Another Look,...At Choke

 This blog is a collection of my experiences and thoughts. From time to time I will express an opinion which many will not agree with. These opinions have formed as a result of spending lots of time afield and shooting. These thoughts and opinions are not meant to offend, nor to be judgmental,  but rather to promote more thought on the subject. If for whatever reason you feel my post is directed at you, it is not; I don't know you. This post is part 3 of several (don't know how many yet) on the subject of wingshooting which some will object to. Fair warning.

     In my last post we looked at choke in relation to range and effectiveness. Now I'd like to address choke from another aspect, and that is pattern size. Often I hear people, generally new hunters,  equate choke to the size of the pattern down range; an open choke shoots a larger pattern, a tighter choke thrown a smaller pattern. This is true, but only in the most basis sense. The reality is, it's not that simple.

     I think part of this results from people not understanding how a shotgun pattern is distributed. If a choke were to throw an evenly spaced pattern over the entire height and width of its pattern, then it would be true that the more open the choke the larger the pattern. A choke does not throw a uniformed pattern however, rather it has a compact core, with sporadic, widely spaced pellets further from the core. Remember, choke is a measured by the percentage of pellets inside a 30" circle at 40 yards. It is the inside the 30" circle part that matters the most. The core of a shot pattern is essentially the size of a road racing bicycle tire. I like to think of choke like the spokes on a bicycle wheel: closer to the hub, the spokes are closer to each other. The further from the hub, the more space between spokes. If the spokes extended outward past the tire the space between them would be even greater.

  

    Let's relate this to a shot pattern, in generalities of course. I believe the only portion of a pattern one should consider is the 30" core. I consider pellets outside the 30" circle, the spokes extended past the tire,  to be "lucky pellets", though depending on the choke and the range, some are luckier than others. 

     I have begun to look at choke, and decide which choke to shoot based on what I call a sliding scale of degradation. It works on the very basic principle that a given choke, throws a given pattern, at a given range, and after that range the pattern begins to degrade and become less efficient. Any choke will lose roughly 10% of it's core pattern every 5 yards it travels under 50 yards. I decide what is an acceptable amount of pattern degradation within the ranges I expect to shoot, and hope to put appropriately dense 30" circle where it belongs. 

     A few personal note as a follow up; My shooting is primarily done with a 20g O/U. I shoot lots of skeet, low gun only. I hunt primarily Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock, but occasionally driven Pheasant, Partridge, Woodcock, and ducks. Once in a while I hunt waterfowl. It is rare that I am not using a skeet and a Lt Modified choke, either hunting or shooting clays, but I/C and Mod have found their way in to my gun when conditions have warranted, and I'd even use Lt. Mod and Imp. Mod if I felt it were appropriate. 

The Science Redefined

     This blog is a collection of my experiences and thoughts. From time to time I will express an opinion which many will not agree with. These opinions have formed as a result of spending lots of time afield and shooting. These thoughts and opinions are not meant to offend, nor to be judgmental,  but rather to promote more thought on the subject. If for whatever reason you feel my post is directed at you, it is not; I don't know you. This post is part 2 of several (don't know how many yet) on the subject of wingshooting which some will object to. Fair warning.


     Choke selection, Part 1, Range
     Shotgun sports and wingshooting are unique in that they are both a science and an art. To perfect your art of shooting a shotgun, you need to understand the science that makes it possible. Unfortunately, over the years I have discovered that many bird hunters don't understand even the basics of the science. Some of the science is quite basic, and easy to understand, some of it not so much. None of it is terribly difficult to understand, though it may at time be hard to express. One such area often misunderstood is choke.

