Unmarked choke tubes dilemma...

Hi all, last week I shot for the first time in a long time...don't think I've shot since my two year old was born. Anyway I've think I've got the bug again as I can't stop thinking about next time I'll get out. My question is I have a beretta silver pigeon 1 with optima bore. I have the standard chokes "flush" ones that came with the gun however I wanted to get extended ones so I purchased two second hand beretta ones — Skeet and Clyinder — one red and one blue and I've shot them with no problems. I then wanted to purchase more tubes in different sizes. Instead of sticking to my "guns" and buying genuine beretta ones either new or second hand I purchased from a gun shop two chokes which were unmarked and only had etched marks on them 3/8 and 1/2. The shop owner said they were correct. They do screw in to my barrels ok however there is slightly more "play" in the threads than the beretta ones and for this reason I've never shot them as I'm terrified I do damage to my gun or worse. Can anyone offer me some advice or point me in the right direction of where to find out for sure? I live in Central Scotland area. Thank you in advance to anyone who can help [emoji106]

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What do you mean by "play" ? I would show them to a knowledgable shooter with a Beretta or another gunsmith just to make sure. 

If they move about they are not right do not use and return to shop

By "play" I mean in the thread the chokes screw in no problem and screw up tight however I'm sure the threads have slightly more play than the beretta ones.

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Do they move?

Do they screw down on to the internal shoulder for a good seal

Get rid of them!!  Saving pennies on BS goods for GUNS is nothing less than stupid.  At a $/day how long will it take to make up the difference in price between crap and quality?  And what's a $ really worth anyway?

Get Real, Dude!!

It was never about saving money, as I said the gun shop owner said they were right for my gun and they weren't much less cost than they would have been new and looked well looked after. I suggested him ordering new ones and he was like these are just the ticket. So I trusted him as he's a gun dealer...? However as I have a mechanical orientated career the movement "play" in the thread pitch has gave me doubts. Anyway now I have them and just want to know how to measure them to see if they are in fact a good fit for my barrels and do in fact seal internally in the barrel.
Stuart

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I would get a gunsmith to have a butchers at them before you use them.....

It might be completely fine most threads on guns are square and not pitched like a thread on a bolt or screw so its more than likely the core size is very slightly different which will be fine once tightened it could be as little as 0.01mm for you to notice a difference in play.. as long as the barrel end of the choke sits flush with the barrel and there is no lip when its tight it would be fine.

but as I said above and others have already said get it looked at by a professional.. better safe than sorry

I don't recall ever seeing anything but V-form threads on any factory tubes.  Some aftermarket have square threads and to my mind make interchangeability a real issue.  I could be wrong on that but I have to admit that my confidence in aftermarket gun stuff is very low.  Like non-factory car and motorcycle parts used to be when I was doing that.  I may be a pussy for it but if it ain't got the gunmakers name on it it don't go in my guns.  Just sayin'

Anyway you should also know that if you're using some non-fac tube and have resulting damage to the gun it's very likely your warranty will be worthless and good luck with that

just a thot

IF it helps, I have a real assortment of chokes, all Mobil type, for my Beretta 303 auto. Two are unmarked, as you describe, except they have the recognized number of 'notches' in the front end, depicting 3 notches or 1/2 choke and 4 notches, being 1/4 choke. BOTH of these chokes are a bit loose on the thread but both screw home correctly. I have a Briley choke which only screws in half way before it gets 'tight' (I have now binned that choke) so never used it. I also have 4 genuine Beretta chokes, that came with the gun, but I have only used the Mod or 1/2 choke. One of those is also 'loose' on the thread, but it does screw full in and stays secure. I did have a Teague Mod extended choke but that used to back itself off every 15 or so shots. Someone who has a Beretta O/U is now using that choke in his gun without a problem. As long as the choke seats all the way home without being 'tight' to screw in, I would suggest that things will be alright, BUT if you are not sure, get it checked out by a gunsmith.  If in doubt, 'Leave it out'  is a good maxim.

PS.          As my 303 is around 30 ish, I think the warranty could be 'out'    !

I didn't realise how many thread forms there are for shotgun chokes, check the link, the list is surprising.

https://www.cabelas.com/custserv/custserv_popup.jsp?pageName=TechSpecChokeTubeInterchangeComparisonChart

From memory my Beretta optima chokes don't look like standard Vee threads, they look squarer, (it's just the kind of thing a Mechanical engineer would notice.)

All screw threads have inbuilt tolerances, the female thread has to be slightly larger than the male thread or it would never go together. it's possible that you would feel this difference in clean chokes as a small degree of axial movement (before fully tightening) and there might be a small difference between one choke and another because of permissible differences in tolerances.

A cautious response would be to err on the safe side, no-one would want you to damage your gun or worse, on the other hand, why would you doubt the word of the gunsmith who sold you the chokes?

The chokes may also feel different because of the amount of grease present, one may be clean the other might be greased.

If it were my gun I would clean out the threads in the gun barrels and the chokes, to remove all trace of lubricants and crud, do your feel test again, if the new chokes still feel too slack when you have screwed them nearly all the way home, and noticeably slacker than the original chokes, you may have cause for concern and, by all means take them to a gunsmith for a second opinion or just replace them with Beretta chokes.

Be sure to add more lubricant to the chokes.

Martinj, you are quite right about the Berettas.  I took a glass to a few and they are all indeed proper square threads.  A Briley made Beretta choke is square. as well.  Hard to tell but they don't appear to be proper Acme threads like the proprietary Briley and are of course massively different dimensionally.

FWIW I looked at a couple Perazzis and they are all as V-form as possible (of course).

westley said:

PS.          As my 303 is around 30 ish, I think the warranty could be 'out'    !

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I'm not sure but I think that here in the US the product liability laws might sustain a claim for disaster results; but not simple wear of course.  Unfortunately those laws also generously reward incredible stupidity on occasion.   

Wonko the Sane said:

I'm not sure but I think that here in the US the product liability laws might sustain a claim for disaster results; but not simple wear of course.  Unfortunately those laws also generously reward incredible stupidity on occasion.   

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Ah, that would explain the large number of Italian guns sold over there then  ?

westley said:

Ah, that would explain the large number of Italian guns sold over there then  ?

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Yes!  Absolutely.  As good as totally free of attorney/court fees and  just wear forever!  OTOH the latest not surprising exploded Krieghoff hardly rates comment.