here's the lowdown, and I am SURE someone can tell it better, but the basic thing is this.
Choke is the amount of constriction placed on the shot coming out of a barrel - The more constriction = the tighter the choke = the more compact the pattern will be - GENERALLY.
Open/Cylinder choke assumes no constriction, the tightest being considered X-Full or turkey depending on manufacturer and selection.
Bigger is really relative - to answer your question, skeet is more constricted than mod.
Take a look at this article - it should explain it better.
http://www.trulockchokes.com/chokeinfo.asp

-Erik

 

Nice explanation Kisk.

Another way to say it, in layman's terms is to think of the barrel and choke tube like a water hose nozzle- the more you squeeze the trigger the more constricted the water flow is...ranging from a widespread spray to a solid & strong stream. Cylinder is the spray and x-full or turkey is the stream.

Basically the increase in constriction follows these names: Cylinder, skeet, improved cylinder, modified, full, x-full. Many manufacturers also have constrictions between the standard one's above...IM or Improved Modified is between Modified and Full.

Look at a catalog at the listings of choke tubes- most all listings are in order of constriction.

 

Yes the shot patter of a skeet choke is bigger than a Mod in the sense that it spreads the shot out over a larger area quicker at shorter range. A skeet choke is less restrictive than a mod. The chokes go from most open pattern and least restricted starting with no choke or cylinder then skeet, IC, skeet 2 (aka light mod) mod, improved mod, full, extra full, turkey and so on. As the constriction increases the shot is pushed tighter into a more narrow cluster over a longer distance. However, this is a generally rule and there are exceptions. Many times with larger steel you hit a point where the patter is over choked or blows apart crating a wider pattern with more constriction.

I have however seen a chart at the local gander mountain that lists them quite different. I took a pic with my phone and should post it up.

 

Yeah, I think you misspoke Erik. Skeet is LESS contricted than mod. And nice work adding in skeet 2/Light mod thaner. Seems to be choke of choice these days in extendeds for all around shooting.

 

Yeah, I think you misspoke Erik. Skeet is LESS contricted than mod. And nice work adding in skeet 2/Light mod thaner. Seems to be choke of choice these days in extendeds for all around shooting.

Whoops, good on ya there - I did Misspeak. Thanks for the correction.
-Erik

 

The killing pattern of any steel load is not bigger than 30" dia but may contain less or more shot due to the choke. I have never seen a killing pattern bigger than 30" dia with 12 gage guns. I have seen killing patterns tighter than 30" with a tight core. Maybe you can get a slightly bigger pattern with a 10 gage. I have shot over 2300 steel patterns. Ned S

 

The killing pattern of any steel load is not bigger than 30" dia but may contain less or more shot due to the choke. I have never seen a killing pattern bigger than 30" dia with 12 gage guns.

They're out there Ned. You need more than 7/8 oz of shot to do it though. lol

 

while i agree the 30" pattern is a good rule of thumb, i have to disagree that there arent any larger patterns that kill. i have a 1 5/8oz load of 4's that can kill ducks 4 feet apart in the air. i promise ill stop talking about it and actually take the camera to the pattern board next time. we dont get nearly enuf pics of patterns anyway :thumbsup:

 

I didn't say they weren't out there, I just have never seen one in over 2300 patterns. Looking forward to seeing one as in my old age I sure could use one. We're talking 12 gage and steel. Don't do a spin on me. Ned S

 

I didn't say they weren't out there, I just have never seen one in over 2300 patterns. Looking forward to seeing one as in my old age I sure could use one. We're talking 12 gage and steel. Don't do a spin on me. Ned S

I don't know how to explain clubhousing 5 ducks with one shot that were roughly in a 5 foot radius. I think you are talking consistently over 30 in pattern though.

 

Go back and review your trigonmetry. You can easily get and 8 ft long pattern on the water. We're talking about patterns perpendicular to path of shot. I knew I would get a spin. Ned S
Still would like to see one. Ned S

 

The killing pattern of any steel load is not bigger than 30" dia but may contain less or more shot due to the choke. I have never seen a killing pattern bigger than 30" dia with 12 gage guns.

They're out there Ned. You need more than 7/8 oz of shot to do it though. lol

Ditto......

