Buckshot Through A Turkey Choke? Winchester Super X 9 Pellet 00 Buck W/ Mossberg 835 & Kick's .680 

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Hi Matt , My 835 I am using a modified choke 2 3/4 000 8 pellet buckshot or 3in. 000 10 pellet . it's awesome everything's in a 14 inch circle 40 yd. It's a deer 🦌 killing machine brother !! I wanted a Buck kicker but The guys at Kicks choke said they didn't have one that would shoot that tight to use my modified.

Hey bud, How tight of a choke you can put buckshot through partially depends on how it's loaded. Stacked by 2's can go through a tighter choke without deformation than stacked by 3's. Needless to say, there are other factors: 0.320" buck could go through a tighter choke than 0.330" buck, wad-grabber(ported) chokes don't play as nicely without a shot cup protecting the pellets, ect... A good demonstration of this is people that put 0.380" or 0.375" buck stacked by 2's(max 12ga hull ID is about 0.760") through a 0.732" 12ga barrel and get good patterns. The pellets should be getting deformed in this scenario, but it seems like it's not enough to wreck the patterns. Factory ammo over the last few years has been pure crap in every cartridge from every company. At best you get ripped off, at worst, it's dangerous. There are multiple accounts of this all over the web from all over the world. Now days it's just better to make your own because it's safer, you can customize it and work up loads, and you can get more precision(tighter patterns) for less cost per shot, and you're not constrained to whatever is available in stock. I appreciate that you test factory loads, because not everyone does roll their own, and it's helpful to the "average" shooter. I have an 835 and so does a family member. Last fall I tested some factory loads in 28" barrels with 0.695" factory ported chokes. The Best was the Remington Express 9 pellet 00 buck at 62MOA (about 25" at 40yrds). I then worked up some very simple hand loads(first ones ever for shotgun). I used homemade 0.330" buck(true 00) and easily got 30MOA to 40MOA patterns(about 12" to 16" at 40yrds) in both guns. The components cost me about $0.75 a shot+ time and effort and equipment, the Remington Express was selling for $2.50 a shot at that time. So the gun and choke are fine, it's factory ammo that sucks. This fall, I plan on doing a test on 0.380" buckshot(0000). I want to see what the smallest choke I can put it through is, before the pattern starts going to crap at 50yrds. I will be using the 835, smooth(non-ported) chokes from 0.765" working my way down to 0.680" in about 0.005" increments(the jump from size to size isn't perfectly 0.005" every time). Depending on how it goes, I'd like to repeat the test with other large buck to see if there is an equation for the optimal choke size(EX: 2(buck diameter) X 0.9 = best choke size). Hopefully I find something useful in the experiments. Anyway, keep up the good work!

00 buckshot run good in my winchester 1200 with a patternmaster waterfowls choke.

Those loads just aren’t very good to be honest. There’s no shot cup and the pellets are very soft lead, they deform upon firing. We use that exact setup, even down to the same model 835 and it does amazing with buckshot that’s loaded with a shotcup.

Very surprised to hear you aren’t getting good patterns with the 835. A few years ago I bought my 2 step sons each an 835 Turkey and I shoot the 935. I tried Buck Kickers, and a bunch of other chokes. I ended up with a Pure Gold 696. It wasn’t initially that great and I called the manufacturer. He was super and walked me through tightening up my patterns. He had the patent on the Mossberg .695 XFull turkey choke. We used rubbing compound on a drill to polish the barrel. He said EVERY 835/935 can use a polish to smooth extremely minute tool marks from manufacturing. This is not a honing process, this is to mirror polish the barrel and reduce friction. My guns would put 18 pellets in a 1 gallon milk jug at 40 yards with the Pure Gold 696 or Factory .695 Turkey choke. I will bet your gun has some plastic wad built up on the barrel and that is the cause of your poor patterns. Give it a shot! The turkey hunters 15 years ago before TSS would all polish a barrel to tighten patterns up. The process is very well detailed on many of the Turkey web groups.

I've done a lot of buckshot testing and I usually use a standard full when shooting buckshot. I've found my patterns are better than when I use a more open choke. I would like to see a test of Federal Flight Control through a full choke to see if you get the same results as me.

Hey Matt! I ordered the wrong threads on a kicks goblin thunder choke for the mossberg 835/935 threads would you want it for testing on the Chanel or maybe for a give away?

These loads have been on sale at midwayusa.... this probably why

If they test with a 28 or 30" barrel, it would make difference with velocity but probably still not 1325.

Did you mention how many yards away you’re patterning your shots at?

Try a cylinder bore choke!

It has to do because the barrel of 835 is overbored. You will not get the same results.

Something is wrong, either your box of ammo, your chokes, your chronograph, or all of the above. That has got to be the worse 40 yd. pattern of any choke tighter than an improved cylinder I have ever seen. In addition I have never seen buck shot with a velocity of less than 1100 fps. and you shot 9 pellet, there could be a case made if you had 12 pellet or a low recoil or home defense load but you have a hunting load there!!! I think you might want to try the test again with different manufactures of the shells, chokes and maybe even the chronograph. This can't be right.

Bad box of 00 Bk...my opinion. 😮

Yeah, that doesn't look too good! Lol!