Dear Technoid

I currently shoot a Beretta 682 gold Trap gun with factory fitted screw in chokes ,what would be the advantages (if any ) of replacing the standard chokes with Briley’s X2 choke system?

Also I must thank you for a reply to a earlier email I sent you in relation to the bending of a trap stock.

By the way I come from Tasmania (the home of the Tassie Devil) and you may find it interesting to know that for a state with a population of around 450,000 with a licenced firearm population of around 50,000, we have quite a variety of clubs at which we can shoot.

From where I live in Longford, in about a 60 mile radius there are 5 clubs.

Just about everyone here shoots O/U shotguns (semi’s and pumps have been banned following the media, anti gun frenzy after the Port Arthur Massacre in which 35 people were shot dead and 18 injured by Martin Bryant in April 1996) and the majority are 682 Beretta’s, we use locally produced winchester, scorpio and champion shells and also imports such as victory, express, sellior and bellot.

Our target suppliers are mostly Bay city and Olympic, and the majority of the traps used in the state are winchester/western white flyers and also the locally produced Kerang ibis.

I know I have rambled on a bit but I just thought you would like to know how we shoot down here.

Keep up the good work and keep on smoking them,

your’s sincerely

David

Dear David,

It is always interesting to hear what shooting is like in other parts of the world. No matter where we live, shotgunners have much in common. A year ago I was coaching in the mountains two hours north of Bogota, Colombia. The only difference between the shooters there and the shooters here in my home state of Connecticut was the language. We all had problems with the same birds and came up with the same excuses.

As to Briley chokes vs Beretta factory chokes, I found little difference. I shoot a Beretta 303 with factory flush chokes, but I also bought a few Briley extended chokes to try out. Both types required an accurate bore mike to ensure the correct dimensions because they varied so much. When I found Briley and Beretta chokes of identical dimensions, they patterned the same. My Beretta Full and my Briley extended choke Full both miked .035″ constriction. I had to go through several chokes of each type to find exact numbers. Both chokes patterned about 71% to 72% in our traditional 30″ circle at 40 yards. I used 3 dram 1-1/8 oz #7-1/2 Remington STS and Victory interchangeably. Both shells patterned identically, even though I had expected the STS to do better. Every gun is different, but these are the numbers mine returned. I took ten patterns with each shell.

The one advantage that the Briley may have is that I have not seen a Beretta factory XFull choke, but Briley makes them. I wanted a tighter pattern than 72%, so I sorted through Brileys until I came up with an XFull extended Briley miking a constriction of .040″ in my gun. This moved my patterns up to the high 70s. Chokes over .040″ can get very tricky, but I would love to have Briley cut me a .045″ to try. With a good shell, any shotgun ought to be able to run 80%. Some can do very much better.

I have been very pleased with Briley service in the US. If I can’t find a Briley choke with exactly the I.D. that I want, I buy one that mikes a touch large and send it back to them. They wipe it out until it is perfect. I am pretty sure that they recut because my choke always comes back smoother inside than it was before.

Another big advantage to the Briley extended chokes is that they are easy to read without removal from the gun. Even though I keep my chokes in labeled compartments in a plastic box, it is reassuring to be able to glance at the gun and know what you have in.

You certainly do have plenty of shooting clubs. There is about the same population in Staten Island, NY as in all of Tasmania. There are no shotgun facilities on Staten Island. I also doubt whether there are more than a dozen proper Olympic Double Trap layouts in the entire US. You guys have two to yourselves. Maybe that is why the Aussies do so well in Trap at the Olympics.

Best regards,

Bruce Buck
Shotgun Report’s Technoid
(Often in error, never in doubt.)