Selecting the right choke for a clay target is critically important and can be the difference between breaking or a missing a target in Sporting Clays. To give yourself the best odds for success, it is critically important to very carefully watch your show bird and assess the flight characteristics at breakpoint in addition to knowing what is being presented in terms of type, profile and distance of the the clay. Determine the answers to the following questions and adjust your choke accordingly before calling for the target.
What type of target is being presented (Standard, Midi, Mini, Battue, or Rabbit)
What is the target profile presented at breakpoint (Edge On, Dome On, Back Lip, Belly On, Face On, or 3/4 Face).
What is the distance at breakpoint.
Once you've determined type, profile, and distance, refer to the chart below created by Briley Chokes, maker of the best shotgun chokes in the world, to select the best choke to use for your target presentation. As you can see from the chart, improved cylinder will suffice for most targets within 25 yards when the presentation offers a lot of surface area such as Dome On, Face On, and Belly On on Standard, Rabbit, or Battues. But from 25 yards and beyond on targets with much less surface area such as Edge On particularly with smaller clays such as Midi and Mini, IC is not going to cut it. This is because the density of the shot pattern is too thin to break these type of targets at distance. A tighter choke is needed to give you the best chances of success.
I found over the years, that if I outfit by barrels with IC (Improved Cylinder) and IMP (Improved Modified, I can handle most target on a Sporting Clays course without changing chokes. However, in a tournament situation, I will change to a Modified or even Full Choke on certain targets according to the Briley chart. I have found this chart to be the most accurate out there and even carry a hard copy with me when competing. I hope that you find it a valuable resource and useful tool when trying to select the right choke for a given presentation.
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