what application is a 26in bbl fixed IMP CYL good for?

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Trap up close, maybe to 18-20 yards if you are a quick shot, type of shell will also determine how tight your patterns are. Pheasant would be close in to medium flushing birds, again better target shells will have a better pattern and density. Past 30-35 yards to kill shot might be stretching it.
 
Over and under or side by side improved cylinder with modified is good for upland birds and rabbits. In my experience improved cylinder does the job best for most game shots. Modified a bit better if the game has to be reached out to.

Modified and full choke can tear up a lot of meat. If I had to compromise on one choke it would be modified. With two barrels no question. Improved cylinder for the first shot and modified second.
 
For quite a few years I used an 870 with a 26 inch IC barrel for just about everything. Hundreds of ducks and pheasant, at least a couple dozen deer and a few grouse.
I still use an improved cylinder probably 90 percent of the time for pheasant and half the time for ducks.
 
With a fixed i/c choke, patterns can be made tighter with 4 things.
1. Magnum or plated shot.
2. Add a plastic buffer to the reloads or buy premium shell with a buffer.
3. Lower velocity seems to deform shot less on firing. Round shot = tighter patterens.
4. Shoot one size smaller pellet , 6s instead of 5s. More shot, load up to 2 oz of shot in a 3" 12ga.

A choke marked i/c doesnt guarantee that pattern.
 
My go-to shotgun has a 26" barrel. The IC tube is the one that spends the most time in the gun. For what I do it is the most versatile. Inside of 25-30 yards patterns are tight enough to kill anything. It only becomes a handicap beyond about 30 yards, and the only thing I'd take shots that far on would be turkey. The way I see it I'd rather have the larger pattern to improve my hit probability at the ranges where I'm most likely to actually get a shot. The longer the shot, the lower the probability of making a hit regardless of the choke.

For waterfowl and when using steel shot an IC gives the best patterns most of the time. You should never use anything tighter than modified when using steel shot anyway. The only time I felt handicapped with IC was pass shooting geese. And those opportunities were much more rare than typical shots at much closer ranges as birds came in to decoys.

Even when shooting clay games IC is the one I use most. The 2nd most used is the skeet tube for close shots. I will occasionally put in a modified tube if dove are flying high or for certain shots in sporting clays. Full is almost never used. When turkey hunting I usually skip past the factory full choke for an aftermarket extra full. But with careful shot shell selection even IC is usable for turkey. You just don't have quite as much effective range.
 
Seems like I remember during the days of fixed chokes that most shotguns off the shelf came with a 26" barrel Imp Cyl, or a 28" with a modified choke. There were others of course in the mix, but that's my memory of the everyday guns you could buy at the hardware store. Some got the 26" imp cyl for bird guns, others bought the 28" modified for other uses. Either worked pretty good if you held up your end of operating them well.
 
Quail hunting. Duck hunting over decoys in a decent spot. The IC is perfect with lead for upland work. IC will shoot steel like modified shoots lead for waterfowl. The modified will shoot steel like full shoots lead. For a long long long time, I had only an 870 Wingmaster with 26" IC vent rib barrel and a 28" Mod vent rib barrel, both with 2 3/4" chambers. I never felt handicapped in any way. I still have it with both barrels.
 
Everything except turkey. Not great on turtles though. As a kid the guns I used were pretty basic. There were 2 functional shotguns in the house, a 410 and a 16ga. Both in the 22-24” range. The 16 was IC and depending on what you expected to shoot determined the shells that came along for the ride. It got squirrels to about 80ft easily, running rabbits out to about 30 yards, and dove occasionally if we flushed them. The 16 met its match in the turkey woods, it was a bit too open and I missed at 30 yards so at 16 I worked out a deal on a c-lect-a-choke mossberg 20 ga. And it shot well enough to stop a strut or two. I still have the 20 and I carry it set in between IC and Mod. If it were a 12 with more shot then I certainly would carry it on IC.

The turtle bit... when trying to clear out the predators from a food pond an improved cylinder doesn’t stay tight enough to hit a head reliably at 30 yards.
 
Before there were interchangeable choke tubes I use to hunt upland game with a Remington 870 with a 26" improved cylinder barrel.
 
I have a 12ga 870 26in barrel with fixed Skeet choke that is essentially the same as IMP CYL. Designed for skeet shooting I find it works great for any close in game when hunting in trees like grouse in the forest or dove coming in to roost in a orange grove or hunting over dogs. Its too open for handicap trap or open field hunting pheasant.
 
I use my 16 gauge Wingmaster with a 26 inch barrel choked skeet, for pheasant, hunting with a spaniel. I hunt heavy cover so the flushes are closer and more straight up at least until the rooster clears cover. I use Federal upland number 5's and in wetland areas steel number 2 shot. Using the steel produces a nice tight pattern. I have several shotguns but hunt with the Wingmaster way more often than any of the others.
 
Do not ASSume that because it says IC that it will pattern IC. The only way to know for sure is to take the ammo you intend to use and hit the pattern plate. Google can give you all the info as to distances, percentages, etc.
 
It's great for upland game, especially over a good dog. My favorite grouse gun was a 870 Special Field 20 ga with a fixed IC choke. First shot a field load, next 2 were high brass or magnums depending on conditions.
 
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