A shotgun choke is a constriction of the bore of a shotgun. The purpose of a shotgun choke is to force the shot from the shotgun to shoot forward in a tighter pattern.
If you fire a 12 gauge shotgun shell from a barrel with no choke, approximately 40% of the shotgun pellets will remain within a 30″ diamater circle.
The more you constrict (choke) the barrel, the tighter the pattern will become. The same shell fired though a choke of .040″ will keep 75% of the shotgun pellets within the 30″ circle.
The effectiveness of a choke will vary depending upon the composition of the pellets in the shotgun shell. Harder pellets such as steel and tungsten produce tighter patterns than softer pellets made of lead or bismuth.
The best method for determining the effects of a particular shotgun choke is always to test it yourself with the shotgun shells which you use in the field.
| Constriction | Common Names |
|---|---|
| .000″ | Cylinder |
| .005″ | Skeet, Improved Cylinder |
| .007″ | Skeet #2 |
| .010″ | Improved Cylinder |
| .012″ | Modified |
| .015″ | Light Modified |
| .020″ | Modified |
| .022″ | Improved Modified |
| .025″ | Improved Modified |
| .030″ | Improved Modified, Light Full Choke |
| .035″ | Full Choke |
| .036″ | Full Choke |
| .040″ | Full Choke, Extra Full Choke |
| .045″ | |
| .050″ | |
Books about Shotgunning
Shotshells and Ballistics
There is a bewildering array of commercially loaded shotgun shells for sale, from the .410 to the 10-gauge. In fact, there are more types of shells and shot sizes on the market now than ever before. With the overwhelming selection of shells available, here, finally, is a practical, reasonably priced book that makes sense of it all. It lists commercially available shotshell loads from the .410-bore to the 10-gauge, in all shot sizes available, different shot types (lead, steel, bismuth, tungsten, and others) so that the shooter or hunter can quickly find what will be best for the gun he has and the game or targets he wants to shoot. Each shotgun shell with each loading has its own table–over 1,600 tables!!–showing shot size; weight of shot; recoil; average number of pellets in the shell; manufacturer’s order number; shell length and type of hull; type of wad; and whether the shot is buffered or not. In addition, each table contains data that details velocity (in 10-yard intervals from 0 to 70 yards); average pellet energy; and time of flight in seconds. This book includes complete ballistic tables for every hull length and every shot-size load made from the following manufacturers: Aguila Ammunition, Armscor, ARMUSA, Baschieri & Pellagri, Bismuth Cartridge Company, Brenneke, Clever s.r.l., Dionisi, Eley Hawk, Estate Cartridge Company, Federal, Fiocchi, Gamebore, Hevi-Shot (now loaded exclusively by Remington), Kent, Lightfield, PMC, Polywad, Remington, RIO, RST, Sellier & Bellot, and Winchester. In addition, this informative reference contains authoritative articles on the history and development of shotshells and the components and technical data that govern the production of shotshells. Never before has so much information on shotshells and ballistics been placed in a single book. Accentuated with photos from the field and the range, this is a reference book unlike any other.
