Beretta chokes

jackfish

Well-Known Member
Having just bought a new Silver Pigeon 28" sporter in 12g can anyone explain the opti chokes on them ie what's best for what, pigeon, duck, pheasant and geese. It came with 5 chokes which are all lettered not numbered. :doh:
 
Get a pattern board go to the range you think you will most be shooting, get few different boxes of shells find what best patterns in the gun, ballistic products page have some good info on pattern testing.

Atb
Laird86
 
Having just bought a new Silver Pigeon 28" sporter in 12g can anyone explain the opti chokes on them ie what's best for what, pigeon, duck, pheasant and geese. It came with 5 chokes which are all lettered not numbered. :doh:

This is nearly as bad as asking what calibre is best in a rifle!!
There are lots of things which change what the 'best' choke is for a particular requirement i.e cartridge make, shot size, plastic or fibre... It all depends how a particular cartridge patterns in a your shotgun with your chokes.

I find in my beretta I now always use 1/4 **** & 1/2 *** choke (1/4 in bottom barrel) for nearly everything as it works for me.
As stated above - if it's a new gun to you it's well worth shooting a pattern plate with your chosen cartridge.

Full choke will give you the tightest pattern, going down to skeet (cylinder) which will give you an open pattern.

UK Guy
 
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This is nearly as bad as asking what calibre is best in a rifle!! There are lots of things which change what the 'best' choke is for a particular requirement i.e cartridge make, shot size, plastic or fibre... It all depends how a particular cartridge patterns in a your shotgun with your chokes. I find in my beretta I now always use 1/4 **** & 1/2 *** choke (1/4 in bottom barrel) for nearly everything as it works for me. As stated above - if it's a new gun to you it's well worth shooting a pattern plate with your chosen cartridge. Full choke will give you the tightest pattern, going down to skeet (cylinder) which will give you an open pattern. UK Guy[/QUOTE

As above. quarter and half. Had a multichoke once, stuck quarter and half in and left them.
Now shoot a fixed choke cos there is really no need to change chokes, just spend your worrying on pointing it in the right place and you can forget which chokes are in the barrel.
 
Hi, I have a silver pigeon too and the 5 chokes I have are notched on the end and also show an asterix/star to show the choke.

5 notches or stars showing cylinder, through 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 to full choke which has a single notch/star.

If your letters are CL, IC, M, IM, F. They will most likely be for cylinder, improved cylinder, modified, improved modified and full. These are the same chokes as the numbers shown above.

For general shooting I use the 1/4 and 1/2 chokes and don't change them at all. If I was shooting geese or ducks, maybe then I would opt for 3/4 and full choke.

Advice would be not to get to tied up worrying about chokes, just try out different cartridges, to see which combination of choke/cart gives the best pattern at the range you will be shooting.

Pheasants, pigeon generally 5s or 6s, ducks 4s or 5s, geese BB 1, 3 or 4. these are for lead cartridges. I believe you would need to use an appropriate larger shot if using steel or when required to. ie over wetlands and on duck/geese.

I hope this is helpful to you and is offered only as a rough guide.

Regards Alan
 
+1 to quarter and half chokes.

​I really don't know why all the o/u shotguns I have bought over the years have been multichokes.
 
Get a pattern board go to the range you think you will most be shooting, get few different boxes of shells find what best patterns in the gun, ballistic products page have some good info on pattern testing.

Atb
Laird86

Very good idea I have been shooting pigeons for forty years. (choke the gun to your ability) . I have a beretta 682 super sport full and full 28g or 32g fours to suit all my shooting needs. If you want to shoot pigeons at 30 to 40 yards 1/4 and half. If you want to shoot with the best you will not have good enough pattern or striking velocity. We use a pattern plate at 70 yards to test all guns and cartridge combinations. (Pattern plate) 4ft steel plate with 4ft hard board panels all around it.We use white paint after each shot to paint the shot out and record the info. Just firing at pigeons and testing if you hit or miss is not good enough. Go clay pigeon shooting and test your shooting at a known range is always a good idea. good luck great sport. woodfordfallow
 
Fit like Bryan

I use quater and half on my SPIII for most types of shooting. I change them to half and three quarters for high fezzies or geese.

You will need a tight choke for the fezzies at Tillyfour if you come out for a day ... lol :)

C
 
Have a look at this where shot size, distance, load and choke are tabulated as preferred and which I have collated under 'CHOICE LOAD' in an endeavour to minimise the range of cartridges to be held. This can be further refined to suit personal circumstances and preferences.

QUARRYSHOT SIZEDISTANCECHOKE(LEAD)SHOT WEIGHTCHOICE LOAD
Down one size for steelGramsSHOT SIZELOADCHOKE
GOOSE1 or 335 to 50 yds¾ to full36 to 563 Steel42½
DUCK4 or 525 to 40 yds½ to ¾32 to 425 Steel35
PHEASANT5 or 6¼ to ¾28 to 32632¼ to ¾
PARTRIDGE6 or 725 to 35 yds¼ to ½¼ to ½
GROUSE77 ½28
SNIPE7 or 8Cyl to ¼
HARE4 or 5½ to ¾28 to 36530½ to ¾
RABBIT5 or 6¾ to full28 to 32
PIGEON6 or 7¼ to ¾7 ½28¼ to ¾
WOODCOCK7¼ to ½¼ to ½

Hope this is clearer to understand

QUARRYSHOT SIZEDISTANCECHOKE(LEAD)SHOT WEIGHTCHOICE LOAD
Down one size for steelGramsSHOT SIZELOADCHOKE
GOOSE1 or 335 to 50 yds¾ to full36 to 563 Steel42½
DUCK4 or 525 to 40 yds½ to ¾32 to 425 Steel35½
PHEASANT5 or 6¼ to ¾28 to 32632¼ to ¾
PARTRIDGE6 or 725 to 35 yds¼ to ½28 to 32632¼ to ½
GROUSE725 to 35 yds¼ to ½28 to 327 ½28¼ to ½
SNIPE7 or 825 to 35 ydsCyl to ¼28 to 327 ½28¼ to ½
HARE4 or 525 to 35 yds½ to ¾28 to 36530½ to ¾
RABBIT5 or 625 to 35 yds¾ to full28 to 32530½ to ¾
PIGEON6 or 725 to 35 yds¼ to ¾28 to 327 ½28¼ to ¾
WOODCOCK725 to 35 yds¼ to ½28 to 327 ½28¼ to ½
 
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Great replies lads thank you, I've always shot fixed chokes before on my shotguns so never really bothered looking into what was used for what, it was only the letters on the chokes that we're confusing me not the choke purpose if you get my meaning. My last 2 shotguns were fixed 1/4 & 1/2 and that did fine for everything but this one I decided on the multi choke so I could choke it up for the geese if I so wished. As always though a great response from the SD knowledge bank, very much appreciated!!

ATB

Bryan
 
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