Chokes and ammo

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Brokenarrow1980
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Chokes and ammo

Unread postby Brokenarrow1980 » Thu May 18, 2023 1:31 am

I am considering trading in my mossberg and getting a winchester spx waterfowl hunter 28 inch barrel because it's supposedly shoots better patterns with a carlson rooster xr choke and rooster xr shells. 40% better out to 65 yards to be exact. Carlson also teamed up with winchester to make a long beard xr turkey choke which is supposed to be lights out good out of a winchester. They are claiming the invector plus choke system works the best but other guns will come close. I also seen Carlson makes a new dove choke so all my wing shooting needs are covered. I don't duck hunt but I'm sure they have a system for that to. Has anyone here ever tried these products???


It's all fun and games till someone looses an eye..... then its just fun
Evanszach7
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby Evanszach7 » Thu May 18, 2023 5:04 am

I shoot the Carlson Longbear XR out of my Tristar G2 Viper (24" barrel) for turkey. Could shoot out to 45-50 yards with Longbeard XR 3" #5. No complaints on the choke. With a 28" barrel your distance/ pattern should outperform my setup.
KRONIIK
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby KRONIIK » Thu May 18, 2023 1:03 pm

So what exactly are you trying to accomplish?
Hitting/killing flushed pheasants further out than you are currently able to?

What is your current Mossberg barrel choked?
Brokenarrow1980
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby Brokenarrow1980 » Fri May 19, 2023 11:45 am

Looking for range without throwing a baseball to 20 yards
It's all fun and games till someone looses an eye..... then its just fun
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby KRONIIK » Fri May 19, 2023 1:26 pm

Brokenarrow1980 wrote:Looking for range without throwing a baseball to 20 yards


Not sure that I quite understand?

What I mean is that it's not really possible to have good, bird-killing patterns at 55-65 yards without having that particular pattern be way too small to hit birds consistently inside 20 (and vaporize them if you do manage to get it on them.)
At least not all with the same barrel/choke/shotshell combination.
Every combination will have a fairly narrow "range of distances" in which it will work the best for a given type of bird or target.

Or am I misreading what you're saying?

I guess where I'm going with all that is that you probably don't need to dump a bunch of money into a whole new shotgun (unless you WANT to, of course.) ;)

What model and gauge is your current Mossberg, and what does it have for barrel length/choke?
Brokenarrow1980
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby Brokenarrow1980 » Fri May 19, 2023 1:49 pm

My point is that they make screw in chokes supposedly work well in any situation but that rooster xr paired with the ammo is supposed to be sweet at 20 and hold the pattern together out to 60. The long beard xr is supposed to be the same. I get it at 10 yards your gonna vaporize something especially with a aftermarket choke but I'm asking is the xr chokes that amazing out of a winchester shotgun that it's worth the money to ditch using 3 different guns to changing out chokes. If performance is that much better I will take the plunge and trade my other shotguns for a sxp waterfowl.
It's all fun and games till someone looses an eye..... then its just fun
Brokenarrow1980
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby Brokenarrow1980 » Fri May 19, 2023 1:55 pm

I use a remington 870 modified for dove. A Stevens semiautomatic for my pheasant hunting and a mossberg 500 with a MADD choke tube for turkey.
It's all fun and games till someone looses an eye..... then its just fun
KRONIIK
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby KRONIIK » Fri May 19, 2023 2:54 pm

Brokenarrow1980 wrote:My point is that they make screw in chokes supposedly work well in any situation but that rooster xr paired with the ammo is supposed to be sweet at 20 and hold the pattern together out to 60. The long beard xr is supposed to be the same. I get it at 10 yards your gonna vaporize something especially with a aftermarket choke but I'm asking is the xr chokes that amazing out of a winchester shotgun that it's worth the money to ditch using 3 different guns to changing out chokes. If performance is that much better I will take the plunge and trade my other shotguns for a sxp waterfowl.


