Shotgun chokes and slugs

[BigT]

Ok , so a question here.
I've got a Beretta 1301 comp, do I require chokes to shoot slugs or SSG/LG?

You have to check your gun and your ammo to see what gives best results.

Some buck responds very badly to tight chokes. Some very well.

[driepootx]

[BBCT]

I think one should be a little more careful here.....

Conventional wisdom is that with a Brenneke type slug, it is almost certainly safe to fire in a full choke because it has those spiral ribs that are designed to deform through a choke. Personally I'd be hesitant to do it with my favourite expensive over/under but I'd happily do it with a full choke "working gun". Obviously they'll be fine in looser chokes. Brennekes are probably the type of slug you're most likely to encounter.

There are however other types of slug of which Forster type is probably the next most common. Some Forster type slugs have ribs but some don't have any ribs at all, so are difficult to deform and your barrel would see it as a solid cylinder. Personally I wouldn't fire these through a full choke on any gun without testing but I'd be happy firing them through unchoked or loosely choked barrels.

Very occasionally, you might also encounter solid lead spherical (ball) slugs. I also wouldn't fire these through a full choke on any gun but would happily fire them through loosely choked barrels.

If I was shooting slugs on a regular basis I would cut a cartridge open and manually test how easily the slug fits through the barrel (or the choke if removeable)

Above comments apply to lead slugs. Any slug made of brass/copper/anything else harder than lead would also require testing.

Also be aware that the actual internal diameter of, say a full choke, may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer as choke is normally measured as a restriction rather than as an absolute measurement. This is best illustrated by an example: Nominal bore size of a 12ga is about 18.5mm but actual bore size can vary from about 18mm to about 20mm in extreme cases. A full choke restriction is about 0.9mm. Taking the worst case scenario, this means that actual diameter of full choke could theoretically vary between approx 18-0.9 = 17.1mm and 20-0.9 = 19.1mm. Fairly obviously this could make a huge difference to the pressure & punishment the barrel would see, especially if the slug is of a type that doesn't deform easily. In real life it is unlikely to be this bad, but I would still be careful and test.