Question about Shotgun chokes...

[Kurgan]

Not sure if this should be in "General" but here it is...

I've got a Benelli M1 Tactical shotgun that came with 3 chokes.....Improved Cylinder, Modified and Full Choke. I know the IC is the least restrictive, the Modified a bit more and the Full choke is the tightest of the bunch. Now, here come some questions...

1.) Why does the IC and Modified say "OK steel shot" but the Full choke says "No steel shot"? What would happen if steel shot was put down that full choke....blow out the barrel?

2.) Can a shotgun that has a barrel threaded for choke tubes be fired without any chokes installed or would that trash the end of the barrel?

3.) If I want to shoot rifled slugs out of this shotgun......do I use any of the choke tubes or just open barrel? (Sort of related to question 2)

I hope someone can shed some light on these issues tonight as I want to go out with the Benelli tomorrow bright and early to try it out.

Thanks!

[ANIMAL]

1. Not sure why you have steel and no steel on chokes but if you shoot steel through a no stell tube you will ruin it.

2. Do NOT shoot anything through a barrel without a tube screwed in.

3. I believe you can use improved or an open tube for slugs.

enjoy the gun .

[RSF]

modified jim is the best all around even with slugs! dont worry about the steel your not hunting geese or ducks!

[RSF]

modified jim is the best all around even with slugs! dont worry about the steel your not hunting geese or ducks!

[karcent]

Steel shot will not "give" enough to safely pass thru a full choke.

When using steel, the rule is to step back one level from what you would ordinarily use for the intended purpose.

Never shoot your shotgun without a choke in place and remember to grease the threads every time you install a choke.

[Batman]

What Karcent said!

Steel shot does not deform like soft lead shot and therefore as the wad of shot goes down the barrel and enters the choke the steel will do either one of two things:

First, and most likely, if your gun is modern (and yours is) the shot column will deform and will elongate. This is referred to as a blown pattern. To see this in action you can try this on a shot patterning board. It's quite distinctive as the result of the shot pattern will be a crescent or moon shaped pattern. No uniformity (nice round circle of holes). This obviously is very important when hunting birds or shooting clay targets.

The second thing that could happen is that as the steel shot column enters the choke the steel shot binds together and if the steel shot is harder than the barrel steel you will get a ring around your barrel. Ever go into a gun store and see used shotgun for sale that have this ring? Now you know what caused it. Old Belgium Browning’s with Mod or Full choke were especially susceptible to this condition and that's why Belgium Browning shotguns (mainly A5s) are relatively cheap now.