I'd be very skeptical of such a claim, and would have to see the actual patterns for myself.
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby Brokenarrow1980 » Sat May 20, 2023 1:14 am

KRONIIK wrote:
Brokenarrow1980 wrote:My point is that they make screw in chokes supposedly work well in any situation but that rooster xr paired with the ammo is supposed to be sweet at 20 and hold the pattern together out to 60. The long beard xr is supposed to be the same. I get it at 10 yards your gonna vaporize something especially with a aftermarket choke but I'm asking is the xr chokes that amazing out of a winchester shotgun that it's worth the money to ditch using 3 different guns to changing out chokes. If performance is that much better I will take the plunge and trade my other shotguns for a sxp waterfowl.


I'd be very skeptical of such a claim, and would have to see the actual patterns for myself.



This is why I am asking if any fellow beasts played with this setup and is the hype real lol
It's all fun and games till someone looses an eye..... then its just fun
KRONIIK
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby KRONIIK » Sat May 20, 2023 1:18 am

Your inquiry piqued my curiosity enough to do a little "Youtube research".

So far what I've gathered is that the Winchester Rooster XR is evidently a pretty high-quality buffered load that puts out nice even patterns at longer distances; if choked down enough it can probably kill pheasants nicely to 55 or 60.
To me it appears that they have borrowed the idea of using both a shotcup and a Mylar sleeve around the lead payload combined with granular polyester shot buffer from us guys that have been handloading TSS (Tungsten Super Shot) for many years now.

But I didn't see any videos of anybody patterning them at both 20 AND 60 yards with the same choke.
I think the results would be fairly predictable. (Well-mangled birds at 20).

So I guess if I were you, I'd first start by grabbing a few boxes of that load, buying a 36-inch wide roll of (Builder's floor protective) paper and start throwing patterns at it with the guns and chokes you already have.

Don't dismiss anything based on what's stamped on a choke tube- actual results are the only thing that matters. In some barrels and with some loads an Improved Cylinder choke may actually shoot tighter patterns than a Full Choke tube from another manufacturer or in a different barrel, etc.

Shoot a lot of patterns at different distances, Draw ten-inch circles for turkeys and 30-inch circles for the other birds and start counting pellets and recording results.
I guarantee one thing-you'll learn more in two afternoons of that than you would in several years of hunting, and you'll be way ahead of the game this Fall when you head to the field.

Your testing may prove me wrong, but I think that that if you want to be really deadly on ducks and pheasants at both 20 and 55- 60 yards, you really need a double -barrel or over/under with two very different chokes in its' barrels.
Brokenarrow1980
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby Brokenarrow1980 » Sat May 20, 2023 2:26 pm

Well my local gun shop happend to be selling the sxp waterfowl on clearance for 300 bucks so I jumped on it being they normally are pushing 500. As time goes by I will collect a pile of chokes for it and will dial in setups for everything I hunt. Tinkering with these things is part of what makes life enjoyable!!!!
It's all fun and games till someone looses an eye..... then its just fun
KRONIIK
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby KRONIIK » Sun May 21, 2023 12:49 am

Brokenarrow1980 wrote:Well my local gun shop happend to be selling the sxp waterfowl on clearance for 300 bucks so I jumped on it being they normally are pushing 500. As time goes by I will collect a pile of chokes for it and will dial in setups for everything I hunt. Tinkering with these things is part of what makes life enjoyable!!!!

Wow; that's a good deal!
That shotgun is made in Turkey under the Winchester label and while it isn't a Benelli as far as internal fit and finish, it usually get's pretty good reviews by the folks that have one.
Brokenarrow1980
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Re: Chokes and ammo

Unread postby Brokenarrow1980 » Sun May 21, 2023 8:18 am

KRONIIK wrote:
Brokenarrow1980 wrote:Well my local gun shop happend to be selling the sxp waterfowl on clearance for 300 bucks so I jumped on it being they normally are pushing 500. As time goes by I will collect a pile of chokes for it and will dial in setups for everything I hunt. Tinkering with these things is part of what makes life enjoyable!!!!

Wow; that's a good deal!
That shotgun is made in Turkey under the Winchester label and while it isn't a Benelli as far as internal fit and finish, it usually get's pretty good reviews by the folks that have one.



For 315 out the door no complaints
It's all fun and games till someone looses an eye..... then its just fun


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