Thread: Shotgun Choke Tubes

Our church is having a "turkey shoot" next Saturday to raise money for our youth to go to camp. I have a Remington 870 12 gauge with a 28" barrel and have been testing different choke tubes for light load #8 shot at a distance of 100 ft. Although the only shot that counts is the closest to the x in the center of the target, the more shot you can put in the target the better your chances. So far the best choke tube I have tested is the Comp-N-Choke XXX Full. In my gun, it puts 238 shot in a 12" circle which is impressive, but I am still trying to find one that will do better. Anybody with a 870 know of a tube that will beat that? I know every gun will not shoot the same, just looking for the perfect tube for my gun. Thinking about ordering a "Pure Gold" .640 Card Shooter, 30 day satisfaction guarantee. Anybody ever used one?

Pretty sure that is a .665, same as the Kick's Gobblin' Thunder in my Beneli. I went through a lot of cash, shells, cuss words and shoulder bruises to get the best pattern. I would focus more on aim point than pattern. The sad thing about turkey shoots is you can get beat by someone who flinches and closes thier eyes at the last second, but still puts a pellet closer to the middle than the best prepared shotgunner there.

Yes, it is a .665. I have an old Hastings card shooter (.650) that is not ported. It only puts 195 shot in the 12" circle. From what I have read, ported is the way to go so the wad is separated from the shot string, and in my testing so far that seems to be the case. Second best tube I have tried is a Rhino .660, (219 shot).

Ported chokes take a little of the sting off a turkey load but won't pattern with Federal "flite control" wad shells. The other choke I liked was a cheap H.S. Undertaker. It did fine with the Federal #5s but not as good with the Hevi-Shot. But all that being said I like to see how close I can get to a gobbler, not how far away I can kill one. At 30 yards it really doesn't matter which load goes through the .665. If I can keep from shaking so bad or him hearing my heart beat out of my chest I usually fill a tag. Good luck!

I agree. I'd rather shoot one at 30 yards and make a clean kill than taking a chance on wounding him a 50 yards. I know there are lots of hunters that make clean kills at 50+ yards, but I normally try not to take a shot over 40. Closest I have killed one is 7 yds., longest kill was at 51 yards, (thought he was closer). UPDATE ON TESTING........ I was testing with 3 1/4 drams loads because that was all I had. The shells provided at the Turkey shoot are only 3 drams of powder, so I bought some today. Same 1 1/8 oz. of shot but pattern took a serious crap with less powder. Back to square one now.