Jump to content

What choke to you use for HD?


ERdept

Recommended Posts

Being new to shotguns and wanting one for HD, I was also wondering about the best choke.

 

So far I have read the following in this thread...

mod

no difference between full and cylinder

bigger the pattern the better

Tighter is always better

Snap on your bayonet

That's a wide range of answers. From what I can gather, the ranges you'll typically encounter with HD are so short (>10 ft) that different chokes do not produce a significantly different pattern.

 

Therefore, is it safe to say that choke selection for HD is not an issue?

 

Kevin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Being new to shotguns and wanting one for HD, I was also wondering about the best choke.

 

So far I have read the following in this thread...

That's a wide range of answers. From what I can gather, the ranges you'll typically encounter with HD are so short (>10 ft) that different chokes do not produce a significantly different pattern.

 

Therefore, is it safe to say that choke selection for HD is not an issue?

 

Kevin

 

It's a bit of a complex answer.

 

If you can hit the intruder (and not the innocents in the area), tighter patterns are almost always going to be better. More pellets hit the target in a denser area and you can literally blow holes through people.

 

That said, some people come from the "under stress I am going to freeze and be useless and as such I need a choke that will essentially spray shot in a 45 degree cone" mentality. I do not subscribe to this.

 

Some people also are not interested in killing intruders, mind you. This is your "use #4 shot or smaller" crowd. They place litigation avoidance above personal survival on the priority list ... in my opinion.

 

So the answer to your question depends very much on how you envision your shoot/HD going, and I guess the layout of your house. Do you have a long hallway leading to your bedroom, where you can barricade yourself if needed and shoot 15 yards down a hallway to hit someone? Or are you going to be packed into a room at extremely close quarters?

 

The real answer to your question is "whatever choke allows YOU to get the maximum amount of shot on target". If you have a super tight shot pattern but are not comfortable with your shotgun or you are not very good at shooting, that super tight shot pattern will not help you if they all miss the target. At the same time, if you ARE a good shot and use a loose choke, 9 pellets on target at 10 yards would have been better than the 1 or 2 pellets on target if you got with the loose choke. It is not always such an extreme difference, this is just an example.

 

Me, personally, I'm an "aim and hit your target" guy, as opposed to a "spray in the general direction with a loose choke and hope something hits" type of guy. I like having the option to aim and deliver "surgical" hits with my m4 ... if it really comes down to it and I am unable to aim with my tight choke, I will just lay down a wall of lead anyways ... that's what 9 shots is for.

 

Mod is a good middle of the road choke. It lets you shoot buckshot with a reasonably tight pattern (sometimes very tight) and it also lets you shoot slugs without much or any deformation of the slug. I use a mod choke, if only for this reason.

 

A bayonet is almost never advisable. :)

 

Hope this helps.

 

For what it's worth, my main defensive tool is the glock and surefire next to my bed ...

Edited by Duggan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a bit of a complex answer.

 

If you can hit the intruder (and not the innocents in the area), tighter patterns are almost always going to be better. More pellets hit the target in a denser area and you can literally blow holes through people.

 

That said, some people come from the "under stress I am going to freeze and be useless and as such I need a choke that will essentially spray shot in a 45 degree cone" mentality. I do not subscribe to this.

 

Some people also are not interested in killing intruders, mind you. This is your "use #4 shot or smaller" crowd. They place litigation avoidance above personal survival on the priority list ... in my opinion.

 

So the answer to your question depends very much on how you envision your shoot/HD going, and I guess the layout of your house. Do you have a long hallway leading to your bedroom, where you can barricade yourself if needed and shoot 15 yards down a hallway to hit someone? Or are you going to be packed into a room at extremely close quarters?

 

The real answer to your question is "whatever choke allows YOU to get the maximum amount of shot on target". If you have a super tight shot pattern but are not comfortable with your shotgun or you are not very good at shooting, that super tight shot pattern will not help you if they all miss the target. At the same time, if you ARE a good shot and use a loose choke, 9 pellets on target at 10 yards would have been better than the 1 or 2 pellets on target if you got with the loose choke. It is not always such an extreme difference, this is just an example.

 

Me, personally, I'm an "aim and hit your target" guy, as opposed to a "spray in the general direction with a loose choke and hope something hits" type of guy. I like having the option to aim and deliver "surgical" hits with my m4 ... if it really comes down to it and I am unable to aim with my tight choke, I will just lay down a wall of lead anyways ... that's what 9 shots is for.

 

Mod is a good middle of the road choke. It lets you shoot buckshot with a reasonably tight pattern (sometimes very tight) and it also lets you shoot slugs without much or any deformation of the slug. I use a mod choke, if only for this reason.

 

A bayonet is almost never advisable. :)

 

Hope this helps.

 

For what it's worth, my main defensive tool is the glock and surefire next to my bed ...

 

 

I agree with much of what you said, except that there is LESS litigation killing a person than there is wounding them, usually.

 

Also, 100% with you on the MOD choke. I also like it because ANYTHING can be put through it. Steel, lead, tungsten, slugs, whatever. Except Sabot rounds or stuff like that. It is very versitile and does well. I love it. I recommend Briley or Trulock.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LESS litigation killing a person than there is wounding them, usually.

 

 

 

YEP, that's the first thing I thought when I read the above post. Better off dead, than in the courtroom.

 

End up causing permanent injury, you might have your wages garnished until you have no more wages.

 

I have experience shooting sporting clays, no experience shooting intruders. If the MOD choke allows you to shoot slugs, then it can handle anything, and there's no reason to change it. My brother-in-law, until very recently, was one of the major Benelli reps, which is how I got my M4 (at cost mind you). I asked him about the stock Modified choke, and he said that it's there for a reason, it can handle anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

YEP, that's the first thing I thought when I read the above post. Better off dead, than in the courtroom.

 

End up causing permanent injury, you might have your wages garnished until you have no more wages.

 

I have experience shooting sporting clays, no experience shooting intruders. If the MOD choke allows you to shoot slugs, then it can handle anything, and there's no reason to change it. My brother-in-law, until very recently, was one of the major Benelli reps, which is how I got my M4 (at cost mind you). I asked him about the stock Modified choke, and he said that it's there for a reason, it can handle anything.

 

I absolutely agree, but that is not what I meant.

 

By litigation, I meant fear of shot overpenetration, hitting innocents, etc, NOT that you would somehow be better off legally if you had an injured person suing you and claiming complete innocence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...