The tighter your choke, the further your pattern will travel so if you’re shooting high pheasants, your choke requirements would be very different to shooting skeet clays for example but more on that later. So why you would want tighten your shot pattern, wouldn’t that make targets harder to hit? Well yes, and no… This constriction makes the shot pattern tighter than what it would be if there was no choke used at all. How Shotgun Chokes WorkĪt the most basic level, a choke constricts the lead (or lead alternative) shot as it exits the barrel of the shotgun. What should you do? Ultimately, confidence and technique is what results in the most shot targets but using the correct choke in the right situation can give you an edge.

Ask the same 10 how they use choke and what their views are on using choke for different situations and you’ll probably end up with 10 completely different answers. What are Shotgun Chokes?Īsk this question to 10 different shooters and they’ll probably all give you a similar answer. If you’re looking to learn more about shotgun chokes and wish to equip yourself with the knowledge to select chokes suited to the different situations you’re likely to encounter in the field then read on.

Ithaca double barrel shotgun markings