Choke tubes for coyotes
03-17-2015, 03:55 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Illinois
Posts: 282
Choke tubes for coyotes
I've been coyote hunting for a few years now, but I've always used a rifle. I just started getting a remington 870 set up, due to a few close encounters where I found my rifle to be slightly less than handy. I was just wondering what kind of choke tubes people were using for best performance on coyotes and at what ranges. I recently saw some Primos Tight Wad turkey tubes on sale, and I was wondering if one of them might do the trick.
Al
03-18-2015, 09:25 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,902
HNI Predator Hunting Reference Section: Shotgun Loads and chokes for Coyotes Thread
Check out this thread in the Predator Hunting Reference section here. I ran out some of my experiences with different loads and chokes, and other users have given their advice and experiences there too.
The short version of that thread is this: there are multiple load and choke combinations that work for coyotes, but you need to find a proper combination of the two to work together. Big shot needs a big choke, smaller shot can benefit from a tighter choke.
I've used the Primos Tight Wad for coyotes, only because I own one to use for Turkeys (for which it is great with any #5 shot I patterned, hit and miss with #4). It ONLY patterns well with smaller shot, #4 buck gives me holes in my patterns with the Tight Wad, and anything larger only gets worse. Additionally, smaller shot ONLY works reliably for coyotes at any substantial range with heavier-than-lead options like the Winchester Xtended Range Coyote B shot, or Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote T shot. Lead shot from T shot on down patterns great out of the Tight Wad, but the killing power at range just isn't there. I'll say this now to avoid any flaming BS that might come back: Despite the marketing ads out there, nothing is reliable on coyotes at 70yrds, even if the patterns are decent. At the other end, ANY SHOT LOAD will kill one at 25yrds. Small shot in lead or plated turkey loads dofine to 30-40yrds. But you can get an honest 55-60yrd RELIABLE load out of #4 buck fired through a 0.670-.680" choke.
After that experience, I really wouldn't recommend the Tight Wad as a coyote choke unless you're ok with feeding it really expensive ammo. I pay $1-1.50 per shot with Federal or Remington #4 buck loads, whereas the Hevi-Shot or the Winchester Bismuth loads are $3-5 per shot.
Spending too much on ammo to feed it kinda destroys any savings that you had by buying the choke on sale.
If you're a turkey hunter and could use the choke for that too, then give it a try. You might get lucky and #4 buck will shoot ok through yours. Anything larger is very unlikely to do well at all, so if you're wanting to shoot plain jane 00 buck, skip the tight wad. I haven't done well with mine even with #4 buck, but maybe yours will sneak by. Chokes in the 0.667 to 0.680" ballpark tend to give me the best patterns with the #4 buck that I like to shoot. Anything larger needs a larger choke.
Here's a snap of some of my "coyote killing options" for my 12ga. Largest to tightest from L to R, and they let me choose from 000 buck down to Winchester X-tended Range Coyote B shot.
And of course, the flame thrower itself:
Check out this thread in the Predator Hunting Reference section here. I ran out some of my experiences with different loads and chokes, and other users have given their advice and experiences there too.
The short version of that thread is this: there are multiple load and choke combinations that work for coyotes, but you need to find a proper combination of the two to work together. Big shot needs a big choke, smaller shot can benefit from a tighter choke.
I've used the Primos Tight Wad for coyotes, only because I own one to use for Turkeys (for which it is great with any #5 shot I patterned, hit and miss with #4). It ONLY patterns well with smaller shot, #4 buck gives me holes in my patterns with the Tight Wad, and anything larger only gets worse. Additionally, smaller shot ONLY works reliably for coyotes at any substantial range with heavier-than-lead options like the Winchester Xtended Range Coyote B shot, or Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote T shot. Lead shot from T shot on down patterns great out of the Tight Wad, but the killing power at range just isn't there. I'll say this now to avoid any flaming BS that might come back: Despite the marketing ads out there, nothing is reliable on coyotes at 70yrds, even if the patterns are decent. At the other end, ANY SHOT LOAD will kill one at 25yrds. Small shot in lead or plated turkey loads dofine to 30-40yrds. But you can get an honest 55-60yrd RELIABLE load out of #4 buck fired through a 0.670-.680" choke.
After that experience, I really wouldn't recommend the Tight Wad as a coyote choke unless you're ok with feeding it really expensive ammo. I pay $1-1.50 per shot with Federal or Remington #4 buck loads, whereas the Hevi-Shot or the Winchester Bismuth loads are $3-5 per shot.
Spending too much on ammo to feed it kinda destroys any savings that you had by buying the choke on sale.
If you're a turkey hunter and could use the choke for that too, then give it a try. You might get lucky and #4 buck will shoot ok through yours. Anything larger is very unlikely to do well at all, so if you're wanting to shoot plain jane 00 buck, skip the tight wad. I haven't done well with mine even with #4 buck, but maybe yours will sneak by. Chokes in the 0.667 to 0.680" ballpark tend to give me the best patterns with the #4 buck that I like to shoot. Anything larger needs a larger choke.
Here's a snap of some of my "coyote killing options" for my 12ga. Largest to tightest from L to R, and they let me choose from 000 buck down to Winchester X-tended Range Coyote B shot.
And of course, the flame thrower itself:
03-22-2015, 04:42 PM
#5
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Illinois
Posts: 282
Thanks for the info. It looks like I'm gonna be working up some loads to test with the choke tubes I already have. It might be a few weeks, but I'll report back as soon as I get a chance to do some testing.
