20ga choke question

K

kal52

New member
hey all

going dove hunting soon, and was at the store and they had a turkey choke on sale, was wondering if #3 buckshot would be too big for it, 0r # 2 if I find some. The constriction is .570
if it wont work ill find something im sure lol.

figured since ill have some time id mess around with a bit of patterning, not much on the 20 in the big thread, so I figured Id grab a few extra chokes/loads (not much on the shelf) and see what they all do.

thanks in advance
 
#3 Buck is a little over kill for doves, even #2's is excessive, doves aren't that difficult to kill, I usually use 8"s out of an IC or Mod choke.

Now if your talking about hunting coyotes while on your dove hunt, your going to have to pattern it, I never got good patterns out of my 20ga 870, 30-35 yards max with buck, factory choke tubes.

My Savage 24 did better than the 870 with #3's with the fixed IM choke if memory serves me, sold the gun many years ago and gave the 870 to my daughter about 10 years ago.
 
dove are big here
lol.gif


figured since the choke was cheap and I had the guns and the time id test a bit, mainly just to satisfy my own curiosity.
I have had coyotes pop in on occasion, lots of harvesting going on and they get moved around a bit, so having something would be nice if I had the opportunity to call in a dumb one. I generally bring a hand call with just in case.



Basically just want to make sure it was safe to shoot out of that tight of a choke, most folks seem to use a full.

im going to call kicks tomarrow, and ask about the buck kicker, that's only available in full, may be something to that.

 
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trulock chokes recomended extra full in 20 ga for buckshot when I asked them. 2 3/4" copper plated #3 certainly produced a 30-35 yard pattern. It was getting thin at 40 yards but I think it would at least stop it for a follow up.
 
I have a Trulock Extra Full and one of the more open turkey chokes he makes. The Turkey choke shoots 4 Buck a bit tighter and they are equal with 00 Buck. That is with 12 gauge. I would imagine the extra full would be a good compromise for a 20.

I asked Mr Trulock directly and he said it was fine to shoot buck shot through his chokes but it is hit or miss with larger buck shot and his tighter Turkey chokes.

He has a forum on another sight where you can ask questions. Don't know if forum rules allow posting links to other forums but it is a shotgun forum.
 
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well I went out and did a bit of patterning, not a lot but gave me an idea
I shot 2 shells each of 2 different loads at 35 yds at 9" paper plates

the first was Winchester #3 buck one plate had 3 hits the other 4 hits
did notice it shot high on both so ill be getting a bigger backstop this weekend to really see

the second was the Remington #3 buck both plates had 7 hits each again ill see more once I get a bigger area to see full pattern

at this point id think 35yds is max, but we will see hopefully ill get some different loads and dig up a few more choke, ill try the factory full as well as a carlsons full as well

btw the dove hunting was great and managed to locate and see some coyotes, mostly young ones, looking forward to this next weekend.
 
You need 5 hits every time in the 9" circle, so you are looking good with the remington load.That is about what I get 2 3/4" #3 federal red box.
 
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