Jug Choked Targets.
Back to Home
JUG CHOKING.
A fine bird taken on a fine spring day with a 12 gauge English Game gun. I actually called in this bird and a much bigger bird, but had to let them walk away because I couldn't get my gun quite up to my shoulder without spooking them. So after waiting for them to clear out, I made a big circle and called them back in about an hour later. The big bird was just out of range, so I figured a bird in the hand was better than two out walking around in the woods laughing at me. I'm running behind right now, so fall hunting guns need to be considered now if you want to actually shoot it before you walk into the woods on opening morning of deer season!!!
That is a right hand English Game gun. It was built with a .62 caliber interchangeable rifle barrel and it is now owned by Richard Davies of Little Rock, who is an avid and successful hunter. Most of you know I'm left handed, but I grew up shooting right handed guns since there were no lefties available back then.
And yes, I photoshopped in all that gray in my hair. I will get even though, if you set your gun down unattended for a moment!
October 19. 2017
I am are now offering jug choking for muzzle loading smoothbores of most makes and models. I cannot choke some of the models of barrels due to their chrome-lined bores or Damascus steel. Some of those that might have chrome lined bores are newer double-barreled percussion shotguns. The chrome lining is too hard to ream and will destroy the tooling. I can jug choke 20, 16, 12 and 10 bore guns with normal steel composition. My guns are built using gun-barrel quality, high carbon steel and most modern (non-chrome) steels are fine for this procedure. I can't jug choke Damascus barrels either! You can shoot round balls safely in jug choked barrels and it almost always improves round ball groups.
The principle of jug choking is that a section near the muzzle is reamed larger than bore size with critical angles on the front and rear areas to increase the pattern and performance of shot loads. The jug choking does not adversely affect round ball performance and in fact can improve round ball accuracy. It is not a constriction type of choke, so there is no danger of excessive pressures being developed. It is easy to clean and easy to load.
The charge for jug choking is $95 plus insurance ( $1 per hundred $$ coverage if you want it) and shipping. Normal shipping charges will run $30 to the lower 48 states. If your package is longer than 48", add $10. Please remove the barrel from your gunstock and package securely to avoid shipping damage. Please do NOT send the entire firearm. Please advise me of the insurance value for the return shipping. You can sometimes procure shipping cartons/tubes from carpet stores or other commercial businesses. Also PVC pipe is cheap and strong. I will return the barrel in your carton/tube/pipe. Include email, phone etc. along with payment by check or money order. No credit cards.
Please advise me as to the amount of choke you desire; improved, modified or full. I cannot GUARANTEE any particular shot pattern percentage because of the numerous variables in load components, procedures, methods, and conditions. I have had VERY good success in delivering improved patterns for our customers and have confidence that it can improve the performance of your smoothbore, too.
One mistake that can easily be made is overloading a jug choked barrel. They seem to perform better with moderate loads/charges. The patterns are more even and have no holes in them if you don't try to magnumize a muzzleloader. I just took a fine bird with 1 1/8 oz. of #5 bismuth and about 85 grains of 2fg at 40 yards!
I will normally complete the work in one week and then return the choked barrel to the customer. Sometimes I'm a little faster, but you can probably figure on a total of 2 weeks for the entire process.