Looking for some opinions on a choke that tends to be forgiving. By that I mean a choke that tends to perform consistently well across a range of different shells. Indian creek .665 or .670 seems to be a consistent one recommended here. Do any others come to mind? I shoot a 2005 model year 870 3" with a 24" barrel and currently shoot a .665 pure gold tempest. It shot longbeard xr great, but not so much with federal tss #9. I've had good success with the xr so far but would like to step up to a fed hw 7 / tss type shell going forward. Trying to not buy multiple chokes, is the Indian creek my best bet? Likewise, would the Indian creek tend to perform poorly with the # 5 longbeard that performed well in the pure gold?
Swoop here in lies the problem. IC chokes have wad strippers built into the choke system that strips the wad from the shot column. If you plan on going to Federal TSS, I believe you will have to get a non wad stripping choke because the Federal shells require this due to rear deploying wad stabilizers. The IC .665 is a Great choke for the Remington. If you go to TSS either with Federal or any other TSS shell you will have to get non wad stripping choke or open up the ID of the choke from .665 to probably .690.
The Federal TSS loads like a tighter choke than Apex or handloaded TSS shells due to the Flight Control Flex wad. Get a Carlson's .640 non-ported choke for your 870 and shoot the Federal 3" #9 TSS loads. I'm putting 400+ pellets in the 10" circle at 40 yards with that combo.
Quote from: SKFOOTER on January 31, 2019, 09:34:10 PM
The Federal TSS loads like a tighter choke than Apex or handloaded TSS shells due to the Flight Control Flex wad. Get a Carlson's .640 non-ported choke for your 870 and shoot the Federal 3" #9 TSS loads. I'm putting 400+ pellets in the 10" circle at 40 yards with that combo.
That makes sense - what is your pattern like at 15 yards though? A .640 seems like it would shoot a golf ball pattern up close.
First Generation Rhino .660 is crazy good out of Remington 870. Just saying. I also hay a SumToy .660 and still have to do some testing, however it looks great so far.
Quote from: Swoop on February 03, 2019, 02:09:13 PM
Quote from: SKFOOTER on January 31, 2019, 09:34:10 PM
The Federal TSS loads like a tighter choke than Apex or handloaded TSS shells due to the Flight Control Flex wad. Get a Carlson's .640 non-ported choke for your 870 and shoot the Federal 3" #9 TSS loads. I'm putting 400+ pellets in the 10" circle at 40 yards with that combo.
That makes sense - what is your pattern like at 15 yards though? A .640 seems like it would shoot a golf ball pattern up close.
Not as tight as lead would be so it's acceptable.
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Quote from: SKFOOTER on February 04, 2019, 03:26:41 PM
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What does your 20" look like?
I currently have a Rem 870 12ga and a .660 non-ported Carlson's choke. Do you guys think it would shoot Federal TSS alright?
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Quote from: bbcoach on January 30, 2019, 05:49:16 PM
Swoop here in lies the problem. IC chokes have wad strippers built into the choke system that strips the wad from the shot column. If you plan on going to Federal TSS, I believe you will have to get a non wad stripping choke because the Federal shells require this due to rear deploying wad stabilizers. The IC .665 is a Great choke for the Remington. If you go to TSS either with Federal or any other TSS shell you will have to get non wad stripping choke or open up the ID of the choke from .665 to probably .690.
Federal revamped their flight control wad last year with a more flexible wad that is now called the flight control flex wad and is compatible with BOTH ported and non-ported choke tubes now.
I'm shooting a 2.5oz hand load. Using a Indian Creek .665 I shot 550/260 patterns but wanted to open it up some so I switched to a IC .675 and shoot 500/300 patterns. Been hunting with it 2 seasons with great success. Tried a IC .682 and shot at 380/380 pattern with a dirty barrel. I want to try that again with a clean barrel. Never seen a 400/400 pattern.
I have an 870 Max Gobbler and I've always had An Original JellyHead .665 in it. I've shot a lot of different shells through it. Wal-mart 3.5 Winchester's 5's, 3 inch and 3.5 inch Hevi, 6's, 7's, and Magblends. Killed Turkeys as close as 5 yards all the way out to 50 yards. I am however gonna set up another gun for this upcoming season and will probably go with something in the .670 range to shoot 9's.
I've shot a lot of choke shell combo's and as far as an even hunting pattern goes the Remington super full non ported choke consistently shoots very well in my 870 with lead and hevi shot.
I got a chance to shoot a few boxes of shells through a couple different chokes. Every single choke/shell combo patterned to the right for me. Ultimately I adjusted my Williams sights over as much as I could, but did not have enough adjustment to get it shooting straight. Best pattern is attached- federal 3" tss with a Carlson's tss .640 choke at 30 yards. Any thoughts on how to get this gun shooting to POA?
Couldn't get the pic to load, but the pattern is still at least 2 to 3 inches right with the rear sight adjusted all the way.
I started shooting an 870 in 1974 (still have it) and bought a 21"er when they first become available. I've shot every choke, shot size and ammo brand I could find over the years and found the RSFT choke does exactly everything I need done. Before they were available I used a Hastings and a Star Dot, both .660. In the 12ga I shoot #6 as my primary load but over the years I've used #5 and either one does a fine job. Every gun is different, every shooters expectations are different and ammo brands are different even with the same size shot. Keep shooting and trying different set-ups you'll find that one that's just right for you.
best afield
Extra full, Remington factory choke.Federal hi power 17/8 copper plated BB'S.Thats what I use.