Full Choke

[jim68]

I have an old(25 years) Sportsman 12 pump, 870 express predisessor I think. It has a full choke barrel not changeable. Would I be wasting my money buying some of the new shells like Blackcloud? From what I understand these new shells should not go thru full choke. Thanks for any info.

Jim

[carpshooterdeluxe]

a gun that old even in great condition with a factory full choke should never be fired with steel shot. a few things might happen; you could bulge your barrel (steel wont compress like lead) and your pattern will be terrible. if you want to waterfowl with that gun; you need to find a non toxic load that is softer than steel. i shoot bismuth out of my full choke wingmaster. im not sure if anything else manufactured right now is softer than steel.

[fisherking01]

I've heard that story a thousand times. "Don't shoot steel out of a full choke." Whatever. When steel became mandatory for waterfowl it was recommended by the ammunition companies not to shoot T or F shot out of a full choke. Many have taken this to mean all steel shot, and many have had their barrels bored to a modified to shoot steel. From experience, I have shot many cases of steel through my 870 wingmaster 3" mag with a 30" full choke. It patterns very well. I have a " duck?? " choke in my sx2 and it has a measurably tighter bore than my 870 and it is made for steel shot. Largest steel shot through any of them is BBB, so I can't tell you what the T or F size will do.

[xedge2002]

My full choke for my Benelli has stamped right on it "No Steel" the ones that are okay for shooting steel out of have "Steel Ok" stamped on them. I also just bought a Browning White Lightning over under and in the manual for the invector plus choke tubes it says no steel shot for the full choke. I guess I have to go with what the manufacturer of my gun says especially when they go so far as to imprint it right onto the choke.

[Jarrod32]

My Winchester uses the Invector Plus system...in this case, I have a cross-reference chart that is pretty useful, showing how each choke tube acts differently with lead and steel shot. And it is quite explicit that a full choke is NOT to be used with steel shot, but indicates that a choke tube that would be considered 'Modified' for lead will act as full choke for steel shot. Continuing on, a choke tube acting as 'Improved Cylinder' for lead will act as 'Modified' for steel...

[Borch]

Jim,

That barrel is not rated for steel shot. If you'd like to use it for duck hunitng pick up some bismuth shot as it is safe in lead only barrels,(a bit exspensive though). I don't know if anyone is making replacement barrels for the sportman models. If someone does that may be an option for you as well.

[jim68]

Thanks for the info. I think I can use an 870 barrel. So I may get one or be in the market for a new gun. I suppose it's not bad to have another gun.