Chokes - extended, ported or not?

I am looking to buy some new chokes for a Beretta, I wonder if extended chokes are superior, apart from being able to be changed by hand. Also does porting offer any advantages? I welcome any members thoughts

Extended yes, easier to change plus offers a little protection to the blueing on the barrels, ported chokes was a fad back in 90’s never saw any of the supposed benefits, downside is harder to clean and more noise if you shoot from inside cage with hard sides. Stick with Beretta chokes would be my advice.

Any difference between standard, extended and ported chokes will be minimal.

The (small) only exception to this will be weight - an extended choke may add weight at the end of the barrel which may affect the guns handling. You can get around this by using titanium chokes such as Brileys or aluminium Mullers or adding a bit of weight in the stock. You may not notice or care or you may prefer the extra weight. I have three guns with Beretta mobil chokes and I found the Beretta Victory extended chokes the heaviest of those I tried and I sold them.

Jonz has covered off the key points - extended protect the end of the barrel (good) and ported chokes are a bugger to clean (bad).

When Muller introduced their chokes, they were all three inches in length as apparently that was the best length for patterning. I have a set and found them no different to the standard chokes or any other manufacturers.

P.S. Extended chokes can be bougth with a coloured band to denote the constriction and the Briley titanium chokes look really sparkly. These points alone makes them immediately better in my opinion.

As all said above . Plus I keep my old K80 for my boy to use on the odd occasion. It’s equipped with extended titanium chokes , they look very nice and they protect the muzzles  . I’ve also got a bag of Rhino ported chokes for it , and I had Rhino ported on my late wife’s 682 . They are the work of the devil , shoot a few hundred plastic wads and the ports are clogged to such an extent that every single hole needed cleaning individually . The proof of whether the ports work Is this .. they shoot no different clean to clogged solid .

I never understood ported barrels (or chokes).

If you shoot bottom barrel first (which you should to avoid mussel flip) the ports vent the gas out everywhere but up - acheiving nothing.

If you shoot top barrel first then you have more mussle flip in the first place - the porting might help but why bother when you have increased the problem !!!

Do members think there is any perceptible difference between Briley and Teague, stainless steel or titanium?

I don't think there's any quantifiable difference in performance between these brands or materials; a choke is just a tapered tube after all. Teague are designed and made in the UK, some Briley chokes look flashy and that may matter to some but they are not made in the UK.

Titanium chokes are lighter which may be relevant to balance. 

The marketing men will have you believe because extended chokes are longer, they therefore have a more gradual taper and / or a longer parallel section which is meant to help stabilise the shot better than the shorter flush chokes.

Having owned Teague flush and OEM extended for a Beretta I spent a bit of time testing to see if I was disadvantaged, I can safely say I couldn’t tell any difference in performance.

The marketing men again say ported chokes are meant to reduce muzzle flip, or strip the wad from the shot. I bought some Briley ported chokes in the past to try and reduce the weight of the ridiculously heavy Midas chokes in a Browning. They did weigh less but I certainly didn’t notice any reduction in flip or magical wad striping, but I did notice the unholy mess and gunk between the top and bottom choke.

I would only buy ported chokes again on pain of death or a sponsorship that involved someone else cleaning my gun.

Having owned both Teauge and Briley I can say get whatever floats your boat, both are well made, neither outperform any other choke like for like (based on actual measured constriction not what is marked on the side as the manufacture’s interpretation of that constriction).

I will say Briley’s marketing department are, let’s say, more inventive in their claims.

jonz said:

Stick with Beretta chokes would be my advice.

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Why anyone would think that a gun manufacturer would provide a choke tube that is somehow inferior to an aftermarket supplier has always baffled me.  OK - that's a lie.  I know why and it's just disappointing that people buy into BS in the hopes of buying a target here or there.

