Choke preference

[Tag457]

Briley vs beretta or who makes the best chokes and why?

 

[PCC600]

Briley vs beretta or who makes the best chokes and why?

Got Brileys fitted on a Browning and Optima chokes on a Beretta . Both very good . Can’t really tell any difference .

 

[mdwest]

Briley offers excellent precision chokes at a very reasonable price point. They are all we shoot in both our field and sporting shotguns.

Briley customer service is top notch as well.

Being in Texas I’m sure plays a part (Briley is also in TX)… but I do t find it coincidental that out of the 70+ kids on my daughters competitive shotgun team.. all but 4 shoot Briley…

 

[BeeMaa]

I’ve been using Carlson’s chokes for years and only recently (last year) found out about Müller chokes. Take a look at this video. He does a good job of remaining objective and giving just the facts.

 

[62flint]

Depends on what you want to do with the choke.
For long range buck shot or turkey loads I like kicks.
For waterfowl I use Briley.

 

[503]

62flint is right, usage depends on the choke. Briley makes excellent chokes.

I use a kicks high flyer full for waterfowl and it patterns great. Jebs, Indian creek, Muller, Rob Robert's etc. All make excellent chokes for any application you want.

The most important thing is to pattern it with the ammo you're going to use and make sure it performs well. Shotguns can be picky about what ammo/chokes they like just like rifles can be about bullet weight.

Cheers

503

 

[WAB]

Honestly, the best choke is a fixed choke. With modern cartridges, the need for interchangeable chokes is highly questionable for most applications.

 

[Philip Glass]

Briley vs beretta or who makes the best chokes and why?

For me as a hunter and casual clay shooter there is likely little difference. In years past when my kids shot competitively they all had to have Briley this and Briley that!

 

[Red Leg]

Speaking only for myself, I pull either the front or rear trigger.

 

[rookhawk]

Speaking only for myself, I pull either the front or rear trigger.

Exactly.

Single barrel and single trigger guns: repeating the same mistake over and over hoping for a different outcome.

 

[mdwest]

For me as a hunter and casual clay shooter there is likely little difference. In years past when my kids shot competitively they all had to have Briley this and Briley that!

Briley, a TX firm, has done an excellent job capturing the TX market..

Texans if nothing else are loyal to TX companies that produce good products and services...

HEB, Whataburger, Buccees, etc.. all have incredible customer loyalty in TX..

Briley makes a great choke at a reasonable price... but the truth is there are a lot of other chokes out there just as good for just as good of a price (IMO)..

But you wont catch anyone in my house shooting anything other that Briley lol..

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I like old school fixed chokes. A fully choked left barrel and a modified choked right barrel fulfills all of my shotgunning purposes wholly.

 

[BeeMaa]

Honestly, the best choke is a fixed choke. With modern cartridges, the need for interchangeable chokes is highly questionable for most applications.

With all respect, I have to disagree. Unless you have one shotgun for each and every pursuit, multiple chokes with multiple loads make sense. Especially if you want to conserve meat damage.

IMO...
Turkey - 12 bore with XF choke and Federal TSS 3.5" 7 shot
Goose - 12 bore with FULL choke and Federal TSS 3" BB/7 shot
Duck - 12 bore with IM choke and Federal TSS 3" 3/9 shot
Upland - 12 bore (because I don't have a 20) with MOD choke and Prairie Storm 3" 6 shot
Dove - 12 bore with CYL or IC choke and 2 3/4" 8 shot (target/clays ammo)

Above all is practice. Going to the clays range to improve your skills so that when you hit the hunting grounds your success is all but assured.

EDIT - Upland and dove would most likely be hunted with and O/U or SxS so having two different chokes would make sense. I also have a friend who is going to use his O/U for turkey this year with a CYL and XF chokes for varying distances.

 

[spike.t]

Speaking only for myself, I pull either the front or rear trigger.

Yeah bit too new fangled these different choke things.....

 

[Red Leg]

With all respect, I have to disagree. Unless you have one shotgun for each and every pursuit, multiple chokes with multiple loads make sense. Especially if you want to conserve meat damage.

IMO...
Turkey - 12 bore with XF choke and Federal TSS 3.5" 7 shot
Goose - 12 bore with FULL choke and Federal TSS 3" BB/7 shot
Duck - 12 bore with IM choke and Federal TSS 3" 3/9 shot
Upland - 12 bore (because I don't have a 20) with MOD choke and Prairie Storm 3" 6 shot
Dove - 12 bore with CYL or IC choke and 2 3/4" 8 shot (target/clays ammo)

Above all is practice. Going to the clays range to improve your skills so that when you hit the hunting grounds your success is all but assured.

