Posted: 1/20/2012 12:45:50 PM EDT
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Shot my first round of sporting clays yesterday and loved it. I am an experienced trap shooter and because of that did OK for my first sporting clays round. 75/100
Anyway, which choke/ choke combo do you guys use? I was shooting a semi-auto Beretta with a modified. I suppose you could change it up every station, but that seems annoying for recreational shooting. We had far birds, but I wouldn't say they were farther than 35-40 yards. So what do you use? |
| I shoot a Beretta 686 Onyx and if I'm not going to change chokes, I like Improved Cylinder and Modified. I use Briley extended chokes so changing them takes just a second and no tools are required so if I was shooting sporting clays (I'm more of a skeet and 5 stand shooter) I'd be tempted to change them as necessary. |
| It depends on the course and target presentations. That being said, I shoot a Spanish 12ga. SxS choked I/C x I/C. My wife shoots a 20ga. U/O with tubes. She almost always uses the cylinder and I/C tubes, and only on the longest targets changes to a modified tube. |
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IC seems the most popular. Makes me nervous for the far crossers. How does IC do at 40 yards? IC will break clays decisively at 40 yards. If you leave your modified in it can break every clay on the course, and you will have one less thing to think about. I shoot light full and 7.5s 100% of the time. |
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It depends on the course. I carry my pack of chokes in my vest when I'm shooting and change them based on the targets. I get the most use out of IC, CYL and LM. IC is okay at 40y, especially if you're using fast 7 + 1/2's. At 40y, you're better off using LM if you have one. Mod, for almost every range I've shot on is too much. I've only had one range that was mostly mod/LF (Texas WhizBang competition). |
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Quoted: I assume 7.5 or 8 size shot doesn't matter. I shoot #8 at the 16 yard line for trap so I have a bunch of it. In fact, I would GUESS that #8 is preferred for sporting clays.....especially with the use of such open chokes???? Who says you can't have both? Put 8's in your right pocket, 7 1/2's in your left, throw your hulls in a barrel or dump sack. 7 + 1/2's are really best for sporting clays, 8's for 5 stand...generally. I load 7 + 1/2's on rabbits and anything that makes me really reach out (long range crossers, long distance teal) |
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I usually us M/IC in my Citori. Here's a chart: 
actual link if it doesn't go full-size: http://www.briley.com/faqs/chokechart_inside.jpg As you can see, there's a reason why so many different chokes are available. Really depends on the presentation and type of clay being shot. M-IC is a middle of the road combo for most presentations, though. |
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Quoted: I usually us M/IC in my Citori. Here's a chart: http://www.briley.com/faqs/chokechart_inside.jpg actual link if it doesn't go full-size: http://www.briley.com/faqs/chokechart_inside.jpg As you can see, there's a reason why so many different chokes are available. Really depends on the presentation and type of clay being shot. M-IC is a middle of the road combo for most presentations, though. Yep and the Briley extended chokes are pure sex. |
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I usually us M/IC in my Citori. Here's a chart: http://www.briley.com/faqs/chokechart_inside.jpg actual link if it doesn't go full-size: http://www.briley.com/faqs/chokechart_inside.jpg As you can see, there's a reason why so many different chokes are available. Really depends on the presentation and type of clay being shot. M-IC is a middle of the road combo for most presentations, though. Yep and the Briley extended chokes are pure sex. You have a rec on which briley? My citori is a Citori Esprit with the regular Invector chokes (not the plus type). Extended would be nice, just for ease of removal, but not a necessity. |
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I usually us M/IC in my Citori. Here's a chart: http://www.briley.com/faqs/chokechart_inside.jpg actual link if it doesn't go full-size: http://www.briley.com/faqs/chokechart_inside.jpg As you can see, there's a reason why so many different chokes are available. Really depends on the presentation and type of clay being shot. M-IC is a middle of the road combo for most presentations, though. Pretty cool chart. Thank you! |
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Leave your mod choke in and never think about it again. It's enough choke to break any target seen on a typical sporting course. Don't over think the game. Keep is simple. As my English Sporting friends say "Modified choke and a pocket full of #8's" is all I need. Let's shoot" . With that being said, I shoot LM/LM or IM/IM. |
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Quoted:
