is more expensive, better

[sugarray]

I have decided, after much debate, to purchase an 870 express supermag with 26 in barrel over the 835 ulti-mag grand slam turkey.
SO. .  .  .
I am using my brother's 870 express with 21" barrel.  I bought and killed my turkey using an Undertaker .675 choke with 2.75 in shells, 1 1/4 oz of #6.  Now I have a Tight wad .660 which has bettered my density at 40 yrds, but only got 35 pellets at 40 yds.  I will have an 870 express, 26 in barrel next year.  Does a more expensive choke, Pure Gold, Indian Creek, make a difference even it is still .660?

[thundrchikin]

I have shot a 870 express for several years and have had a lot of success with a comp-n-choke .660 in a 28" barrel.I shoot 3" Win HV #4 or #5 both shoot very well for me.This combo will put between 110-130 pellets in a 10" circle at 40yds with either shot size.Hope this helps and good luck.

[dawei]

[color="#0000ff"]Well I bought an expensive, (for me @ $55.95), SWARM® choke, for my 20ga and it improved Lead (Pb) patterns by leaps & bounds; and it that respect I am VERY PLEASED.[:)] When it came to Hevi•Shot™ however, and in particular Hevi13™, I was VERY DISAPPOINTED.[:'(] [color="#ff0000"]You pay your money & take your chances. [/color][/color]

[NEbeardhunter21]

I think the load might have more of an affect on the pattern than the choke. I also use an 870 and still use the stock turkey choke that came with the gun. Right after I bought my gun I got my undies in a bunch thinking I needed a new (expensive) choke. Then I found the right turkey load for my gun/choke combo and am just fine with what I have. Maybe someday I will explore different chokes but for now I'm cleanly killing birds at 40 yds and am happy with it

[Jim Spencer]

In my experience, the cost of your choking system doesn't have much to do with the density of your pattern. I just did a quick mental recount, and to the best of my memory I've killed turkeys with more than 30 12-gauge shotguns, choked with just about every system known to modern man. And I'd have to say the one that threw the tightest pattern was an old full-choke single-barrel Stevens hammer gun that belonged to my grandfather. It only had a 2-3/4 inch chamber, but that thing threw an absolutely devastating pattern with Winchester Hi-V lead 5s. It wasn't as impressive with Federal or Remington shells (although the pattern with those shells was plenty good enough,) but with the black shells it would just obliterate the 10-inch circle at 40 yards - 150-plus pellets on average.

That's an unusual circumstance, I guess, but there it is anyway. The only reason I'm not still shooting that gun is because it has too much sentimental value to hunt with - and also because my stingy old uncle, who has a generation's better claim to the gun than I do, won't let me.

I guess the point is that there's a lot more than dollars and choke measurement that's involved with creating a consistent, tight pattern: barrel length, barrel smootness, length of the forcing cone, shot size, shell velocity, shell brand, blahblahblahblah. How you hold your mouth when you pull the trigger, for all I know about it. The trick is to try different combinations of all the above variables. find a combination that works for you, and then stick with it and quit trying to perfect the imperfectible.

In the end, every time you pull the trigger of a shotgun you're setting in motion a random, unpredictable act, and the best we can do is try to put together a shotsize-gun-shell brand-choke size-whatver that will minimize that unpredictability.   

[mark hay]

Da'gum it ,,,I wish'd I could speak da kings english like Mr.SPENCER.