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<  16ga. General Discussion  ~  Chokes for wild phesant hunting in an O/U ?
WABBIT-SLAYER
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 9:50 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 44

I have a 16ga. Citori that I use in S.D. for wild pheasant hunting. I use #5 shot in the bottom barrel & #4 shot in the top barrel, both 1&1/8 th oz. loads. We hunt with a combination of pointers & flushers. What chokes should I be using? I was using I.C. & Mod. this year but was wondering if L.M. & I.M. would be better?
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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:17 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
Posts: 2786
Location: Endless Mountains of Pa

Rabbit-Slayer,

All depends on how close your dogs are setting the birds for your gunning, if you are inside 35 yards when the birds go up you are fine with the chokes you have in now. If you are outside 35 yards when the action starts, you may want to go to M/F chokes.

Pine Creek/Dave
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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:29 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

It all depends on the bird behavior. When roosters sit tight, or you are willing to let the longer shots go until you get the easy ones, skeet or I/C for the first shot is great. When birds are just plain jumpy and it's long shots or nothing, I like I/M of Full for the first shot. Either way I lean toward having at least I/M for the second shot to seal the deal on a wounded bird or the other rooster that jumps further ahead at the sound of the gun.

I would back off on shot size a bit. Having spent decades experimenting with ammo and patterning guns, I have found that 16's just don't pattern 4's well enough at ranges beyond where 5's will get the job done. For that matter, only my 10 ga. and two of my 12's will do that either. Realistically, #5 lead will consistently do everything that a 16 ga. can be expected to do on roosters, and that's the key, shot to shot consistency rather than a miracle one shot and a disappointing cripple next time.

When birds hold tight enough for skeet or I/C, #6 or even #7 does the job on those birds out 20-30 yards. When hunting quail and pheasant in Nebraska and Kansas, I often load a 7 & a 6 when I don't know what will flush next.

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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:45 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
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Location: Endless Mountains of Pa

WyoChukar,

I agree good analysis!

Pine Creek/Dave
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Dogchaser37
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:53 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 08 Aug 2011
Posts: 1946
Location: Central CT

When shooting a single barrel 16 ga. shotgun on wild pheasants. 0.015" of choke (light modified).

When shooting an O/U on the same birds 0.010" (I/C) and 0.020 (modified)".

1 1/8 oz. of 6's

I use the above all the time since about 1993. I have tried 4's and never could get the pattern density with a 16. I have also tried 5's but unless I went to 1 1/4 oz. loads I never really liked them either.

I have killed some long birds with #6's so I stick with them.


I agree with Wyochukar.....when I am not sure if it's quail or pheasants #7 shot for the first load.

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hayseed
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 11:26 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 14 Feb 2017
Posts: 401

Pine Creek, that is one fine looking shotgun.
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Hootch
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 3:57 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 28 Mar 2008
Posts: 1460
Location: Eagle, Nebraska

I have skeet and LM in mine. Often get bird pointed and is closer, sometimes maybe they are a bit jumpy. All depends on situation or conditions.
If it is real warm out, birds likely to run and be skiddish, so maybe IC/mod better choice, with snow and cold, often will see a lot of wild flushers, but then there are those who sit tight, and the skeet LM combo will clean them up.
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cowdoc87
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:29 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 20 Jun 2006
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Location: Kelso, Tennessee

Too many variables to make a recommendation worth following, but I/c 6 shot on first shot and mod 5’s on follow up in average conditions should be fine. On warm, windy, late season birds, something that shoots out to 200 yards might work better. Strategy, persistence, wise dog work, and a little luck will be bigger factors than shot and choke size. Have fun and good luck.

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df
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 7:33 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 01 Oct 2007
Posts: 962
Location: Minnesota

I also hunt wild pheasants with a 16 over under.
I never use #4 shot in my 16 ga. I usually use #6 and later in season maybe some #5.
Choke wise I think we can over think that issue. I use ic and mod and if I do my job, the pheasant is dead.
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Soggy socks
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 11:51 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 26 Apr 2016
Posts: 369
Location: Vermont

We hunted in South Dakota again this year with pointers and flushers not the ideal combo. I used my 16 Citori with a Tru lock Skeet in the bottom barrel and a LM in the top. Fiocchi golden Pheasant 5"s in both worked fine rarely had to use the LM. It was opening weekend though, if anything for later I would use Lm in the bottom and IM in the top.
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hiplainsdrifter
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 3:30 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 09 Jan 2017
Posts: 50

As others said, lose the 4 shot. The pellet count is terrible. The only time I would use 4 shot is when I know the birds will flush CLOSER, and then in a pretty open choke. I have found 1 1/8 oz 5 shot to be extremely versatile on wild pheasants, as well as sharpies, etc. Specifically the Fiocchi GPs are producing well for me. I can cleanly take a bird at 40 yards with those loads. Gun is choked Skeet 2 under Modified, and I regularly take birds at longer ranges with the Skeet 2. I would avoid overchoking. When patterning I found that my full choke actually patterned worse than modified at longer distances. The 6 shot 1 1/8 oz is definitely the most versatile load I have found to cover anything from huns to sage grouse, but 5 shot does better on tough pheasants at longer ranges for sure.
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WyoChukar
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 6:37 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 16 Jul 2015
Posts: 2124
Location: Hudson,Wy

Good point about full choke. My Fox Sterlingworth was allegedly mod/full. It measures and patterns much tighter though. The left (tight) barrel actually patterned more open with 5's than the right (more open) barrel did, a true case of over-choking for sizes larger than #7. The right barrel produced solid patterns at 50 yards with 1 1/8 oz. of magnum lead 5's moving at about 1200 fps. I reamed the "full" choke until it was only .008" tighter than the so called "mod" barrel. After this, it patterned higher percentages than the right barrel. In reality, this gun is full/ x-full and does great with wild flushing birds.

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Riflemeister
PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 5:50 am  Reply with quote
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Most of my SXS's have screw in chokes and when I head west for the wild birds, I put in the LtMod/ IMod chokes and shoot Fiocchi GP #6's for grouse and partridge and #5's for pheasant. Around home on the preserves and field trials, I shoot SK/IC on the quail, and IC/Mod on pheasant.

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castnblast
PostPosted: Sun Dec 23, 2018 4:47 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 28 May 2008
Posts: 84

My last order of Precision Reloading's nickel plated #6 pellet count was 197-200/ oz. That's right on 5 1/2. My Kansas/ Nebraska load has been 1 1/16 oz nickel plated 7"s and the second barrel the 5 1/2's unless I was hunting singles.
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Little Creek
PostPosted: Sun Dec 23, 2018 7:39 pm  Reply with quote
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Joined: 21 Feb 2005
Posts: 367
Location: Anchorage, AK

It matters when you are hunting during the season and also whether you have a pointing dog or a flusher. In a 16 gauge double I use #5 and #6 on wild pheasant. Either 1 ounce or 1-1/8 ounce. My guns are IC (.008) and IM (.021) and Skeet II (.010) and Full (.026). I have spaniels which are usually out 15-25 yards for their flushes.

I use these guns and two others (16 and a 12) in dog training and on sharptails. Then use #6, 7, or 7-1/2 shot.
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