M4: Best choke for Home Defense

[ERdept]

The Benelli M4 comes with M (modified) choke with three dots.

 

Do you feel another choke is better for home defense, that is distances from 25 yards and less?

 

Realistically the farthest distance to shoot in my home is 10 yards.

 

I was thinking of putting on an IC choke, 4 dots. on it, for a wider dispersion, and feel it's better than a cylinder choke.

[adamlau]

I have patterned my M4 with various low-recoil rounds using the factory M and IC chokes at 10 yards. YMMV, but I have found that 10-yards patterns are quite tight with groups within 8-inches for both chokes. Remarkably similar. Pattern your M4 first is the lesson here.

[ERdept]

So it seems like no matter what choke is put on, you won't see the differences at such a close range?

 

Am I correct?

 

The pattern will only be obvious at longer ranges.

 

In this case, I just won't change it.

 

Thank you Adam

[DocGP]

Within 10 yds, you pretty much just have a big slug of lead. That is the reason that you CANNOT just point and pull. You really should aim. You most certainly can miss with a shotgun at close range if you panic.

 

If you hit, however, you hit with a sledgehammer.

 

Doc

[ERdept]

I always realised that you never point it, but need to aim it. But again, my intention was to get a little more spread.

 

Anyone use Cylinder choke? Any differences at 10 yards? This will be my max range due to the configuration of the house.

 

It is about 50 yards long, but due to hall and corners, etc. the max range is 10yds.

[splashtx556ftw]

i keep a skeet tube in my 12ga, even at that the pattern is no bigger than a soccer ball at 10 yds. but thats with a 28" barrel too.

[Novaking]

PATTERN YOUR GUN!!! You want a soccer ball size pattern (like splash said) at the futherest distance of your house.

[ERdept]

PATTERN YOUR GUN!!! You want a soccer ball size pattern (like splash said) at the futherest distance of your house.

 

I did pattern the choke that came with it!

 

 

I need to know before I buy and waste money wether to buy more chokes and if they matter.

 

For instance, the gentleman above stated that the IC choke patterned the same at 10 yards.

 

Now I need to know if a cylinder choke will make a diff at ten yards before I waste money buying it.

 

If not, then I'm won't buy it.

[Novaking]

I did pattern the choke that came with it!

 

 

I need to know before I buy and waste money wether to buy more chokes and if they matter.

 

For instance, the gentleman above stated that the IC choke patterned the same at 10 yards.

 

Now I need to know if a cylinder choke will make a diff at ten yards before I waste money buying it.

 

If not, then I'm won't buy it.

 

It will not make that much of a differance. What loads are you shooting

[johnnywitt]

At close range nothing beats a CYL Choke. You WANT the shot to disburse a little. You might consider using soft lead Buck too- like the Wally World Winchester. The Hornady and premium Buck is going to shoot like a rifle at that distance. You can take some nail polish from your wife and seal the primer pocket on the el cheapo ammo. That is if you don't want to cycle your ammo every 3-6 months.

[splashtx556ftw]

at a normal distance of 10-30 ft, its not going to matter much what choke you use. there is not going to be a "pattern" at that range. your "pattern" is going to be about 3-8".

[johnnywitt]

at a normal distance of 10-30 ft, its not going to matter much what choke you use. there is not going to be a "pattern" at that range. your "pattern" is going to be about 3-8".

 

You would be surprised by the patterns you get with the soft lead pellets and a CYL choke. At 10m its gonna spread more than that. Try it out with those Winchester Mao-Mart OO buck loads.

[Unobtanium]

You would be surprised by the patterns you get with the soft lead pellets and a CYL choke. At 10m its gonna spread more than that. Try it out with those Winchester Mao-Mart OO buck loads.

 

At 40 yards with my stock MOD choke, Remington 000 Buck will put 7-9 out of 10 consistantly within a 12-14" circle at 25 yards, and about 3-4 in a 12-14" circle at 40 yards. It loves the OOO.

[splashtx556ftw]

i have. the range i go to has metal rings mounted to a concrete wall that you can swing out and hang paper on. they spaced at 10',20',30',40',50'. results were....10ft=to the bottom of a coke can, 20ft=to a softball + or-, 30ft=to a soccer ball, 40ft=18"spread,50ft=34" spread. test ammo was cheap wally world Remington Express 3" 00 buck nitro magnum.$6,00 for 5rnds. theres no where in my house that i could get more than 20' shot.

