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New Shotgun Choke Can Help Turkey Hunting
I’m from the “old school,” so when a man or woman tells me something, I generally take them at their word? until proven otherwise. That’s just the way I am.
But, when a man from Louisiana told me recently that he has a shotgun choke that would increase the pattern density of my guns by 10-25 percent, I took him to task.
You see, he did not know that my old 12-gauge Remington 870 Magnum has a reputation for throwing the best pattern in this neck of the woods. Now I’m not saying I’m good, but the gun is, and I had absolutely nothing to do with the magnificent pattern it throws. Except that I paid for it.
It all started in Texas when I killed a Rio Grand gobbler with a 70-yard shot while helping world-renowned turkey hunter and champion caller Preston Pittman film a hunt. Preston had already gotten his limit, so the other crewman, Ken Flint and I had a little time to take in a little hunting of our own.
Now folks, first let me say that I didn’t realize the turkey was that far? until I stepped off the distance from my spent hull to the very dead turkey. Otherwise, I would not have attempted the shot. But, since I was used to hunting thick woods here at home, and the wide open spaces of Texas fooled me, I thought the turkey was no more than about 55 yards. I knew the gun was effective that far, and I would not have attempted anything further had I not misjudged the distance. Well, maybe a little…
Be that as it may, because Preston was there, he asked to use my gun when we later traveled to New Mexico to hunt Merriams gobblers. And he had similar success, except the birds he shot weren’t quite as far, about 50 and 60 yards, respectively. Still, he was highly impressed, and Preston offered me three times the money I had paid for the gun some 20 years previous! No sale.
With that history of my old gun and its choke system in mind, you can see where I was skeptical about changing choke tubes. Out of courtesy, however, I gave the Strangler choke tube a try.
My first shots were fired from 40 yards, and both the Strangler and my choke had exactly the same number of shot in the kill zone of the target. “What am I going to tell the man?” I wondered. After all, he was so sure his choke tube would throw a better pattern than mine that I hated to disappoint him.
After 50 yards, there were only two pellets more in the kill zone with the Strangler than with my choke, not enough to make me switch. But things were about to change…drastically
.
At 70 yards, the Strangler showed its worth by putting twice as may pellets in the kill zone as did my choke tube. At 80 yards, there were even more.
What’s even more amazing to me about the Strangler is that extensive tests show it not only will throw a tighter pattern, but will also increase penetration up to 35-percent when shot from my gun.
The same is true for the Browning BPS invector, as well as Mossberg and Winchester, Beretta and Benelli (way out of my price range) penetration increased by 20 percent, while the Browning A5 Invector also increased by 25 percent.
In the end, my field test conclusion on the Strangler choke tube shows a marked advantage for long-range shots at turkeys. It’s funny, though, because the man never said a word about turkeys. He (being from Cajun country) was more interested in how far his choke would take down a duck, and he reported taking ducks at 80 yards. After shooting the Strangler, I believe it.
Don’t take my word, however, or his, for that matter. Try it yourself. Results, I’m sure will vary from gun to gun. But for those who want tighter patterns and more knockdown power, I think the Strangler is your best yet.
