Are the Newer 1100's or 11-87's Reliable ?

[Claydust]

Clay dust
I just shot my Sportsman 12 Magnum last Saturday to make sure where the Pellets of the Winchester # 2 Steel Shot that I use are hitting,,when I shot the 2 3/4" shells it was a Good Pattern,But when I shot the 3" Magnum shells it did not pattern worth a darn !!! now my Sons Mossberg 9200 shot BOTH of these shells with a good Pattern

That's what I mean by "witchcraft", there seems to be little logic to this sort of thing. While my 1976 870TB doesn't do as well with Fed. GM 1 1/8 oz 1200 fps trap loads, my buddy's 870TN which is identical does Not a quality thing with my gun, it shoots a lot of other stuff very well.

This is why I check patterns of my various guns with loads I want to shoot in them, the game is tough enough without handicaping yourself.

what Choke do you use for Trap Shooting ?

I use a tight full in all my trap guns, with the exception of using Improoved Modified in the bottom barrel of my one o/u trap gun. I use the .041" Remchoke trap tube in the 1100 Classic Trap, using loads I know it shoots well.

If I shoot something that patterns like a true modified choke, I don't get solid breaks and can never tell if I an centering the target or hitting it with the edge of the pattern. It is tough to tell if I need to correct any technique errors. This set up is favored by a lot of trapshooters who have shoot 100's of thoughsands of targets.

We will sometimes start new shooters off with Mod. at 16 yards but IMHO, an experienced, compedative shooter shouldn't rely one edge of the slightly larger Mod. pattern to break targets, if they are, they are having other problems with consistant technique.

Clay dust I use my Modified Tube for Waterfowl Hunting,,to give me a little wider Pattern,,I think this weekend that I am going to put my Full Choke tube in and see how that shoots the 2 different sized shells ?

Yeah, hunting is a bit different, you shoot a larger, slightly slower moving target (abmittedly less predictable) so you don't need or want something that will vaporize a a very small disc. Wouldn't be too good to cook and serve up the result

Let me ask you this,,if I put in a DIFFERENT Modified Choke Tube in the SAME GUN that I am using,,will this make a difference in my Pattern and COULD IT change the POI of this gun JUST by changing Choke tubes of the same type

Yes, it could change the POI. It shouldn't if they are well made; I have not had this happen with any of my Remchoked guns using Remington tubes.

Conceivably I can change everything about my gun just by using 2 different Choke tubes,,even though they are BOTH Modified Tubes ???

Yeah, it can happen, again, the "witchcraft" thing. I used to own an Ithaca 37 Supreme Trap, it was too light to be a good trap gun so I bought a newer barrel with choke tubes, one of the last made before the Ithaca NY facility shutdown. I used it for sporting clays. I had two improoved cylinder tubes for it. I could not detect any differecne between the two, using a Vernier caliper, HOWEVER, one shot nice patterns with just about any load, the other shot a pattern of clumps of hits with holes in between almost so big a grouse could fly through them

It is good to check these things out before heading to the range, field or blind IMHO

[tudurgs]

ohiyesa - I would suggest that you not attempt to shoot #2 steel thru a full choke. Remember that steel is much harder than lead, and will pattern tighter. Steel in a modified choke will act like lead in a full choke. You might even want to try a more open choke