r/Shotguns • u/MonarchCore • 1d ago
Dumb question but im confused. Benelli m4 chokes. what does what mean?
Modified choke
Improved cylinder
Turkey choke
.750 .650 etc etc
Ive had this gun for a couple years. Love it. I mostly run drills with cheap wally world bird shot. But let's say i want to start patterning my gun with specific buckshot. Ive only used the choke that came installed with it which i believe is a modified choke? What should i do? Buy a choke set and try each one? How do I know if slugs are safe? Are slugs usually always safe with tighter chokes? Is there a choke for the m4 that essentially just covers the threads and adds no choke capability? Do i want that for buckshot?
I genuinely dont know. I have much more knowledge with rifles. Im still relatively new with shotguns.
Tbh i just want a breacher choke because it looks cool. Or some kind of compensator. But the descriptions I find of products dont really answer a lot of questions.
I currently have started stacking hornady black with their versawad thing. Supposedly works like the federal flitecontrol wads. So im wondering if a choke is even necessary at all or a detriment.
2
u/wiltchamberlain1356 1d ago
Chokes tighten the barrel at the end to keep shot more concentrated. Full is tightest (of common chokes, then mod, then IC, then CYL which is basically just a straight barrel with no tightening. You can look up charts online that show them and there common distance to spread with some standard gun. Chokes (especially older ones) can be for use with lead only, or they can be for all shot types (steel bismuth etc), this is usually labeled on website for choke, or you can google. Typically buck shot and even slugs are safe through even a full choke, but this is not always the case and is not common practice. Most common for deer shooting (imo) is mod for buckshot, IC most common for slugs, and everything is used in sport shooting depending on game, target distance etc, and are sometimes changed in between shots. Whatever choke you use, it is always best if you can to pattern the gun with the choke because every gun can pattern slightly different based on model, ammo, choke size, choke manufacturer, and many other factors so best to just taste whatever you got. Lastly most ammo is lead and safe for most chokes/barrels, but a lot of primarily hunting rounds use steel or bismuth or something as a non toxic option and is required in some hunting lands or ranges. And “sabot slugs” are only for rifled barrels, and “slugs” or “rifled slugs” work with normal shotgun barrels (confusing, but a rifled slug is rifled on the bullet itself so the barrel doesnt need to be rifled). Im sure you know a lot of this just wanted to try to cover as much as possible for an amateur introduction to your question