I am starting a thread to give others some information regarding my selection of the right choke and shells for a new gun. Last year I did the same for a Benelli SBE, a Franchi Affinity and a Remington 11-87. Each liked a different choke brand and a different shell. And, that is probably the lesson for new hunters. I think you have to try a number of chokes and shells to see which your gun likes the best. I like to buy 5 or 6 chokes decide what I like then sell the ones I don't want. It does cost you a few bucks on the resale loss, but it saves you a ton when you truly find the one that your guns shoots best.
My current project is a Benelli 828U Upland Performance Shop over and under. Like others I went the over an under route to have one barrel and choke for short range and one for long. The short range was easy. The Rob Roberts T1 choke that came with the gun shoots darn near any shell you stick in the gun extremely well from 15-30 yards.
At 40 yards I have only tried the Rob Roberts .665 turkey choke and an Indian Creek .655.
Neither choke worked well with Federal TSS in 7s or 9s. In fact, the were awful! The Roberts was the worst, but I would not try to kill time with either of those chokes and shell combination. I will try to post photos when this all done.
Next I tried both chokes with Heavy-18 TSS in 7 shots. The Indian Creek shot what I considered a good pattern and I might even say an extremely tight pattern. The shape was not as circular as I might like, but, there were not holes or gaps for certain. The Roberts was acceptable, but not ideal.
Tonight I ordered a couple Carlson, and when I hear back from Sumtoy tomorrow I will order one from them.
Currently, trying to decide what other brands to try.
