All Choked Up

’ve I written before about chokes and the evolution of choke tubes as a system for increasing the versatility of shotguns. As a quick recap, by back boring a cylinder bore barrel and threading it, the shooter can insert thin tubes that allow the shooter to use the choke best suited to the purpose. Winchester perfected the screw-in choke tube system as the Winchoke in 1970. This system became the parent of all the choke tube systems in use today.

Which choke you use is a matter of individual shooter preference and the choice of shotgun, barrel length, and shotshell for the upcoming event. There are a few very important points to understand about choke tubes. If you have a shotgun bored for choke tubes, never shoot it without a tube installed. If shooting very heavy shot—say, #4 through #00—I recommend an open choke. Never shoot a slug through any choke other than a cylinder bore tube.

I know from the sad experience of several customers that you will regret it, as in you’ll likely have to replace the barrel. After this summer I have a new caveat. Once again, this past summer I was privileged to introduce a couple of hundred shooters to the shotgun sports through Scouting’s summer camp program.

Scouting BSA Shooting Sports experts have decided that the Shotgun Merit badge should be taught using semiautomatic shotguns in 20 gauge, the theory being that the recoil-reducing properties of the semi-auto action would be a benefit to beginning shooters. The camp where I was teaching had been gifted with a set of Benelli M2 semiautomatic shotguns, and I must say they area very nice piece of equipment. The shotgun armory to which I had access had a selection of M2 and venerable Remington 870 pump shotguns.

My teaching process is after an extended safety briefing and fitting each shooter with comfortable hearing and eye protection, I start each student with five rounds so that I can assess their abilities and liabilities. Following the policy, I started each scout on the Benelli shotguns with one-on-one coaching. Generally, it takes three or four boxes of shotshells to begin hitting consistently enough to shoot to qualify. This year, that didn’t seem to be working.

The shotguns weren’t all equipped with the same chokes, with some having Modified chokes and others having Improved or Skeet chokes. It did not seem to matter. What did seem to matter was switching the shooter to one of the Remington 870 pump shotguns. Many qualified very quickly leaving me puzzled as to why. Another requirement for the shotgun merit badge is cleaning

shotguns. Each class cleans one each of the pump and semi-auto shotguns. I clamp the shotgun in a vise pointed in a safe direction and have each student pull a Hoppe’s Boresnake through the barrel from the chamber end. After all of the students had tried that, I examined the barrel. Then, on the same barrel and with the choke tube still installed, I have the students use a brass bore brush and my old favorite solvent, Hoppe’s #9.

They are amazed at the crud that comes from the scrubbing, even after the multiple passes with the bore snake. After that experience, I turn them loose on cleaning shotguns. Of eight shotguns in the camp armory, seven showed similar fouling. One of the scouts wanted a closer look at a Benelli choke tube and I pulled it. He asked if it was okay to clean it. It turned out he got more than he bargained for. After a great deal of scrubbing, he asked if I would look at some deposits in the tube.

The material was firmly encrusted to the interior of the choke and it resisted removal. After soaking for two hours in Hoppe’s I was able to remove the deposit. Upon inserting the clean choke tube back into the barrel, I found the inner diameter of the barrel was slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the choke tube, leaving a ledge. While it didn’t impede the passage of the wad on its way out the muzzle, it did appear to allow a buildup of debris.

The next day was check out day and I had no class, so I pulled all the Benelli choke tubes and soaked them in Hoppe’s. I had both Modified and Skeet choke tubes in the solution. The Hoppe’s solution didn’t let me down. This kind of build up is not what you want to find, but I found it in every shotgun. To be fair, I pulled the choke tubes from the Remington 870 shotguns and found much the same thing, but not nearly as bad.

Apparently, the slight bore diameter mismatch between barrel and choke tube has a greater impact than I imagined it would have. As heavily as these shotguns are used in the summer, I have no idea how many rounds it took for this buildup to occur but it gives meanew caution for those using choke tubes: After every use, take the chokes out and clean them separately. Do not just rely on a bore snake or similar quick pull-through cleaner to clean choke tube-equipped barrels.

The Benelli is an expensive, quality shotgun. If a problem occurs with them, it will in others that aren’t as well made. When you get a choke tube-equipped shotgun into your shop, make it standard procedure to remove the choke and give it a good soak as a routine customer service. AG