Does anyone have much experience with these. I bought the three pack from Cabelas and I have missed birds all weekend. Yeah I could be a crappy shot but I put a whoopin on the dove so I know I can knock some birds down. I've been shooting the Mid range choke and Kent #2's. do I need to be leading these birds further or right on them? I tried from there nose to three foot in front of the ducks. So tell me what you know of them and what you've learned about them.

Hate to say it... but sounds like operator error. Carlson's are some fine chokes. The mid range is the same constriction as a mod. you should be good to go.

Okay, I was afraid of that. I read the reviews on cabelas and they had a lot of good stuff to say about them. I'll just start increasing my lead and see how far out front I need to aim.

I have a mid range and think it is one of my best chokes

Your trying to hard. Dont try to aim so much and just shoot em. You got to feel it!

here we go again. I make this post at least once a week. most likely it is the shooter not the shell/choke combination. shoot better don't blame it on the shell or choke.

Jo: That totally depends on your shooting conditions. If you're shooting at birds getting up out of your decoys, you hardly need to lead at all. If you're attempting a 30 yard side-to-side pass shot at birds that are moving with purpose, then that requires some significant lead.

Also, you should always be shooting at the bird's head.

I agree that my Carlson's mid-range is probably my favorite choke.

I bought a LM choke hopping for the perfect all around choke. I hate it. I tried it all dove season and now duck season. Most wounded/crippled birds I've ever had. Just my opinion and thought.

I have Carlson chokes for both my shotguns. I also got the forcing cones lengthened on both of them as well. My 870's shoot like a high dollar shotguns now. I love my Carlson chokes.

I don't think it is the shooter at all. Dove shells were probably lead, the duck shells steel. These are apples and oranges.

I don't want to type up a big long thing again about chokes. So in short, I have found the less restriction you put on steel the better. I also believe it is way rediculous to shoot ducks with a #2 pellet. Bump up to #4. Save the #2s for when you are goose hunting.

There will be a whole lot of blah blah blah responses about the pellet size. Research it and I don't mean on here. A 75% pellet pattern in 30 inches at 30 yards is optimum. The bigger the STEEL pellet you try to force through a restricted choke the more deflection and deviation in pellet flight.

If you get that #4 pellet 75% pattern on a goose at 45 yards he will die hard enough to stop flapping his wings and drop his head and neck. I would much rather have a goose with 10 to 12 pellets #4 pellet holes from head to butt, than have that few #2 golden pellets.

There is also the ft pound energy scale but I am too busy to write that up. Maybe someone can tag in here.

Not many people realize nor have even heard of a forcing cone. Not all guns need it but when they do it makes a tremendous difference in stabilizing a shotload long before it comes out the barrel.

On the reverse side I have talked to poeple that have lengthened the cone but went with an extremely tight choke, never patterned their weapon. They get angry when they can't hit the ground. The whole key is to start with a pure form of pellets and end witha pure form of pellets. Rock either end of the pellets in the barrel and you have just undermined your operation.

I love my set of Carlson chokes they throw a much more consistent pattern that my factory chokes did. Did you buy the waterfowl pack?

There is no substitute for patterning your shotgun at varying distances with the shells and chokes you plan to use. The time you spend will be a very worthwhile investment.

I could not agree more.

except that a cheap choke cost you $50-$75 and shell cost $0.50-up to $2.00 per shell. so you but a couple different chokes and boxes of shells and wow you have spent $300 in no time. that's a "worthwhile investment". and it probably wont help you shoot better at all. if you don't mount the gun correctly, have the proper stance, proper fit of the gun, proper swing, I could go on and on...if all of these things don't come together you will not hit birds consistently. Period. I cannot believe that yall don't understand that. most of the time it is not the choke or shell it is the shooter.

Certainly agree. Patterning does not help much if you cannot shoot.

So it is not the choke and shot it is all stance and swing only. Oh, OK I got it now. Well dang it man, I wish I would have met you on the forum years ago before I wasted all that time. I could have saved the money paid to a gun smith to lengthen polish and smooth out the forcing cone on my shotguns.
Dang where were you when we needed you?

wal...if you will look at my post it specifically says that I could go on and on, on gun and shooting mechanics. and yes 99% of the time it is the shooter not the choke or shell. glad I could clear that up for you.

After some additional thought, I would add that wingshooting is sort of like putting... You have to be able to "feel" where to shoot and you can make a case of the yips worse by believing that your equipment is the problem. "Ducks aren't hard to hit, they're just easy to miss." If you're thinking about how much to lead while you're shooting, you're probably shooting in front of them or over them. Did you notice how the wad looked like it was going right at the duck? That means your pattern went right in front. Duck shooting is different than dove shooting. There's something about the size and speed of a dove that makes it a more ideal target. Ducks always seem to be closer, farther, faster or slower than they actually are. You're not going to fix it with clays, you just need to hunt some more ducks until they start falling and you get your mojo back.

I'll agree with Wal that the #4s pattern better; there are more pellets in the center of the shot column that never touch the wad and fly truer as a result... but, you're not missing birds because you're shooting Kent #2 rather than Kent #4 and you're probably at less risk of cracking a tooth at the dinner table. The tools you have are absolutely fine, you just need to get off the steep part of the learning curve.

Wal hanging out with Marcstar has been doing wonders for your shotgunning

Seriously, listen to Wal on this post...he is guiding you in the correct direction. You have good chokes now you just have to figure out which shell your gun and choke likes. Then you can work on all the stuff that Double-R is talking about.

Pattern first then work on mechanics because if your gun isn't #1 shooting where you are looking and #2 producing a deadly pattern then you can have the best mechanics in the world and only be a so/so shooter.

You also don't have to spend $300 to pattern a gun...pick a good choke and then try different shells until you get one that patterns to your liking.

An example, my 391 hates my hand rolled #4's...there are holes in the patterns that ducks could fly through...I go to #3's and it is a well spread pattern. Dangest thing I have even seen and if I wouldn't have patterned it I wouldn't never known.

I say it is the other way around get your fundamentals down first then worry about trying to kill birds and using different chokes/shells

go to any place that coaches shotgunning. a 4-h skeet range is the best place. and look at what they teach the young kids first. proper mechanics. then they worry about what choke they are shooting.

Dub: I don't disagree that fundamentals are important and that working on mechanics can be beneficial for anyone, but it seems to me that someone who is efficiently killing dove already knows how to shoot. Just my opinion, but if that guy is having problems killing ducks he just needs to hunt more ducks until all the nuts and bolts in his brain tighten up to duck shooting.

I've been duck hunting for 15 years and I've never patterned my shotgun on paper. I don't think I ever will either.

Take a case of shotgun shells out to the skeet field and shoot a box at each station. If you still can't hit anything, sell your gun and buy a bag of golf clubs. Problem solved.