Originally Posted by
beaglefan
I always thought waterfowlers used full chokes for more range... What constriction should i be looking for.
Also i talked to someone who said that ported chokes would reduce recoil but also reduce the power of the shot. Is this true?
"Full" will not necessarily mean a better/tighter pattern. It is not uncommon for larger steel shot to pattern better with less constriction. It's not uncommon for a full choke to work well either. I like carlsons chokes. They're affordable and I get more consistent patterns with them vs factory tubes. If I could only get one, it'd be the mid range. If I remember right, they're improved modified in constriction.
Your worry with a ported choke will be the noise.
For steel on geese, especially with longer shots, I prefer a 1.5oz load of BBBs at ~1500fps in the 3.5" 12ga.