Best Choke for #4 Buck

RileyLake

New member
Just wondering what the consensus is on the best choke for #4 Buck... regular full choke, or a turkey choke?

Decided to start hunting in the woods for coyotes as well as the more open spaces around here, and I'm just wondering where to start with the shotgun.

Thanks,
 
And, don't forget one of the most important things: Use quality ammo with buffered, plated, hard shot. It makes little difference of what choke you use if your pellets are deformed in the process of firing. And, using good loads can make a significant difference in your pattern performance.
 
I have always thought mod or imp was better for #4 but most of my experiance was in Law Enforcment, Police shotguns are normally cyl or imp. LEO's use #4 mostly, not 00. I have seen a lot of folks recomending tight chokes but they are also useing steel or other than lead buckshot. It seems people are talking up the tight chokes in order to get better/longer range, but you have to be realistic about how far you will need to shoot. I have found that an impcyl choke, will give a pattern about the size of a basket ball at forty yards with #4 that will be as tight as you would need, the problem would be further than sixty yards, or closer than forty. A fist sized pattern at ten to twenty yards like you will get with a tight choke, is not going to be very fur friendly.



(edit for range, I was tired)
 
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Blinddog, I know that you are not a novice at this stuff, but I have never seen an Improved Cylider pattern like that with any custom load or factory load.

I think that the Improved Cylinder that you were using was mis marked, and you are indeed fortunate to have a gun that patterns the size of a basket ball at 60 yards.

I have been doing custom loading of shot shells since 1980 with all sizes of heavy shot and buckshot.

It has been my experience that most standard full chokes will keep all the pellets in a 30" circle at 40 yards full choke. With a turkey choke, this size pattern can be cut in half to about 15" at BEST.

Blinddog, made a great point that there is such a thing as being too tight, so you have to match your choke to the range that you are going to be shooting.

We killed hundreds of yotes over the years in Mexico with a standard full choke with 3" mags with 41 pellets. Effective range was about 45 yards and you would get an occasional lucky shot at 60 yards. Turkey chokes would have extended the range another 20 yards perhaps further, but when shooting a shotgun that far, you really have to know how the shotgun patterns in as far as shooting left or right, up and down.

What ever shot gun you shoot, pattern it, and pattern it more than once with the same load, because often you do not see consistancy with a particular brand.
 
I have never seen any gun with any choke shoot basketball sized patterns at 60 yds. with any load in any length barrel. And I doubt that anyone else has either.

I do however, agree that SOME guns will pattern SOME buckshot loads better with a more open choke.

Dave
 
Well I would have to agree about not being basketball sized at 60 yards. Maybe at 20 yards if the load liked full choke that is 60 feet (you knew that). To get a tight pattern even at 40 yards is tough. If you have a true full choke you would get 70 to 80 percent of the shot in a 30 Inch circle. That is like two basketballs across. ackleyman you have some good loads or your chokes are magic.100 percent in a 30 " circle at 40 yards and turkey chokes at 15 inches at 40 yards. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif I'll take some of those /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

But yeah if it was fist sized at 20 you would definitely devastate a coyote.

I do find mine likes an improved mod for #4 buck and mod for Dead Coyote T's. I However I can't get what I would call kill patterns beyond 45 yards with either.
That is not to say I might not kill something further just that the patterns don't hold a 5 or 6 pellet count in an 7 inch circle. Thing is I am yet to kill a coyote with a shotgun or rifle. Fox yes. Woodchuck yes (as practice for coyote with the shotgun). Lots of coon. working hard on the coyote thing though.
 
GC,

THANKS!!! THAT'S the thread I was looking for... I searched for an hour or more last night and couldn't find it (or maybe just couldn't see it...)

I've got a bunch of Remmy 3" #4 Buck (41 pellets)... is this what you guys would call "quality" ammo? I'm betting the answer will be "no"... but myself, I've never fired a round of this out of any of my shotguns... I only have it because it's the only #4 buck I can find locally... so that's what I bought. I know it'll kill up close, but all I'm really hoping for is to reach out and smack one at up to 40-45 yards... that's about the longest shot I think I could ever get in my woods.

The coyotes in SW Illinois aren't too high on the quality chart, so pelt damage is of little concern... It's more about saving the bunnies and quail and turkeys to me... and having a lot of fun doing it.

Well, I've got a big thread to read... Thanks again!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
I do load my own buckshot with BP wads, extra hard #4 buck, with Copper BB's in the middle of the stack, filled with BP filler in an Active hull, 1 5/8 oz pay loads at 1300 fps.

Truthfully, I get extremely good patterns with factory Buffered, Copper plated #4 buck in 3" mags with 41 pellets.

