Patternmaster Code Black Turkey Choke (updated with range report)


I recently picked up this choke for my Remington Versa Max and I figured I’d throw up a good review of the range results. I’ve been in the market for a better patterning choke before the yote season starts up here in MA & when I first started checking this choke out online I quickly realized there’s no reviews out there on it. For the $100 price tag I wanted to get a good amount of research in on it before I pulled the trigger but I came up empty handed. Going into it blind I figured I would give Patternmaster a call and they re-assured me that if this choke didn’t “knock my socks off” then they would give me a full refund, so I really had nothing to loose except a few shells. I did discuss with them my application and that I would be shooting Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote “T” loads.

Right off the bat you can see how nice the machine work on the choke is, this definitely helps justify some of the cost because you can see how much more time went into it compared to some others I have and have seen and own. The bronze titanium coating on it is a real nice finish aswell and is dull enough to be non-reflective.



The choke has a .665” ID and also has three “stud” rings on the inside that from what I understand are proprietary to Patternmaster. It is extended approximately 1-1/2” from the muzzle & according to Patternmaster the canoe porting on this choke allows for use of the federal flight control wad if you choose to shoot loads containing a flight control wad (I know those new Hornady BB loads uses them).





On to the important part… I patterned the choke at a measured 50 yards shooting at paper targets taped to a 1/4” sheet of plywood, the gun was bench rested the best I could get it and I used an Aimpoint-T1 that’s been zeroed to the center of the pattern on my Carlsons .665 turkey choke at 50 yards. I was happy overall with the POA/POI and didn’t notice much shift between this choke and my Carlsons, so I didn’t feel any adjustment was needed. I took four shots total to confirm consistency.

I took pictures of two of the targets as I lit the other ones up with 7-1/2 shot before I got a picture. The inner ring on the targets is 8” and the outer ring 12”, I put golf tees in the holes that were in the black so you can make them out in the pictures





On three of the four targets I was able to get 7 hits inside the 8” circle, and on one of the targets I was able to get 8 hits inside the 8” circle. On all four of the targets the patterns outside of the 8” circle was pretty consistent with generally about 20-30 hits average on the entire piece of cardboard I was using for a backing (18” X 24”). One thing that really stood out to me aside from the patterns is how hard those pellets were walloping that piece of wood, you could really hear the smack and see the disturbance it caused when the pellets hit. Looked and sounded far more energetic than several other chokes I’ve tried in it and that wasn’t really even on my mind when I began testing, just something that stood out.

These have been the best patterns i’ve gotten at 50 yards thus far with the VMAX and I’ve gone through 4-5 chokes. There really aern’t too many chokes out there for this gun because it uses the Remington Pro-Bore choke system which is different from the standard Remchoke and not so widely used. The Versa Max has an overbored barrel and I believe somewhere around a .735” bore diameter. I’ve only tested and only plan on testing the dead coyote “T” loads because that is the biggest shot I allowed in my state and why not go with the best. Overall I’m more than pleased with the choke and I think my search for something better has ended for now.

For you gun guys out there like myself heres a picture of the test gun. Can’t say enough about the Versa Max, especially the tactical version like I’ve got with the 22” barrel. Perfect low recoil predator gun but I’ll save that for another time…

 
Nice review! Glad to see some more good info on the Versa Max. Think we will be seeing more and more after market chokes being used in these guns in the near future.
 
I was thinking about trying one to.They offer a Code Black Big game tube for my 835.It has them "canoe ports" but in this case it says not for use with FC wads.
 
I got to try out some of those new Hornady BB nickel plated lead shot loads the other day through a variety of chokes in my Versa-Max, including the Code Black which performed the best. At the $13.00/box price tag I figured I had to give them a shot and see how they pattern, I plan on keeping a few boxes for backup incase I run low on hevi-shot.

These Hornady loads use the flight control wad and right on the box it suggests the use of an Imp Cyl or Mod choke, so naturally I started my patterning at 50 yards with each of these chokes. Neither produced a pattern that was anything to write home about, and both were extremely wide at 50 yards. I kept cycling through chokes and tried out a full, x-full and two turkey chokes one of which being the code black. My best patterns came from the code black and the patterns were pretty even as far as the dispersion at 50 yards. I didn't see any issues at all with the flight control wad going through the code black, in fact you could actually see the wad flying about 35 yards through the air toward the target before it dropped off.



I don't want to go comparing apples to oranges but considering the larger amount of pellets in the BB load compared to the T shot loads I wasn't very impressed with the density of the pattern on the point of aim. This was the densest pattern I was able to get at 50 yards on these 18" X 24" targets and it was with the code black.

Overall I was only able to get 23 hits with the BB on the same size target I was able to get 31 hits on with the T loads, and with the T loads the pattern is more concentrated on the point of aim. Also, the energy difference is huge. From what I could see it looked like the BB pellets were just barley making it through the cardboard at 50 yards where as the T pellets go clean though the cardboard and the plywood it was stapled to.

I was expecting before testing to get somewhere around double the hits on target with the BB loads compared to the T loads due to the smaller pellet diameter and larger quantity, but that did not hold true. However I can say the patterns at 25 yards seemed pretty darn effective and I was getting probably 90%-100% of the pellets on target at that range with sufficient energy.
 
50 yards is quite a poke with BB's in a 12 ga. I had better luck with an Ithaca 10g 32" full choke with this kind of load.

If you want to go the longer ranges, then #4 buck or the high tec shells in T shot are the answer.

I encourage you to try some Rem 3" 41 pellets of #4 buck if you want the cheaper route.

Chokes are sure different from barrel to barrel, so you are really in a boat by yourself in this issue. Point of impact vs point of aim is a whole nuther subject by itself(stock fit).
 
Originally Posted By: ackleyman50 yards is quite a poke with BB's in a 12 ga. I had better luck with an Ithaca 10g 32" full choke with this kind of load.

If you want to go the longer ranges, then #4 buck or the high tec shells in T shot are the answer.

I encourage you to try some Rem 3" 41 pellets of #4 buck if you want the cheaper route.

Chokes are sure different from barrel to barrel, so you are really in a boat by yourself in this issue. Point of impact vs point of aim is a whole nuther subject by itself(stock fit).

I'd be all over the #4 buck if I could shoot it in my state. The largest shot size allowed other than during shotgun deer season here is numbered or lettered bird shot, no buck shot or slugs allowed.
 
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