16ga.com ~ View topic - Screw In Chokes for 16 Gauge CZ-USA Ringneck

Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 419

Anyone try to put screw in chokes in a 16 gauge Ringneck? Mike Orlon needs the bore Diameter to tell me if he can do it and I do not have a bore gauge for a 16 to measure back from behind the fixed chokes.

Thanks, Bob

Joined: 15 Jun 2010 Posts: 1358 Location: Twin Cities, MN

He needs the bore diameter and the wall thickness at the thinnest point. Can't just compare yours to another CZ as there is variation between barrels. You need to have someone who knows what they are doing measure your gun. A local gunsmith should be able to do this. Otherwise, a local machine shop can surely do this.
Good luck,
Jeff

Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 419

Thanks Jeff,

Might just spend the money on shipping and send the barrel to Mike and see what he says.

Wonder how much I would hurt the value of the gun if I just had the chokes opened to Cylinder and Skeet?

Bob

Member Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 1863 Location: Wisconsin

Having a Bobwhite myself, I'd be interested to know how this turns out.

Bob,

I'd highly doubt it would hurt the value of a CZ Ringneck if you did Cyl and Skeet chokes. It would increase the value in my eyes. I've had Orlen take my Sterlingworth 16 out to .005 and .010. Sometimes I wish it were .003 and .007. My AyA 4/53 20 ga. is .004 and .007, I think, and that has been enough choke even for sharptails. A really safe bet for re-sale is IC and Mod, with judicious use of spreader loads to open patterns or buffered loads to tighten them as needed. Also Mike Campbell's pattern-influencing techniques are instructive. Anyway, I'm not a choke tube guy anymore. You can pretty much get anything you want out of IC if you load your own.

And Reno is completely right when he says:

Joined: 15 Jun 2010 Posts: 1358 Location: Twin Cities, MN

I once read somewhere that an excellent way to choke an upland gun in any gauge is 0.005" and 0.015". In a 12 and 16 gauge this gives you about skeet/light mod. In a 20 this is tight skeet/mod. In a 28 gauge you get improved cylinder/improved modified and in a .410 you have improved cylinder/light full. This gives you a relatively open barrel and a tighter barrel without it being too tight. I have had several 12 and 16 gauge guns choked this way and found them to be fabulous in the field and on the clays course. Not much I can't do with a gun like that. i find that in the field a well centered shot on a bird under 35 yards with a modified choke in a 12 or 16 gauge can turn them into burger. Note I said a well centered shot.
With open chokes you still have a good core to your pattern even at longer ranges. The trick is to hit the bird with the center, or core, of your pattern. Mr. Smoke happens to be a heck of a wing shot so he can make use of the core of his open chokes out on the prairie. A tighter choke does give you more shot in the core, but more importantly it fills in the outer fringe of your pattern at longer range. This lets you hit a bird hard with the outer part of your pattern at range.
So, open chokes improve the odds of hitting a close bird for a mediocre or not highly skilled shooter. They decrease the odds of killing a bird at longer range for the same shooter. More likely to wound them. A highly skilled shooter can use open chokes as suggested above because he's hitting birds with the core of his pattern. Tight chokes do allow you to kill birds at long range, if you have the ability to hit them squarely. Few people can do this reliably. The 0.005/0.015 chokes in an upland gun seems to be a good compromise for shooters of all ability levels. If you discipline yourself to keeping all your shots to 30 yards and under, and most of us should do this, then an open choked gun with something like 0.003" and 0.010" would work fabulous.
Chokes and loads are fun to think about and discuss with other shooters, but knowing how to shoot well trumps all this other stuff.
Keep it simple,
Jeff

Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 419

Thanks guys, after all the input and some more from other sites, I think I will probably just have the chokes opened a little.

Bob

I had Briley install thinwalls in my 16 gauge Ringneck. They also trued the barrel diameter of one tighter tube.

I am quite pleased with the job done and the performance of the chokes.

I am not concerned about the value of the gun-BUT I DO HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE OVERALL QUALITY OF THE SHOTGUN ITSELF. I have shot perhaps 2,500 rounds thru it and it is displaying mechanical problems firing the 2nd barrel. I hope this is not a typical problem!

I hope that they can repair under Warranty--or worst case, repair it at a reasonable cost. Will get with them after the Holidays.

I doubt that I would spend the extra $$$ again for an entry level SxS again.

Member Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 1863 Location: Wisconsin

Hi Hal, good luck with CZUSA. Looking forward to a full report. Reno

Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 419

I have not yet patterned the gun, but will both measure the restrictions in the barrels as many have commented on having CZ barrels with fixed chokes different than listed. Then I will pattern it. All 5 of my SxSs will probably only get shot a few times a year for fun, so I am not so worried about it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Bob

Member Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 1863 Location: Wisconsin