     Often discussions of choke begin with a question of which choke is needed to break/hit a particular target, often because the target is far. The conversation revolves around a series of choke/range theories. But is choke really where the conversation should start? My good friend John, with whom I shoot a lot of clays phrased it best when he said often the discussion starts at the wrong starting point, and I agree. The conversation should start with what we want to do; break/hit a particular target, and what is needed to do that. So what breaks/hits a target? Choke? No, pellets. What causes the clay to break, or the bird to be killed? Pellets carrying sufficient energy.  That's right. To break a clay or kill a bird you must hit it with pellets carrying enough down range energy.  That means you must pick the right ammo, with a pellet size capable of doing the job. As far as science goes, this is basic physics.

     So where does choke fit into this discussion?  First we need to understand what choke is, and what choke does and does not do. Choke is a measurement of a pattern density. It is defined by the percentage of pellets in a 30" circle at 40 yards. All choke is measured at 40 yards. Why is this important? Because it is an indication of what choke doesn't do, and that extend your range. Many people think choke extends your range.  Range is  determined by a combination of pellet size/density and the speed at which they are propelled. A clay can be broken and a bird killed using any choke provided the pellets are carrying sufficient energy. What choke does, is help you shoot at greater distances more effectively, by making your pattern more dense. By default your effective range is increased because your pattern stays intact, without blowing apart for a greater distance, but ultimately it is the energy in the pellets that achieves the end result.

     Choke, being a measurement of pattern density means one needs to decide what is an appropriate density for the game at hand. I have killed woodcock at over 50 yards, ducks over head at 50 yards, and driven pheasant over head at about 40 yards with  Skeet and I/C chokes. In every case the ammo I selected had pellets which carried appropriate energy at those ranges, and the choke provided enough density to put enough pellets in to the target. The woodcock, and duck may have been pushing the limit of the pattern density, but when considering a pheasant size target skeet and I/C chokes are appropriate for a 40 yard shot. Target size plays as important a role as distance. Many waterfowlers and pheasant hunters choose tighter chokes, because they are shooting longer distances, however all patterns deteriorate quickly past 40 yards, the larger size of the target having more mass gives the decreasing density of the pattern more opportunity to find it's target. By way of comparison,  in total generalities, a Skeet choke will have 50% of it's pattern in a 30" circle at 40 yards, while a Full choke will have 70%. However, push the Full choke out past 40 yards and the performance will drop off to 60% at 45 yards, and 50% at 50 yards. Shooting the same size pellets, a Skeet choke at 40 yards and a Full choke at 50 yards perform the same. Makes it easy to see how target size can make a difference.

     Ultimately, none of this may change anything about that way you approach longer targets, but I believe with a greater understanding of the science one can begin to play around with their artistic presentation.

   

   

   

Happy New Year

  

     A new year is upon us, and that means a new hunting season will be here before you know it. 2018 was a good season, and hopefully 2019 will be even better. While the new year may only be one day old, it is off to a good start. 

     A few years ago I adopted a new tradition, borrowed and adapted from a Japanese New Year tradition. In Japan it is tradition to wake early on New Years morning and watch the first sunrise of the new year. Something which seems to me a good way to greet the new year, and get it started. From this tradition I decided some years ago that I would wear a tie when shooting clays on New Years day (or the first shooting day of the year). I see it as a small gesture to get the new year started on a positive note. Today I took it up a notch. I shoot clays regularly at the Massapoag Sportsmens club. Like most clubs we operate on a volunteer basis. Today I volunteered to open skeet and trap, but in keeping with my tradition of getting the year started off right, I decided to make it a game tasting event as well a shooting. A few evenings of preparations, and an early arrival at the club to do some baking was all that was needed to kick off the 2019 clay shooting season with a bang.

     The menu was a collection of various game; wild boar chili, rabbit and pheasant game pie, pheasant tarragon sausage rolls, and woodcock pate, plus some mulled cider were my offerings. Others arrived with goods, and soon the table was overflowing with bacon wrapped scallops, elk burger stuffed mushrooms, finger sandwiches, and cornbread. By the time we close the ranges, there was very little leftovers to be dealt with. Everyone had a good feed, broke some clays, and started 2019 off in a very enjoyable way.  And thus, (hopefully) a new tradition is created.

     So,....Happy New Year.