I assume 7.5 or 8 size shot doesn't matter. I shoot #8 at the 16 yard line for trap so I have a bunch of it. In fact, I would GUESS that #8 is preferred for sporting clays.....especially with the use of such open chokes???? 7.5 shot retains speed better for going away targets and rabbits or bateaus. I stopped using 8's on rabbits in particular as I showered too many without breaking the target. Like I said above, I use a LM and IC choke as my standard set up. I'll select the LM barrel for the most distant targets, such as a 40 yard crosser, but if it's a pair I'll use the IC without worry. One of the fields I shoot on has a high tower with targets crossing a lake. We've been down there several times shooting the targets way far out just to learn the effective range of skeet and IC chokes, and it's a lot farther than most people allow. |
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Quoted: Shot my first round of sporting clays yesterday and loved it. I am an experienced trap shooter and because of that did OK for my first sporting clays round. 75/100 Anyway, which choke/ choke combo do you guys use? I was shooting a semi-auto Beretta with a modified. I suppose you could change it up every station, but that seems annoying for recreational shooting. We had far birds, but I wouldn't say they were farther than 35-40 yards. So what do you use? You can shoot most recreational courses with an Improved Cylinder and 1 oz. promo shells with good results. For tournament grade targets I shoot Improved Modified and use the finest shotgun ammo money can buy - Federal handicap papers. IMO, the ammo (specifically the hardness of the shot) matters more than what is stamped on the choke. Moreover, you should verify that the load / choke combo you choose is doing what you want it to do. My competition gun throws one full degree of choke tighter than what is stamped on the chokes when I use premium ammo. When I shoot promo loads with softer shot, it's pretty much spot on the choke designation. |
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Re: The difference between 7.5s & 8s In shooting the $5 Wal Mart promo loads, there is no difference. In fact if you were to cut open one of each and mic the pellets, you'd find that they were mostly the same size and that variances in pellet size within a given shot charge is just a fact of life. In shooting premium ammo, the size will be more consistent. The benefit to larger shot is that it holds it's velocity better at longer ranges, thereby decreasing the amount of lead needed to break a target...at least on paper. The truth is that most recreational shooters will not be able to perceive the difference between shooting 7.5s and 8s on a 40 yard, 90 degree crossing target. You should pattern your gun with each to find out which pellet size gives you the most even pattern distribution at the ranges you expect to encounter on your course. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I usually us M/IC in my Citori. Here's a chart: http://www.briley.com/faqs/chokechart_inside.jpg actual link if it doesn't go full-size: http://www.briley.com/faqs/chokechart_inside.jpg As you can see, there's a reason why so many different chokes are available. Really depends on the presentation and type of clay being shot. M-IC is a middle of the road combo for most presentations, though. Yep and the Briley extended chokes are pure sex. You have a rec on which briley? My citori is a Citori Esprit with the regular Invector chokes (not the plus type). Extended would be nice, just for ease of removal, but not a necessity. Consider them a necessity for the target gun...they do the important job of protecting the relatively delicate and thin walls of the muzzle. It's cheaper to replace a $50 choke tube than it is to have to fix a boogered up set of O/U barrels. |
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Re: The difference between 7.5s & 8s In shooting the $5 Wal Mart promo loads, there is no difference. In fact if you were to cut open one of each and mic the pellets, you'd find that they were mostly the same size and that variances in pellet size within a given shot charge is just a fact of life. In shooting premium ammo, the size will be more consistent. The benefit to larger shot is that it holds it's velocity better at longer ranges, thereby decreasing the amount of lead needed to break a target...at least on paper. The truth is that most recreational shooters will not be able to perceive the difference between shooting 7.5s and 8s on a 40 yard, 90 degree crossing target. You should pattern your gun with each to find out which pellet size gives you the most even pattern distribution at the ranges you expect to encounter on your course. Thanks for the info. I wish I still had the data, but when I first got into trap shooting years ago I was working in a lab that had a Horiba particle analyzer that we used for our product. Anyway, it would give you the average particle size, uniformity index, SGN and a ton of other info. Well, me being the analytical person that I am I cut open various brands and grades of shotgun ammo and ran them through the particle analyzer. Like I said, I long ago threw out the data, never thinking that other people would be curious about it, too. 
