Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains an affiliate link. We earn from qualifying purchases.

Rifle shooters are keen to “tune” their guns. They may install aftermarket triggers, stocks, or barrels to improve the performance of their firearm. Shotgun owners, however, are more likely to head afield with a “stock” firearm. The majority of upland and waterfowl hunters simply screw in the appropriate choke tube for the game they plan to pursue and head to the field or the clays range, satisfied with the out-of-the-box performance potential their firearm offers.
There are ways, however, that you can improve shotgun performance. Many shotguns come with spacers that allow you to adjust drop and cast, improving the gun’s fit and subsequently allowing for a smoother gun mount and more consistent shooting. You can also test different loads, and as someone who tests shotguns frequently, I have seen marked differences in pattern consistency and density between different shotgun loads. In addition to those two focuses, another easy way to alter the performance of your shotgun, though, is to purchase aftermarket choke tubes.

Do Aftermarket Chokes Improve Shotgun Performance?

But do aftermarket chokes really make that much of a difference? Do they dramatically improve shotgun performance compared to the included chokes that came with your shotgun?

The answer is not always clear cut. First and foremost, not all factory choke tubes are created equal. Some companies invest heavily in choke tube design and development, and the included chokes are quite good. Browning has done this with their Invector DS chokes, and I’ve seen consistent results from Beretta and Benelli guns as well. Some factory chokes don’t seem to throw consistent patterns, though, and some do better with certain loads than others.

So, what about aftermarket chokes? I have had good success with many aftermarket chokes and after testing, I can say that high-quality aftermarket chokes oftentimes do result in improved performance. That increased performance translates to better scores at the clays range and improved performance in the field.

What Aftermarket Chokes Offer

Scott Carlson of Carlson’s Choke Tubes has studied choke tube performance professionally for decades, and he understands how having the right tube in place can improve performance immediately.

“Most people over choke their shotguns and really hurt their ability at close range and at distance since longer shots are harder to make even for experienced shooters,” Carlson says. “I think a good rule of thumb is to figure out what distance your shots are most likely to be, then select a choke for that distance and closer.”

There are many aspects that can impact choke tube performance, but two factors play a vital role in how well a choke tube performs in the field: material selection and tolerances. Material selection is important because it plays a role in durability and because different choke tube materials impact performance with different types of shot. Carlson uses 17-4 stainless steel in many of their tubes, and they find that this high-quality steel performs well with a wide range of loads. It’s also quite durable.

Tolerances are also very important. Factory tube tolerances are set by the manufacturer, and the tighter the tolerances the more consistent performance you can expect to see from one choke tube to the next. Tubes with very uneven tolerances might mean widely varying performance from tubes that are ostensibly the same constriction. When tolerances vary, a factory choke tube that’s marked modified may perform more like an improved cylinder or a full choke. Scott says that Carlson’s holds tolerances to .002, which is extremely tight. In this way, you know with certainty that your choke tube offers the proper constriction.

Carlson says there’s another factor that plays a vital role in downrange performance—parallel section. While many hunters may not consider the impacts of parallel section on the performance of their shotgun; it plays an important role in patterning.

Parallel section (also referred to as choke section) is the length of the tube. A choke with longer parallel section creates a more uniform shot string at the muzzle. In doing so, the pattern is more reliable and denser.

“All of our waterfowl, turkey, and sporting clays choke tubes are extended and designed this way, to throw denser patterns by creating a longer parallel section (or choke section) to assimilate all of the pellets in a uniform dense pattern,” says Carlson.

The three primary pillars of choke tube design—materials, tolerances, and parallel section—combine to improve performance in the field. The best choke tubes offer the best of all three components, and in doing so, they allow hunters to get the best performance from their gun.

Choosing the Right Shotgun Choke

The standard IC, M, and F constrictions offer some idea as to how the choke tube should perform, but more frequently, companies are offering chokes with constrictions related to specific applications. For example, Carlson’s offers chokes for mid-range and long-range applications as well as early season and late season constrictions. That may seem like semantics, but it’s not. Their chokes are designed with specific applications in mind and hunters can more easily choose the right choke constriction for a particular application. For example, their Rooster XR choke tubes are designed for early season (light modified) and late season (improved modified) applications. If you’re hunting birds that you know will hold tight in terrain where shots will be close (grouse hunting in timber, for example), you will want the early season tube because it is optimized for mid-range and closer shots. If it is indeed late season and the rooster pheasants are flushing well ahead of you, then it is time to switch to a late season tube.

The key is that these tubes are designed with very specific applications in mind. Generic modified tubes might be optimized for 25 yards or 40 yards, and you won’t know how that tube performs until you pattern your gun. Chokes that are optimized for specific hunting conditions offer a much clearer indication of the designed purpose, and you won’t pay for an aftermarket choke that, in reality, is not appropriate for the intended application.

Patterning Your Shotgun Chokes on Paper

There’s one way to know how your choke/load/shotgun combination shoots, and that’s to pattern the combination at hunting ranges. It’s no secret that patterning helps improve performance, but there are still lots of hunters who believe their gun always shoots tight patterns at the proper distance and get frustrated when they miss the first five roosters during hunting season.

I don’t believe that aftermarket chokes are magic wands that automatically improve shotgun performance. I will say, though, that based on my own pattern testing of guns over the years, quality aftermarket chokes do offer a substantial performance advantage in some instances. In a few cases, the results have been dramatic, and while a new choke tube won’t replace regular practice or patterning, they do, in many cases, offer hunters a very real advantage. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that the $80 or so you spend on an aftermarket choke will be offset in a few years with the savings earned by wasting fewer shells.

Are Aftermarket Chokes Worth the Money?

So, are aftermarket chokes worth the money? In most cases, they are. No choke tube can make up for deficiencies in shooting ability, but the right choke truly can offer some substantial improvements in performance, and that translates to more birds on the ground. You may have to experiment with different choke brands and constrictions as well as different loads (although some choke manufacturers like Carlson’s now offer chokes that are optimized specifically for certain shotshell loads from companies like Winchester and Federal), but the end results will be worth the trouble. Yes, you can tune your hunting shotgun, but it will take some time and research and perhaps some extra money to do so. The results, however, will be worthwhile.