Is it dangerous to fire 00buck from a full choke?

Is a different choke better for some reason?

Modified is what I've always used. I don't think full choke is dangerous, I have shot it myself. I hear lots of buck thru a full choke will ruin the bbl.....Modified + OO = VINISON guarnteed! 26-28 inch tube, and get your knife.

nut

I have done a lot of testing of large shot and Buckshot in various shotguns.

In every shotgun that I have ever patterened, a standard full choke will pattern better with 4, 00, and 000 buck without exception, all testing done at 40 yards.

I load my own buckshot with www.ballisticproducts.com products.

I use BB, F buck, and #4 Buck for hunting Coyotes.

With my Rem 11/87 with a Hastings Turkey choke, I print 15" patterns with 00 and 000 Rem 3" Buckshot at 40 yards. The pattern opens to 20" with #4 Buckshot.

Gunwriters have really done a bad job of printing a lot of BS on chokes with buckshot over the years giving WRONG information.

I hunted with 1100's and 870's with full chokes for years, started off with modified in both versions and ithaca. I went to the full chokes in both along with an Ithaca 10ga auto with a full choke.

I used full with No. 1 Buck.

JM.

when I worked at a sporting goods store in virginia, we had a guy come in and buy a cheap pump shotgun, it was all camoed out and came with a xxfull turkey choke. he starts asking us how tight the patterns will be if he uses 000 buck out to 100 yards. we advise him that it would be dangerous to do that and if he's going to use buck shot use a modified or full choke at the very most. well after opening weekend he brings the gun back in with a bulge and a split in the barrel about 2-3 inches from the end. he says he was shooting clays and it happened, but we remembered the guy, and it was deer opener, wasn't hard to connect the dots.

Thanks for the info everybody.

What I have found to work best was a choke with a ED in the Imp Mod range(That's inbetween Mod and Full). I've tested Rem 00, Win 00, Win #4, Fed 000, and Fed #1. Fed Premium #1 gave the best kill counts to 75yds with an IM choke. A good quality after market extended choke will work well. From a Rem or Win bore something in the Neighborhood of .715 ED should do well.

Primos, Kicks, and Pure Gold make extended Buckshot chokes.

I pattern alot of shotguns and just like rifles, they will tend to have a pet combo. Try a few combos and see what gives you the best patterns. Look at your overall pattern on large 3'x3' sheets of paper. Ideally you will want an even pattern with no large gaps that gives a dense 20" core. Also make sure your gun is hitting POA. Some folks think a shotgun naturally shoots to the POA with the factory bead, but that's far from the truth with many guns. You can buy 35" wide 140' long rolls of paper for $10 at Home Depot in the paint section. Large paper is very important in studying patterns.

My most rescent buckshot test were with an Mossberg 835. The key combo was a IM ext choke and Federal Premium 3.5" #1 buck. That combo gave excellent patterns and I wouldn't be afraid to use it on small deer out to 70-75yds in calm conditions.

Good Luck

loder

Thanks loder. Lots of good info. I have never used a shotgun for deer before but I now have a hunting spot just down the road and its shotgun or bow only.

I shot plenty of deer with a scatter gun growing up.

No. 1 Buck is hard to beat.

JM.

I personally would let my shotgun at the pattern board determine which choke to use for buckshot and no, buckshot won't damage any modern shotgun barrel regardless of choke. Some of the extra full Turkey Choke may be to much for large buckshot.

I grew up hunting with shotguns and buckshot too,we always used full choke guns with 00 or no. 1 buckshot.

I shot for the lungs with 00 buck,my dad would aim for the neck with no.1,and I dont recall either ever losing a deer.

With buckshot it's best to keep shooting until the deer goes down,one shot may not always do and buckshot does not damage meat like a rifle so a quick but aimed 2-3 shot burst is the best.

I have experimented the modern extended and ported chokes from Kick's.

The paterns were unreal,pretty much every pellet in a circle of about a foot at 40 yards.


Just like turkey loads,every shell,choke tube,and barrel respond differently.You have to test a few to find the sweet spot. But the results can be amazing with super deadly patterns at 50 yards and even more.

If I were really serious aboout buckshot,I'd get one of the turkey guns with adjustable sites or optics and order some of the custom buckshot tubes for it.

Buy winchester and federal's best loads in no. 1 and 00 buck and see what works.

The maximum distance at which you can put half a dozen pellets in an 8 inch circle is where you quit.

As far as penetration,00 will penetrate better than no. 1 at forty yards but not by a lot.

At that range 00 will often exit or be under the offside hide on lung shots,no.1 will often stop inside the ribs on the far side of the critter. Both will get all the way through lungs or break the neck at forty yards IME.

You can shoot buckshot out of any choke. I usually like to use #1 buckshot instead of #00 buckshot because you have more pellets and they pattern a lot better from my guns. I prefer the full choke barrel but every gun is different so I'd try different chokes until I got what I wanted.