The Hastings Turkey choke and Carlson's turkey chokes out of my 11/87 and Mosburg 500 pattern so tight that they are worthless except for longer shots. The worst of these two chokes will pattern 20" at 40 yards wtih F,and #4 Buckshot, the best patterning 15" or smaller at 40 yards. The Hastings Turkey will pattern the Rem 3" 00 and 000 between 12-15" at 40 yards.

The cost of buckshot is so high, some of you guys ought to investigate the possibility of loading your own using BP products. They have the wads, hulls, buffer, and buckshot. You will also have the option of loading F Buck, TT shot, T shot, and BB's which kills heck out of yotes long ways out. A used Mec Sizemaster can be had for cheap off of ebay.

I have patterened a lot of shotguns over the years with fixed chokes and screw in chokes with standard factory 3" and Home made buckshot loads. Brownings Pump shotguns pattern very tight for their choke as a general rule with #4 buckshot; Rem 870's, 1100's, and 11/87's pattern buck shot tigher in full chokes and even tighter with Extra full and Turkey chokes.

I can't emphasize enough that you shoot more than one pattern with a load. One pattern may be great, while the next will be crap. All you have to do is stick up a piece of newspaper at 40 yards and shoot for point of impact and pattern.
 
If the coyotes you are shooting are not great big ones the Federal Premium 3" 1-7/8 oz of copper coated buffered lead BB's works great on coyotes. This BB load has right at 57 more pellets in it than the 3" #4 buckshot load has in it. ackleyman is right about the great stuff from Ballistic Products for reloading heavy loads. I have reloaded the lead "T" buckshot in 2-3/4" Federal Gold medal hulls and killed a bunch of coyotes with them. I used a modified choke for many years with no problems killing the coyotes at 35 yards and less. I now have to shoot Hevi-Shot or Remington Wingmaster HD and it shoots pretty tight through the Carlson's Dead Coyote choke.
e66cddab.jpg

I used a shotgun primer tray to count the lead "T" buckshot pellets. Two pellets fit in each hole and the excess pellets will just run off the tray. So you just scoop the tray into the "T" pellets and lean the tray a little and you have two pellets for each primer hole that is not taped off.
 
Riley,
That thread is a "sticky thread" and remains hanging right at the top of the firearms page. It's always there as a ready reference.
 
I've always used Winchester Supreme #4 buck through either a Remington 1187 smoothbore slug barrel with improved cylinder (I should try something tighter, but its all I have now) or imp cyl or modified through my Benelli. 40 yard kills have never been a problem with either, but I'll admit a follow up shot is often necessary, which isnt much of a problem in a wide open bean field. I really do need to get out and pattern my guns again.

I did witness a guy kill a yote with lead BB's out of a Rem 10ga using a patternmaster choke tube. He paced it off at around 110 steps, its been a few years and I dont remember exactly. That coyote ran a good 150 yards before dropping to a presumed lung shot. Now that was WAY beyond normal ethical shotgun range and was 99% luck, but that yote was surrounded and wasnt likely to get away regardless so he tried it. I think reliable shotgun penetration with #4 buck or smaller is around 50-55 yards tops, so I was amazed he killed it. This doesnt do much to answer the original question, I just thought it was interesting.
 
Quote:
Riley,
That thread is a "sticky thread" and remains hanging right at the top of the firearms page. It's always there as a ready reference.



Yeah, I saw that after your first reply.

Ever lose a screwdriver or something, look for it for 5 minutes, and then discover that you were holding it in your other hand? It was kind of one of those deals /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif Being up late at night didn't help much either /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Thanks again!
 
Quote:
GC,

THANKS!!! THAT'S the thread I was looking for... I searched for an hour or more last night and couldn't find it (or maybe just couldn't see it...)

I've got a bunch of Remmy 3" #4 Buck (41 pellets)... is this what you guys would call "quality" ammo? I'm betting the answer will be "no"... but myself, I've never fired a round of this out of any of my shotguns... I only have it because it's the only #4 buck I can find locally... so that's what I bought. I know it'll kill up close, but all I'm really hoping for is to reach out and smack one at up to 40-45 yards... that's about the longest shot I think I could ever get in my woods.

The coyotes in SW Illinois aren't too high on the quality chart, so pelt damage is of little concern... It's more about saving the bunnies and quail and turkeys to me... and having a lot of fun doing it.

Well, I've got a big thread to read... Thanks again!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif



Traditionally, Federal Premium copper plated, buffered buck shot loads have been very good. In fact, Pattern Master used to recommend their use over others with their choke. And, they did perform better than a few other brands tested, at the time.

That was several years ago, so I don't know if they have maintained the same quality, or if other brands have improved.
 
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