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Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1309 Location: Western WA

We are entertaining the notion of ordering a pair of Trulock extended Invector tubes for the Citori, mostly for skeet. At first blush, it seems a bit pointless to upgrade factory skeet tubes to Trulock. Can skeet patterns really be improved? Maybe there is a reason for it.

Anyone have anything to report on them? And ported vs plain?

TIA
B.

Joined: 09 Feb 2015 Posts: 821

Years ago I had Briely make me a full length pair of titanium 28 ga tubes for my 26" 325 citori to shoot on skeet. I also shot a lot of sporting clay with it. Chokes are screwing. I did this to also get more use for the 16. I don't think briely makes full lgt titanium tubes anymore. Not sure though. I haven't shot neither game for years since I got my 32" citori 16. Shoot mainly trap games and don't have time or money for any other shooting.

Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 419

I assume you are talking about extended Choke Tubes only and not Full length, change gauge tubes. For sure chokes will affect your pattern, but if you already have SKEET and you are just considering an Extended SKEET choke, I think you will find that there is little or no difference unless the restriction between the two are different. SKEET I vs. SKEET II etc.

Bob

I went with extended chokes mostly for ease of removal & identification. It’s also slightly easier to clean & grease the threads.

I use Brileys, so the comparison may not be adequate with Trulock.

The pattern change is slight, if at all, depending on the constriction. I tend to lean toward “inconclusive” in the more open chokes. After testing a few I became very disinterested in doing a full blown pattern test with all the loads I use, just to have a warm fuzzy over an average of a few pellets thrown at a grouse, through leaves, bushes & what have you. That said, the tighter Briley constrictions “seemed” to perform better “on average”. Enough that should I have stock chokes in the gun before I go duck or turkey hunting, I would change to Brileys.

There’s just too many variables in a shotshell to really tell the difference between a Browning choke & aftermarket for the same constriction, IMHO.

Like C16 said ! Like my Brileys extended's for my 28ga Red Label for the reasons he stated . It;s easier to manipulate a skeet LOAD if you really feel the need .

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2349 Location: West MI

Depends on the the goal/s; performance, easy change out, identification, looks cool, do you change barrels/constriction for out going & incoming, etc. I switch barrels for specific in or out targets.

My bores are 0.667. The tubes I use for short range games are;

OEM Browning, blued, flush; Cyl .673, IC .662, full length conical restriction similar to Colonial's
OEM Browning, stainless/silver, flush; Skt .660, 1/2" parallel muzzle restriction similar to Trulock's.
Trulock ext, Skt1, .665
Trulock ext, Skt2, .655
OLD Trulock, stainless/silver, flush, Skt, .660

For Skeet I generally use .660/blunderbuss .673...helps with low gun #8.

I find conical chokes produce a more open pattern than parallel all else equal.

IMO, ported chokes are worthless, offer no performance bene's, cost more and are generally louder than non ported especially to the fellow shooter's next you on a line or in a blind.

Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 1309 Location: Western WA

Yes, I was inquiring about screw in chokes, not full length tubes, but the latter are also interesting as I need a more suitable 28 for skeet than the tiny CZ SxS 28 that proved nearly impossible to swing at the crossing targets.

B.

Member Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 601 Location: Virginia

I bought a pair of Trulock skeet chokes after acquiring my 2021 White Lightning, as the three OEM chokes were F, M, and IC. They add a couple inches to the barrel. I can't say whether they're any better or worse than any other choke brand. My scores didn't go down or up compared to using the IC and M chokes. I load 3/4 oz No. 8.5 shot for both trap and skeet. I get a bit of cheek slap with heavier shot loads, but it doesn't bother me since I rarely get more than a few shots at game.