choke tubes

[turkeycalln]

I just recently bought a SBE. I am not to familiar with choke tubes. I mainly got it to use for turkey hunting but I am slowly getting into duck and geese hunting. I would like to know your opinon on what chokes to use and/or if I should buy aftermarket chokes and what shots work best. Also what factory chokes would you use on quail and doves.

[tj]

you can try and pattern your full choke that came with the gun but you will almost always produce tighter patterns with an extended tube designed for turkey hunting. i have not found a good tube for my sbe yet but i do use a truglo tube in my nova.

your sbe came with five tubes and only the C, IC, and M are recomended for use with steel shot. as for which tube to use will be determined how the birds are flying. pattern your factory tubes first but i have found that after market extended tubes produce better patterns with steel shot, especialy high velocity loads, then do the factory tubes. i use Briley IC, LM, and M for ducks and a hastings IM for geese.

for quial i use an IC to F depending on the time of year and how the birds are jumping and i use a C to M on grouse.

for doves/pidgeions i use a F because a lot of longer shots are taken.

pheasants get a LM to F depending on time of year and how they are jumping.

hope it helps
good luck

[fezman]

i use a skeet choke for most upland birds because i like to eat them and it only takes acouple to pellets to kill one . ive seen too many good birds reduced to mush by too much shot. if the bird goes down the dog will get it alive or dead. your best bet (and most expenceve) is to by a couple differnt chokes and pattern your gun on paper at mesured distances. ive found that evan using 7 1/2 shot at 25yd it will still be quite tite and ive seen chuckers explode with a 20gauge shot at 20-30yd

[tj]

it all depends on the birds. adjust to the birds, for instance, late season pheasants in iowa are notorious for jumping 30+yds infront of you while grouse usually jump at your feet.
ducks might be working your decoys and hanging 10yds infront of you one day and passing over at 35yds the next.
i always carry a few extra tubes

good luck

[fezman]

almost all the birds i get to hunt in pa are stocked buy either the state or privet people and they are quite stupid and slow to jump. also i hunt with a wiem and he usualy stays with in 20-30 yards of me

[VonFatman]

I bought a Hastings turkey tube for my SBE and find it works great....tight patterns. I have not "whiffed" yet using it but must admit, I do not shoot over 35 yards...I imagine that's no big feat but I prefer the birds I shoot at drop. They drop.

I think you can get them either direct from Hastings (located in KS) or from Cabela's.

It sticks out about an inch and a 1/4 but it's a matte black and gives no reflection.

For geese, I use the modified steel tube that came with the gun and find it works fine for decoys or birds set to land....don't expect tight groups out too far...I'm interested in hearing about a good SBE Steel tube for "T's"...any recomendations?

VonFatman

[TN.TAZ]

Hi turkeycalln! I have Turkey Hunted with my SBE for the last few years and I like two choke tubes that have done a great job for me 1. Is a Mad Choke and the other is a 2. Rhino Choke.With Nitro Ammunition If you don't know about the Ammo check out their web-site www.nitrocompany.com And look at the test patterens you will be glad you did.

[ncturkey]

Originally posted by turkeycalln:
I just recently bought a SBE. I am not to familiar with choke tubes. I mainly got it to use for turkey hunting but I am slowly getting into duck and geese hunting. I would like to know your opinon on what chokes to use and/or if I should buy aftermarket chokes and what shots work best. Also what factory chokes would you use on quail and doves.

[ncturkey]

I am a first time poster on this board.Turkey choke tube I use is the Gobbling Thunder by Kicks.I have harested longbeards from 30 to 45 yards.You can call Kicks or look on their web page to to get the choke size that is best for your gun.Good Luck

[fishmax2]

For everything I use standard full choke, but turkeys get either the pattern master or undertaker tube, the geese get the pattern master.