choke for ML shotgun.

[shop hermit]

About 10 years ago stopped by at Dixie gun works on my way to Georgia and they had a batch of Belgain smooth=-bore barrels. I bought one and made a little ML shotgun out of it. It's pretty close to 20 gauge...about .610. Anyway, I patterned it and it has a pretty loose pattern. At first I tried my hand at putting a jug choke in it with a hone, but I could see right away it was going to be a long drawn-out process, so I gave it up and haven't used it much since. Yesterday I had ocasion to cut a piece of 1 in. tubing with my old fashioned pipe cutter....The kind with two rollers and a thin rolling blade. That got me to thinking....what if I were to make a third roller and replace the cutting wheel with it. I would have a tool that could be used to swage the end of my shotgun barrel. Anybody ever heard of doing that, and what were the results?




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[JonnyReb3]

Is a pretty good idea, a big set of Rigid pipe cutters with a third(wider) roller. I like it. Probably would work fine with any of the softer barrels. Would have to modify the tool somewhat but no big deal there. Tapering the rollers would be even better. Look forward to others thoughts on this, but seems like a good idea to me. Would go very gradually and test pattern plenty inbetween sessions of "choking". I'd also use digital micrometer or such to check progress. I'm sure theres a thousand and one better ways to choke a smoothbore but short of shipping it off to someone who knows what their doing i can't think of any better idea than yours :grin:

 

[bubba.50]

I can tell ya right now it can be done but, I can also tell ya it's a good way to ruin a barrel. if ya go through with this plan go glacially slow. you'd be surprised how little it takes to bust a shotgun barrel. it's also easy to get it out of round and/or off-center. I've seen hundreds of rolled barrel guns at shotgun "shootin' matches" here in the southeast & I can also tell ya it'll be noticeable that it's been done even across a large crowded room. anyway, luck to ya & have a good'en, bubba.

 

[Col. Batguano]

If you constrict the muzzle like a modern choke you will have to use undersize wads. An alternative would be to thread it for modern replacement chokes, and install them. But, you will need to take them out and replace them for each loading. That wouldn't be that big of a deal in a hunting gun that you only shoot a few times each trip (or some times not at all) but sure would be if you wanted to do a bunch of shooting.

A really ugly alternative would be to install a modern poly-choke on it that you could twist to load, and then twist back down to shoot. If you do that you'd better get fitted to put a bag over your head each time you go to the range. You won't want anyone to recognize you. Be safe. Wear two!

The best alternative is to send it to Danny Caywood at Caywood Guns to have him jug choke it for you. He takes about a week, and charges $95 a barrel. (He does not do barrels smaller diameter than 20 gauge.) That way you know it will be done right. For a full choke he needs to remove about .015" of metal. Not a lot.

 

[F.G. Ford]

Hi,
I have jug choked barrels, and it is an easy operation.
It does not alter the appearance of the barrel.
The only consideration is that the barrel must be thick enough to allow for removal of .015-.020"
It does give good results, and does not hamper shooting round ball.
Fred

 

[Dave Marsh]

I am with the jug choking. :thumbsup: Had a TC New Englander 12 gauge with the screw in chokes. A real pain in my opinion. Sold it and went to a 20 gauge NE Fowler and had that jug choked by Danny Caywood. Great turkey gun. Would never go back to the screw in chokes. Too much trouble.

Dave

 

[Flintlock58]

I also vote for jug choking. Ive done it twice on thick barrels with brake hones. Read up on the methods and GO SLOW. or have a professional like Mr. Caywood do the job. I think it would be $95 well spent.

 

[Rifleman1776]

There are tools that swage shotgun barrels down to smaller diameters. The tools are expensive, especially for a one time use. Plus, you would ruin the gun. Loading wads through a constriction is difficult. Undersize wads defeat the purpose. A cylinder bore that is well polished should give good patterns for ml ranges. Other than that a jug choke is the way to go.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

A bit of old school speak here.

There is no question that a jug choke or constriction choke will works fine.

The greater question is, do you want to use a muzzleloader with its inherent limitations or do you want to throw modern technology at it?

I good friend of mine has a turkey choked inline that will place 1 ½ oz. of shot cupped lead into a 6” circle at 25 yards. It will reach out and touch a Turkey at 40 yards. All I will say is it loads from the muzzle. :hmm:

 

[shop hermit]

Thanks for all the input. Sounds like the negatives outweigh the positives. Like I said, I did originally try jug choking it with a brake hone and gave up on it as too tedious,which is why I was wondering about swageing it. I would also like to be able to shoot PRB, so I guess that pretty much rules out the constriction choke. Also not sure if there is enough metal thickness for a jug choke. Tomorrow I'll measure and see just how thick the barrel wall is at the muzzle.

 

[shop hermit]

Just went to the shop and measured the barrel thickness at the muzzle....only about '065.



Just went out to the shop and measured the barrel thickness at the muzzle....only about .065. Don't think I'd feel comfortable about taking .020 out of that for a jug choke. Guess I'll just have to experiment some with loads, wads and shot to see what works best and be happy with what I have.

 

[Col. Batguano]

That's probably enough wall thickness to do it. Why don't you call Danny to ask his opinion? Pressures are lowest near the muzzle anyway.

When we cut barrel lugs or sights, we like to have a minimum wall thickness of .010 between maximum depth of the the cut out and the bore. Of course, that's in only one thin line where it's that thin, and has a bunch of metal around it to support the thin spot. And it gets the lug put back over it to give it a bit of external reinforcement too. But the pressures are higher closer to the breach than they are at the muzzle.