Shotgun barrel length/choke question.

[Kaos116]

How much wider would a shot pattern be between an 18" full choked and a 26" modified choked barrel in 12ga? Does the extra 8" make that big of a difference?

I have a cheap single shot 12ga and I was thinking of having it cut down and tapped for screw in chokes. Let's say cost is not an issue and I want an unusual shotgun (but not useless).

 

[vellnueve]

I think that the 18.5 inch full choke will still give you noticeably tighter patterns than the modified 28.

 

[Kaos116]

Everything I have found on the internet about patterns/chokes never mention barrel length, Just choke diameter (.665-.720). One website mentioned that all the powder had burned off by 24cm (<10"). So I kind of agree that chokes will make more of a difference than barrel length. Barrel length will only affect 'taking' the shot and follow through.... I guess....

 

[Jose]

Barrel length has NO effect on shot pattern. Barrel length has only effect on muzzle velocity.

People still think barrel length has an effect on shot pattern because in the old days of fixed chokes, the overwhelming majority of tightly choked shotguns had long barrels.

 

[trophygrl]

how far out are you shooting and what are you trying to shoot?

 

[Dick]

What Jose said.

Also, the question isn't the difference in width between the patterns thrown by different chokes, but the percentage of the load (i.e., number of shot) they put inside a 30" circle at 40 yards. Full choke barrels should be around 70% or so, cylinder (essentially no choke) around 40%, with the others falling in between. Shotguns don't always give you what the barrels may be marked, so if you're serious about choke you need to do some testing, which involves counting lots of little holes in big pieces of paper. Also, different shot sizes will give different patterns in the same barrel, and steel shot always shoots tighter than lead. Then there's the question of evenness of pattern. So much about shotguns is really more art than science.

 

[rep308]

I have decided to get more serious with shotgun patterning and will be investing in this in the next week:

http://www.hugetarget.com/

 

[Kaos116]

how far out are you shooting and what are you trying to shoot?

At this moment it realy has no purpose. It's more of a 'what if' question. But if it's used for anything it would be for weekend paper turkey shoots. The only thing I hunt is pheasant and I have an O/U for that.

There is a guy who shows up with a long barrel (36"+?) shotgun. I had asked about barrel length vs chokes with my locals and that was like asking Ford or Chevy. I'd figured I'd ask here and get a few more thoughts.