Anyway, just to summarize the results: Premium ammo had a better uniformity index than the cheap ammo, but NOT by much. Remington Nitro Sporting clays was the best. For "cheap" ammo, the Winchester Universal was the best that I tested, beating Federal and Remington....again, not by much. The mean particle size was different between 7.5's and 8's but I have forgotten to what degree. Visually, the darkest shot was the premium stuff (antimony I'd guess). The Winchester Universal and the Remington shot looked the same and was a nice dark color. The federal was noticeably lighter and not as smooth. Anyway, the point to all this is that I buy and shoot Winchester Universal for 99% of the trap shooting I do and it works great. I'll shoot #8 form the 16 yard line and 7.5's for handicap. I'll shoot the premium stuff if money is on the line, but in all actuality I cant tell the difference... I have a bunch of 8 shot so that's what I will be using whether I want 7.5 or not. Truthfully though I'm not worried. I have been very successful with 8's on the trap range and you can get some pretty far shots. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Re: The difference between 7.5s & 8s In shooting the $5 Wal Mart promo loads, there is no difference. In fact if you were to cut open one of each and mic the pellets, you'd find that they were mostly the same size and that variances in pellet size within a given shot charge is just a fact of life. In shooting premium ammo, the size will be more consistent. The benefit to larger shot is that it holds it's velocity better at longer ranges, thereby decreasing the amount of lead needed to break a target...at least on paper. The truth is that most recreational shooters will not be able to perceive the difference between shooting 7.5s and 8s on a 40 yard, 90 degree crossing target. You should pattern your gun with each to find out which pellet size gives you the most even pattern distribution at the ranges you expect to encounter on your course. Thanks for the info. I wish I still had the data, but when I first got into trap shooting years ago I was working in a lab that had a Horiba particle analyzer that we used for our product. Anyway, it would give you the average particle size, uniformity index, SGN and a ton of other info. Well, me being the analytical person that I am I cut open various brands and grades of shotgun ammo and ran them through the particle analyzer. Like I said, I long ago threw out the data, never thinking that other people would be curious about it, too. Anyway, just to summarize the results: Premium ammo had a better uniformity index than the cheap ammo, but NOT by much. Remington Nitro Sporting clays was the best. For "cheap" ammo, the Winchester Universal was the best that I tested, beating Federal and Remington....again, not by much. The mean particle size was different between 7.5's and 8's but I have forgotten to what degree. Visually, the darkest shot was the premium stuff (antimony I'd guess). The Winchester Universal and the Remington shot looked the same and was a nice dark color. The federal was noticeably lighter and not as smooth. Anyway, the point to all this is that I buy and shoot Winchester Universal for 99% of the trap shooting I do and it works great. I'll shoot #8 form the 16 yard line and 7.5's for handicap. I'll shoot the premium stuff if money is on the line, but in all actuality I cant tell the difference... I have a bunch of 8 shot so that's what I will be using whether I want 7.5 or not. Truthfully though I'm not worried. I have been very successful with 8's on the trap range and you can get some pretty far shots. That's a lot of typing for what could have been summed up as "+1".  |
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I shoot a Beretta 686 Onyx and if I'm not going to change chokes, I like Improved Cylinder and Modified. I use Briley extended chokes so changing them takes just a second and no tools are required so if I was shooting sporting clays (I'm more of a skeet and 5 stand shooter) I'd be tempted to change them as necessary. +1 |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Re: The difference between 7.5s & 8s In shooting the $5 Wal Mart promo loads, there is no difference. In fact if you were to cut open one of each and mic the pellets, you'd find that they were mostly the same size and that variances in pellet size within a given shot charge is just a fact of life. In shooting premium ammo, the size will be more consistent. The benefit to larger shot is that it holds it's velocity better at longer ranges, thereby decreasing the amount of lead needed to break a target...at least on paper. The truth is that most recreational shooters will not be able to perceive the difference between shooting 7.5s and 8s on a 40 yard, 90 degree crossing target. You should pattern your gun with each to find out which pellet size gives you the most even pattern distribution at the ranges you expect to encounter on your course. Thanks for the info. I wish I still had the data, but when I first got into trap shooting years ago I was working in a lab that had a Horiba particle analyzer that we used for our product. Anyway, it would give you the average particle size, uniformity index, SGN and a ton of other info. Well, me being the analytical person that I am I cut open various brands and grades of shotgun ammo and ran them through the particle analyzer. Like I said, I long ago threw out the data, never thinking that other people would be curious about it, too. Anyway, just to summarize the results: Premium ammo had a better uniformity index than the cheap ammo, but NOT by much. Remington Nitro Sporting clays was the best. For "cheap" ammo, the Winchester Universal was the best that I tested, beating Federal and Remington....again, not by much. The mean particle size was different between 7.5's and 8's but I have forgotten to what degree. Visually, the darkest shot was the premium stuff (antimony I'd