[Unobtanium]

i have. the range i go to has metal rings mounted to a concrete wall that you can swing out and hang paper on. they spaced at 10',20',30',40',50'. results were....10ft=to the bottom of a coke can, 20ft=to a softball + or-, 30ft=to a soccer ball, 40ft=18"spread,50ft=34" spread. test ammo was cheap wally world Remington Express 3" 00 buck nitro magnum.$6,00 for 5rnds. theres no where in my house that i could get more than 20' shot.

 

OK , ILL SPELL IT ALL OUT FOR YOU. SO MAYBE YOU CAN UNDERSTAND IT....MAYBE ...,MY BEDROOM IS 18' SQAURE, MY HALL IS 12' LONG, MY LIVING ROOM IS 18'X21' ALL IN A STRAIGHT LINE WITH EACH OTHER.TOTAL THATS 51'. I WAS IN THE BEDROOM ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE BED WITH MY GIRLFRIEND OF THAT TIME BEHIND ME.THERE IS A SMALL BATHROOM OFF TO THE LEFT SIDE OF THE HALL THAT A LIGHT IS LEFT ON, THATS HOW I SAW THE GUN IN HIS HAND. WE WERE IN THE DARK, I TOLD HIM STOP, HE THEN STARTED TO RAISE THE GUN AND I FIRED. NO IT DID NOT LOOK LIKE A CARTOON . IT LOOKED LIKE HE HAD BEEN HIT BY A CAR. AS FOR THE POLICE ISSUE, A NEIGHBOR WHO USUALY WORKED NIGHTS WAS OFF THAT PATICULAR NIGHT, SAW HIM GET OUT OF HIS CAR WITH THE GUN AND CALLED POLICE THE GUY WALKED AROUND FOR SEVERAL MINUTES TRYING TO DECIDE WHAT MOBLE HOME TO ENTER. WE LIVED IN TRAILER PARK. AND THE POLICE DEPT WAS ONLY 8 BLOCKS FROM WHERE I LIVED. I NO LONGER USE A SHOT GUN FOR HOME DEFENSE,I USE A 357 LOADED WITH SAFETY ROUNDS.

 

Inquiring minds want to know...

[splashtx556ftw]

maybe i havent mentioned that i moved since that incident....oooh thats right i did , you didnt qoute that.

[splashtx556ftw]

i guess you missed the part..."WE LIVED in a trailer park"...huh???

[splashtx556ftw]

i guess you missed the post were i said all doors are kept shut now too. you seem to be missing quite a bit for such an internet genius.

[Unobtanium]

i guess you missed the post were i said all doors are kept shut now too. you seem to be missing quite a bit for such an internet genius.

 

Never claimed to be "an internet genius". If anything, I have been trying to get you to see how things work in the real world when all the hype, marketing, and gello shooting is academic at best. Again as I said before, carry on.

[splashtx556ftw]

im aware of how things work in the real world. maybe you have noticed i dont much take anybodys word. ive have done a lot of testing on handgun ammo, shotgun ammo, and choke tubes, as well as rifle ammo and ballistics. i didnt get my info off the computer.ive shot at NRA matches from age 6, im now 45.i went out and tryed a lot of different variations to get the answers myself. i didnt take someone elses word for it. and admit it or not, nothing is written in stone. there are too many variations. but i do try other peoples ideas. im looking forward to try out shooting the wet newspapers idea, if i ever get enough of them. idont pay attention to marketing and hype. if i see something that catches my eye, i try it out.admittedly, i shot a 2x6 with the extreme shock ammo, and it only went a 1/3 of the way into the board. the shooting of 2x6s was refered to me by MasterSeargent Terry Keys USMC. he said thats what United States Marine Corp uses to test thier ammo out on.[and taliban] he said a single 2x6 has close to the same density as the human sternum. if a bullet does not completely penatrate a 2x6, it will not penatrate the sternum either.FMJ 45 will penatrate 2, 2x6s. a lead or hollow point will not.

[Alaska]

Here in Alaska I use a Bennelli M4 and use a CYL choke tube.......since Bear is own my menu. I use Brenneke Tactical Slugs for bear defense and for home defense Hornady Critical Defense OO Buck at 1600 FPS.

 

The M4 a most excellent weapon.

 

for close quarters Your Goose loads work great BB shot size and turkey loads with 4 Shot.

Edited November 4, 2014 by Alaska

[truckcop]

Thanks Alaska. By the way, you might want to check the dates of threads you add to. Before yours, the last post was made over six years ago. Think about starting a new thread. Just sayin'.