Freddypip said:

If you shoot bottom barrel first (which you should to avoid mussel flip)

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another well established myth AFAIC.  Clearly a descendant of the SxS flip mythology (which, as usual, is a phenomenon defying Newtonin physics).  It would be most satisfying to see a data driven study of the recoil differences between barrels.  Don't wait underwater for it tho since it will likely appear as part of the package with the studies on "tuned" barrels, backboring, and ports.

but all y'all have fun and keep those aftermarket folks in biz and the myths humming along.

GeordieTrapper said:

I am looking to buy some new chokes for a Beretta, I wonder if extended chokes are superior, apart from being able to be changed by hand. Also does porting offer any advantages? I welcome any members thoughts

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No difference in terms of pattern performance between flush and extended chokes, despite what the manufacturers may tell you. Extended chokes offer the obvious convenience advantages and protect your barrels from the slab. I once knew a chap that was adamant ported chokes reduced felt recoil but, in my experience, there’s no discernible benefit.

Ported barrels, one the other hand, do offer a noticeable, albeit small, difference depending upon the extent of the porting and its position. Whether that’s worth the cost of the work and the reduction in your guns value depends upon the individual.

You don’t mention which discipline you shoot. If you’re looking at porting check the rules first, they’re not universally allowed.

The bottom barrel thing is not a 'myth' but it may not matter to the individual. I know its only an inch but the bottom barrel is closer to the hands and pushes the gun back at a point closer to where the stock meets the shoulder. The recoil drives back into the shoulder with less of pivot upwards. With an SXS its the fact the barrels are not inline with the stock. There will be some sideways movement when one barrel is fired which may or may not (again) affect the shooter.

I have not corrected my earlier spelling mistake - I accept that mussel flip is a myth in all but the most expensive of resturants.

Thanks for all your replies, I think extended but not ported is the way, what is the difference, apart from weight, between stainless steel and titanium?

What do you guys do with the end of the barrels that protection is needed?

GeordieTrapper said:

Thanks for all your replies, I think extended but not ported is the way, what is the difference, apart from weight, between stainless steel and titanium?

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Mainly the weight, think they also cut the knurling slightly different. The stainless ones have checkering, the titanium have a spiral effect. The weight difference can have quite an effect with it being right at the end of the barrel.

GeordieTrapper said:

Thanks for all your replies, I think extended but not ported is the way, what is the difference, apart from weight, between stainless steel and titanium?

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Price and weight 

Robden said:

What do you guys do with the end of the barrels that protection is needed?

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Everything from pulling the trigger to putting it back in a gun slip.

extended chokes stops the carbon build up at end of barrel on the blueing, continually putting gun into gun slip also over time wears the blueing. 

Dont know if it's me just being stuffy and old fashioned. I have seen some classic top grade guns fitted with extended chokes. They remind me of an immaculately dressed guy wearing a classy suit and a pair of sandals 

Freddypip said:

The bottom barrel thing is not a 'myth' but it may not matter to the individual. I know its only an inch but the bottom barrel is closer to the hands and pushes the gun back at a point closer to where the stock meets the shoulder. The recoil drives back into the shoulder with less of pivot upwards. With an SXS its the fact the barrels are not inline with the stock. There will be some sideways movement when one barrel is fired which may or may not (again) affect the shooter.

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It has always been a comfort to me that minuscule effects are of no consequence to me.  And that is not what the classic SxS muzzle flip about at all.  But it is BS as well so that doesn't make any difference either. 

You neglect to discern that shotguns are making gross movements when fired and such tiny effects as you ascribe to are of no consequence whatsoever.

I might also mention that in the past too numerous to number decades I've never had the occasion to damage the muzzle of any firearm.  Guess I've just been lucky, eh?

jonz said:

Everything from pulling the trigger to putting it back in a gun slip.

extended chokes stops the carbon build up at end of barrel on the blueing, continually putting gun into gun slip also over time wears the blueing. 

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It wasn't anything to do with gun slips. Here's why extended chokes are handy...