browning Full chokes, whether they are Invector Plus, Extend Invector Plus, or Invector DS pattern Longbeard XR very well at 40 yards.

Try a 3" load of buckshot. And maybe a smaller size shot like #1 Buck instead of the 00 you are using now. The number of pellets in the load doesn't mean a thing if they aren't clustered on target. If a 3" load puts more pellets in the black then it is a more effective load. With the added benefit of less recoil.

Great post ! I'm still trying to get a good pattern with F and #4 buck shot. The aftermarket chokes that
I have tried haven't lived up to their billing. I will try some stock more open chokes.
Thanks for the post !

Interesting post.

I have some browning DS tubes I tried in my citori 725 for turkey hunting that may be worth looking at again or selling.

Buckshot patterns are always a eyeopener. I've gone to using old heavy #2 loads on beavers or using turkey loads because the buckshot is real hit and miss.

Yea.. turkey loads are expensive for beaver eradication, but its time sitting there trying to keep my property from being flooded out. Cheaper than gas for trapping...

The thing with buckshot is that the shot, like 00 in 12 g, and 3 in 20 g are "stacked" in the shell, not poured in. The pellet count for 00 in 12 is always a mulitple of 3 in factory loads. You can't get a single layer of more than 3 00 pellets in a 12 gauge shell. Bigger buckshot is seems to be more adversely affected by overchoking that smaller shot. Most after market buckshot tubes are "Full." The Kicks tube above is "Full" and specifically marketed for 00 3" and 3 1/2". I've found it doesn't do any better than a standard full, and neither do as well as a modified.

I'm going to try and get back out and do some comparisons with IC, MOD, and Full chokes. Once I do I'll post the results.

I've got quite a bit of buckshot laying around. #4, #3 (20g), #1 and 00, in everything from 2 3/4" to 3 1/2".

Back when I was a kid I hunted with a Ithaca Model 37 with a 26" barrel and a I/C fixed choke. I patterned that gun with 2 3/4" 9 pellet-count 00 buck at 40 yards on cardboard stuck inside a tire. The pattern was better than what you see above. Overchoking buckshot can make for poor patterns. I think thsese so called buckshot chokes do just that.

This is what a choke that's not too tight will do with a high velocity load of 00 15-pellet count at 40 yards. Pretty sure this was a Mod out of my A5. That's a 12x12 target.