 

Thundersnow or anyone else, please show a picture of your 12 gage steel killing patterns bigger than 30 inches. Using a spreader is just fine. Also the recipe. I need one of "them there" patterns. Ned S

 

I'll pull out the patterns when I go shoot some new ones in about a month (when the weather's warmer). I'll happily show you some of them there patterns and pass on the recipes.

 

Thanks, Ned S

 

the way choke constriction is gauged is by the percentage of pellets and at what maximum range can you achieve 65%. for example: lets say you have a twelve gauge and you shoot #6 out of it. lets sayfor the sake of arguement their is 300 pellets in each shell. at what distance do 65% of your pellets fall in a 30 inch circle? if you shoot and over 65% of the pellets are inside at 50 yards you have a full choke. if its at 15 to18 yards its a skeet or "open" choke. if you get 65% at 35-40 yards its a modified. And so on. Thats it. Then their is something called shot string. shot string is the distance between the first pellet out of your gun to the last out. at typical distances for most of them are 8-12 feet long. thats why when you shoot almost parallel to the water their is what appears to be a huge pattern. think of laying a blanket down on the water instead of the typical sphere shape. when you shoot a shot gun you dont put out a wall of pellets. It looks more like a buncha bee's chasing someone in a cartoon .and if i shoot a skeet choked gun with 7.5 shot at 20 yard nothing could fly through and not take a hit. i don't know exactly what a " steel killing pattern" is but it is not a technical term i have ever heard in running a gun shop for years. Please explain. sometimes the lay persons terms are different than pro's (no offense).

 

Are you refering to a pattern that has holes that a bird could possibly fly through ? Thats kinda silly. They measure the effectiveness on a 30 inch circle and whats inside would possibly be called a killing pattern. but if the pattern must be inside 30 inches then anything outside couldn't be called part of the killing pattern. So thats why you've never seen one. But i assure you people make a killing pattern 6 feet wide. if 2 random pellets each encounter duck brain's 6 feet apart and the main charge goes straight up alley between, would you argue that was outside its "killing pattern"?

 

It looks more like a buncha bee's chasing someone in a cartoon

I like that,that's a very fitting description.

I remember reading once (cant remember exactly where),
but remember it was a fairly credible source,this guy had a pheasant load (lead) that literally hammered pheasant.He'd harvested more roosters with this load than he could remember, with fabulous success,he'd never been big on patterning, one day he decided to pattern some loads.
One , his hammertime pheasant slayer,
and another shell he'd used on roosters,but didn't have as much success with.
He said his slayer load had a quite horrendous lookin pattern, kind of patchy, more holes than he'd expected to see on a fairly consistent basis.
The other load he'd had less success with had a far more picture perfect looking pattern ???

It got me to wondering years ago, just how important is that picture perfect,no holes pattern?

I agree patterning is extremely beneficial in determining what
percentage a certain combo will posess, so we don't go off thinking we're throwing a mod pattern just because that's what's in the gun.
But the evenness of patterns has always been a question mark.
Granted, extremely ugly patterns (huge holes,splotches etc.)would
have to decrease the hitting odds, but i also wonder if just a little too much is put into that picture perfect pattern as well.

 

Let's use a pattern that has one hole big enough not to kill a mallard, you have a 4.5% chance of hitting the mallard with that hole. If you have 2 holes 9%. That's why bad patterns kill. I'll still take the evenly distributed pattern as my load. That's the only loads I use. Why shoot a "holy" pattern when you can get fairly evenly patterns with loads, guns and chokes available. I call it laziness. I hate holes in my patterns. However I shot a lot of "Holy" patterns with his MP-153 on geese until I got an extended IMP MOd and a Terror choke. I killed alot of geese with the "Holy" patterns. My hunting buddy could not hit mallards with his 870. He finally patterned it and found out why. After he worked up a good load, he snockered them. I know every reloader patterns his loads. He has too. Ned S

 

The old timers even patterned their guns. I remember members of my Dad's hunting club walking 40 steps away from Finn Hanams barn and shooting at the side of the barn. I remember Dad walking up to his pattern and just looking at it and saying "Good Enough" for mallards. He shot an A5 with a fixed Mod choke. Later in life I patterned it and using Win Xperts #4 lead it patterned 70% at 40 yds no holes. Super X only patterned 60%. I still have the gun. Ned S