guess). The Winchester Universal and the Remington shot looked the same and was a nice dark color. The federal was noticeably lighter and not as smooth. Anyway, the point to all this is that I buy and shoot Winchester Universal for 99% of the trap shooting I do and it works great. I'll shoot #8 form the 16 yard line and 7.5's for handicap. I'll shoot the premium stuff if money is on the line, but in all actuality I cant tell the difference... I have a bunch of 8 shot so that's what I will be using whether I want 7.5 or not. Truthfully though I'm not worried. I have been very successful with 8's on the trap range and you can get some pretty far shots. That's a lot of typing for what could have been summed up as "+1". I really enjoyed your witty response to the previous post. It made me chuckle a little bit. Now I'm not sure if it was the actual sentence and structure that you employed to bring about this reaction, or if it was a combination of both. I also haven't exactly factored in this decision-making process about how viewing your avatar immediately before reading the post might have contributed. Nonetheless, I am pretty sure that the clown smiley was 95% of the reason for my enjoyment. |
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Re: The difference between 7.5s & 8s In shooting the $5 Wal Mart promo loads, there is no difference. In fact if you were to cut open one of each and mic the pellets, you'd find that they were mostly the same size and that variances in pellet size within a given shot charge is just a fact of life. In shooting premium ammo, the size will be more consistent. The benefit to larger shot is that it holds it's velocity better at longer ranges, thereby decreasing the amount of lead needed to break a target...at least on paper. The truth is that most recreational shooters will not be able to perceive the difference between shooting 7.5s and 8s on a 40 yard, 90 degree crossing target. You should pattern your gun with each to find out which pellet size gives you the most even pattern distribution at the ranges you expect to encounter on your course. Thanks for the info. I wish I still had the data, but when I first got into trap shooting years ago I was working in a lab that had a Horiba particle analyzer that we used for our product. Anyway, it would give you the average particle size, uniformity index, SGN and a ton of other info. Well, me being the analytical person that I am I cut open various brands and grades of shotgun ammo and ran them through the particle analyzer. Like I said, I long ago threw out the data, never thinking that other people would be curious about it, too.
Anyway, just to summarize the results: Premium ammo had a better uniformity index than the cheap ammo, but NOT by much. Remington Nitro Sporting clays was the best. For "cheap" ammo, the Winchester Universal was the best that I tested, beating Federal and Remington....again, not by much. The mean particle size was different between 7.5's and 8's but I have forgotten to what degree. Visually, the darkest shot was the premium stuff (antimony I'd guess). The Winchester Universal and the Remington shot looked the same and was a nice dark color. The federal was noticeably lighter and not as smooth. Anyway, the point to all this is that I buy and shoot Winchester Universal for 99% of the trap shooting I do and it works great. I'll shoot #8 form the 16 yard line and 7.5's for handicap. I'll shoot the premium stuff if money is on the line, but in all actuality I cant tell the difference... I have a bunch of 8 shot so that's what I will be using whether I want 7.5 or not. Truthfully though I'm not worried. I have been very successful with 8's on the trap range and you can get some pretty far shots. That's a lot of typing for what could have been summed up as "+1".
I remembering being unconvinced that Winchester AA ammo had different shot compared to the Universal brand.....the results were that close....experimental error factored in. Maybe they just use a different wad (can't remember)? The cheap Federal "game" and "target" loads that are at wal-mart for $4 something a box at wal-mart use the same shot as their 100 round bulk ammo....same wad too. Just 1 oz instead of 1 1/8 oz. |
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Improved or skeet. 35 yards? IC or Light Mod. If you keep doing it, you'll wind up changing tubes... 
Everyone likes to win. I shot in my first registered tournament yesterday and shot with a group of AA shooters. They all changed chokes AND shot size between stations. Pretty intuitive really- open chokes and #9 or 8 shot for close birds, #7 1/2 and maybe a light modified for farther birds. I shot a 69 which I was OK with for my first tournament, and only my 3rd sporting clays round ever. 
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Wide open
cylinder/skeet or at most IC. On my 28ga (on which I get the same scores and I shoot a lot more of), it's a hard set at IC/M and it breaks just fine. (maybe even too tight) even ones that are WAY THE FUCK OUT THERE. stop worrying about the choke. changing the ammo will change more, just let the ammo do it's job and you do yours. |
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Wide open cylinder/skeet or at most IC. On my 28ga (on which I get the same scores and I shoot a lot more of), it's a hard set at IC/M and it breaks just fine. (maybe even too tight) even ones that are WAY THE FUCK OUT THERE. stop worrying about the choke. changing the ammo will change more, just let the ammo do it's job and you do yours. I actually bought an O/U since I first started this post. Yesterday I found myself using IC/C the most, only because of the presentations. I also shot a lot more #8 shot than I did 7 1/2. I understand people saying to not worry abut the choke, but to me it makes sense. Tailor the choke and ammo to the station to give you the best odds of breaking the target while you're doing your best to get the shot on target. |