Choke Tubes Explained

A choke tube is an attachment that screws on to the end of a shotgun barrel. The purpose of the choke tube is to contract the target area of the shot by restricting the individual pellets within the wad of the cartridge. Essentially, contracting the wad keeps the pellets contained within a tighter area.

  1. Accuracy at greater distance

    • The first and most obvious advantage of choke tubes is that they allow greater accuracy at greater distance. The pellets in each shot disperse much less with a choke than without one, and keep in a closer cluster as they travel through the air toward the target. As a result, the groups shot from a shotgun with a choke are much tighter than those from a shotgun without a choke tube.

    Greater impact power

    • The choke tube also provides greater impact power, and therefore more killing power for shots at game at any range. The reason for this increase is that the choke restricts dispersal in all three dimensions: thus, the group of each shot is not only smaller, but it also hits the target closer together in time. If an average shot stream--the spread length of shot traveling through the air--is 10 to 12 feet, a choke tube can reduce that length by 10 percent or more, resulting in a more simultaneous and direct impact.

    Types of choke tubes

    • The distinction between the types of choke tubes is basic and depends on how much each constricts the pellets of each shot. The simplest is called an improved cylinder, and changes the flight of the shot the least, marginally tightening the cluster. A modified choke is the intermediate choke type. A full choke offers the tightest clusters and greatest effective range.

    Spray

    • The disadvantage of choke tubes is that you lose some of the advantage of using spray shot in the first place. At short and intermediate range, a fully choked shotgun is less likely to hit the target because the shot is constricted to a small area. For many short range shots, such as those available to hunters in heavy brush, a shotgun with no choke, with its wider radius of fire, is a better option.

    Necessity of choke tubes

    • For many newer shotguns that come equipped with the threading at the end of the barrel, choke tubes are necessary. If you shoot your shotgun without some choke tube attached, you can destroy the threading in the barrel and make it impossible to use any choke in the future. To protect the threads with minimal modification of your shot type, use an improved cylinder.