You know I hold you in great respect, but when I was a kid my first shotgun was a Ted Williams 20 with a magical polychoke on the end. I spent much of my youth wasting my time twisting the silly thing until one day I shot it off the end of the barrel when I had loosened it too much (thank a benevolent God). My next gun was a fixed choke Model 12.

What you describe above is to me the adult version of the same thing. I think @WAB is exactly correct. I would wager serious money that I can take the same gun with the same choke and shoot someone of equal skill bird for bird on the first three on your list and not lose one due to the "wrong" choke. In my experience, it is the load that matters.

I can take at least half a dozen guns in three different bores off the rack and deal with the bottom two without worrying about different chokes.

I am curious about the three-inch load for upland game?!? Is that some sort of steel shot? The toughest upland shooting I have done is mid to late season sharptail grouse. They launch out there a ways and drive like a box bird. 1 1/8 ounces of number 6 from a modified/full gun is perfection.

 

[Mekaniks]

I have been using Carlsons with no problems and good patterns.
I have also been using the same choke in both barrels for waterfowl hunting over decoys. The shooting distances over decoys doesn’t seem to change enough to justify different chokes to me…
I am also not fast and/or smart enough to switch barrels if a longer shot occurs…

 

[Daisy]

T2 - TRIPLE THREAT — Rob Roberts Custom Gun Works

When you need a choke for shots at the mid range, such as flooded timber mallards, dove and most sporting clays targets, and 16 yard trap, this choke makes the grade. These choke tubes are built from years of product development and innovations using the highest advanced technology available. They

www.robrobertsgunworks.com

These are best chokes I have found. Broken into distances and pursuits. Also can use all new loads like bismuth or tungsten through them.

Please don’t listen to anyone say fixed choke. Choke makes all the difference on the type of shooting you are doing.

 

[Daisy]

You know I hold you in great respect, but when I was a kid my first shotgun was a Ted Williams 20 with a magical polychoke on the end. I spent much of my youth wasting my time twisting the silly thing until one day I shot it off the end of the barrel when I had loosened it too much (thank a benevolent God). My next gun was a fixed choke Model 12.

What you describe above is to me the adult version of the same thing. I think @WAB is exactly correct. I would wager serious money that I can take the same gun with the same choke and shoot someone of equal skill bird for bird on the first three on your list and not lose one due to the "wrong" choke. In my experience, it is the load that matters.

I can take at least half a dozen guns in three different bores off the rack and deal with the bottom two without worrying about different chokes.

I am curious about the three-inch load for upland game?!? Is that some sort of steel shot? The toughest upland shooting I have done is mid to late season sharptail grouse. They launch out there a ways and drive like a box bird. 1 1/8 ounces of number 6 from a modified/full gun is perfection.

I’ll take your bet anytime. Zero chance you would beat any serious shooter with fixed choke. That’s not being mean Red, you’re a good dude. But that’s silly. Like saying you would kill as many buffalo with a 30-06. Yes it could be done. And it would be silly and not the correct tool for the job.

 

[rookhawk]

I've spent about $5000 over the years on chokes and choke work I'd wager. JES Briley makes a great choke. So does trulock. So does carlsons. So does beretta.

Do you know what I do these days? On older guns that have fixed chokes (not fancy guns), I spend $100 on getting them threaded for Optima chokes. I go to a gunshow and buy a cigar box of the chokes for pennies on the dollar. Done.

For my guns that do use chokes, my IC/M stays in all the time on clays, my LM/IM is on my live bird gun that has removable chokes.

For my vintage british guns, I just have fiber wads and plastic wads, using them to alter the pattern of my british doubles way more easily than swapping out chokes on my italian and spanish guns.

 

[BeeMaa]

I am curious about the three-inch load for upland game?!? Is that some sort of steel shot? The toughest upland shooting I have done is mid to late season sharptail grouse. They launch out there a ways and drive like a box bird. 1 1/8 ounces of number 6 from a modified/full gun is perfection.

Correction, the upland load was 3" #4 steel shot that a friend got me. Last time I bought upland loads they were 2 3/4" #6 lead from Federal but it looks like I may have left the remaining boxes with the same friend.

Most of the time it's not the load or choke that make the biggest difference, it's the shooter. You know I also respect your opinion and shooting ability, but I'd take your bet. At least to have the chance to hunt together and share a laugh over a smooth scotch.