20 gauge cylinder choke single shot good for anything?

it will kill anything within 25 to 30 yards same as a full choke. of small game i like a more open choke, u damage less and have better chance to hit game. remember most shotguns before 1900 where cyl bore, and them guys did not mind. i would pattern the gun, may be fine. lighter loads tend to pattern tighter for me, get some cheap remington small game shells with #6 shot and have fun.

By any chance, is this shotgun backbored?

If it is, then .618 at the muzzle may be some sort of choke constriction after all.

Maybe try patterning it.

If the manufacturer doesn't sort you out, you have two options really:

1) provided there is enough barrel material, you can have it threaded for screw in chokes. Not sure where you are but Mike Orlen in Amherst, MA will turn it around in about a week for $75-80 as I recall;

2) see how well the Federal Flight Control wad ammo patterns for you. That stuff seems to genuinely work at tightening patterns. If it does work, ie holds a tight enough pattern at the distances you intend, it'll take something like 20 boxes vs the cheapest target loads to match the cost of choke tube installation. So, well worth investigation.

I had a chopped 20ga that I used for a while. It wasn’t bad at anything honestly, it was just too light after being cut back to the legal limit. It would take rabbits and squirrels within reasonable range. I normally use #6 or #8 for those critters but on that gun I bumped up to 4s to pad my range a bit. I don’t think it was really necessary, but at the time I thought it made sense. I didn’t have problems with any shots except for the squirrel shots at the very tops of the big oaks, but it wasn’t hard to wait for them to come lower or have my buddy pop it with a .22. I actually miss the gun now and will be kinda replacing it this year. I say kinda as what I had was a H&R single, I will be replacing it with an older Mossberg bolt action as soon as I find one I’m willing to pay for. I want 20ga. I will chop it to about 20”. I see no reason to push the envelope on legality. The topper was a good 2-3/4” buck or slug gun, I’m hoping for the same in a bolt gun next.

Pattern the gun first.

Macchina said:

I got my new Iver Johnson folding 20 gauge in today. The site and every got dealer list it as a full choke which is why I got this one over all the other folding shotguns (plus it has a 24" barrel and some cool features).

I was cleaning grease off it and decided to check how full the choke is... Turns out not very: it measures 0.618", which is full open.

I emailed Iver Johnson but expect they don't know all these shotguns they've been selling are completely incorrectly choked. In case I got a dud I asked for a new barrel. Otherwise the gun is pretty amazing for the price.

So my question: would I be stupid to hunt squirrel and rabbit, with this gun? Rabbit I can see working out sometimes but many shots on them are 30 yards plus. I wanted the Shotgun for squirrel which is usually a 30-40 yard shot not moving much. I will of course pattern it if I decide to keep it, but I'm deciding that before I shot it. Any insight or ammo recommendations would be great!

Click to expand...

Go for it. I'd say the upper limit of my comfort zone with #8 shot is about 25 yards with a full choke. As others suggest I'd say move down to a 5 or 6 and you should be good to go. Hope you enjoy the new gun

Sovblocgunfan said:

Pattern the gun first.

Click to expand...

I agree with patterning the gun first. My experience has shown that modern shotgun ammo using the shot cup tend to provide a pattern somewhat smaller than older ammo before the shot cup became the standard. You might be surprised depending on the ammo used for your pattern testing.

In a situation such as yours I would definitely call them and not rely strictly on email.

Sovblocgunfan said:

Pattern the gun first.

Click to expand...

Yep, matters not what it says, it is all about how it patterns with your ammo

Seriously ? I have one and it has become my favorite deer gun of all time. It is light to carry, accurate , uses the way less expensive foster slugs and has taken every deer it has ever been pointed at. I have every intention of handing this one down to my grandson as soon as he comes of age.

LRDGCO said:

If the manufacturer doesn't sort you out, you have two options really:

1) provided there is enough barrel material, you can have it threaded for screw in chokes. Not sure where you are but Mike Orlen in Amherst, MA will turn it around in about a week for $75-80 as I recall;

2) see how well the Federal Flight Control wad ammo patterns for you. That stuff seems to genuinely work at tightening patterns. If it does work, ie holds a tight enough pattern at the distances you intend, it'll take something like 20 boxes vs the cheapest target loads to match the cost of choke tube installation. So, well worth investigation.

Click to expand...

another possibility is a jug choke - where you use a hone/reamer to enlarge the barrel about two inches back from the muzzle.

If it's a tube that throws lead out of the front, it has a use.

Seriously though, sounds like a small game tool.

FLNT4EVR said:

Seriously ? I have one and it has become my favorite deer gun of all time. It is light to carry, accurate , uses the way less expensive foster slugs and has taken every deer it has ever been pointed at. I have every intention of handing this one down to my grandson as soon as he comes of age.

Click to expand...

I hear ya Flint and could not agree more.