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txcshooter wrote:Also, would you happen to know how much chokes cost and where is the best place to find them?

Depends on what gun you have. Could be $15 and way up depending on who makes em and what you want (flush, extended, turkey strut xx full, whatever). I have Brownings but also use some cheaper Carlson's and they seem fine. Midway, CTD, Cabelas, Brownells, Gander, Bass Pro (althought the last time I was at the Garland store they had dang little) all have chokes.

txcshooter wrote:After studying the pic there, do you mean it would be "easier" to hit with an Improved Cylinder...? or am I reading it wrong?

On a skeet field - your best shot with the 12 ga is with a slight constriction (skeet or skeet 2). Cylinder is more open but still fine. The improved cylinder (sometimes called a skeet 2) is more constricted than the skeet choke but you should see no big difference. Progressively tighter chokes tend to make it not necessarily harder to break clays - but you better be a dang fine shot and have the leads just right. Gets real interesting on station 3, 4, 5 and 8. Some shooters start going to slightly more constricted chokes as they go down in gauge (20ga, 28ga) or bore (.410).

On the trap field - tighter chokes (light mod, mod, improved mod) are norms - especially when you start handicap rounds. But - that is different game.

Five stand and sporting clays - have lots of different chokes handy and a speed wrench...

TLE2 wrote:Don't shoot the clay after it's left the confines of your skeet field. The first time I shot skeet, I took a really long shot at a right left bird... about two "fields" down from where I was shooting. It's a no-no I found out. (I did break the clay though).

Something must have been wrong with the clays machine or wind got it to have gone that far. Skeet field is a shade over 42 yards (126' 9" exactly) from high house to low house and the target path is set by regulation to land (no wind) at a marker 60 yards from the window of the respective house from which the target is thrown and where it passes through the hoop set at 15 feet above the field.

Rex B wrote:Why would someone specify long-range chokes with just 2.75" chambers?

Not necessarily 'long range' - the tighter constriction place more pellets in smaller area, so, in the case of turkey, a tight pattern will essentially turn a turkey out like a light with the head shot and less damage to the meat. But also, if one IS intending long(er) range such as for high flying or skittish late season birds (not turkeys but other upland birds), then this choke constriction could work (not for steel shot though - ie. ducks etc.). The argument over 2-3/4, or 3, or 3-1/2 inch rounds goes on. I have used 3 inch in the past, but there is no difference to me with shooting the 2-3/4 inch rounds and I prefer them for everything - skeet, trap, and birds.

Rex B wrote:Interesting. This gun was bought new off the rack by a guy that shoots skeet competitively. He kept this for a backup & loaner gun. It only has 2-3/4" chambers, so it's not suited as a duck or long-range gun. Why would someone order a gun like this?

So anyone you loaned it to wouldn't be able to hit squat...!

Rex B wrote:I have a Baikal IZH27M O/U that measures .682 on the top and .699 at the bottom barrel.
What would you call that? Surely it's not full choke on both barrels

If you have measured correct - it is full choke on the bottom and extra full (turkey) on top - which would be very unusual unless the barrel was specifically for turkey hunting. The barrels should be marked with their respective constrictions near the receiver on the barrels. not sure if Baikal uses english ("full" etc) or sets of slashes (/ , // , etc) to identify constriction.