Adjustable chokes used to be sold with shotguns back in the 60's but I haven't sen any for a while now. Are they still around? Anybody know if there were issues with them?

When you say adjustable, I'm assuming you mean something like a Poly choke? If that's what you mean, I don't think any shotgun maker puts them on their guns anymore. You can buy adjustable chokes (not sure if the Poly choke is still made, but there are other makers of similar chokes), but they won't come with any new shotguns. I don't have any experience with them, but I don't think I would want one on my shotgun. First, most of them look ugly as sin. Second, sporting clays shooters change their tubes a good bit. I worked at a pro-am sporting clays event where all the big guns were there, Krueger, Roberts, Matarese (not sure about the spellings! haha), and not one of them had an adjustable choke on their gun. That says something to me, as to their performance. Take all this for what it's worth, but I'll stick with my screw-in chokes or fixed chokes (actually prefer the latter).

Polychokes are still made.

They also have a new version that fits into threaded choke tube barrels.

Some of us still like and use polychoked guns. I shoot an older Remington semi-auto with a polychoke on the sporting clays course. Its easy to adjust for longer shots.

Gold40

Judge,

If you have to have a potato on the end of your barrel go buy a Model 12 Winchester and then just pick up a spare barrel with the potato on it on gunbroker.com. Doing it that way you're likely to spend less money.

Please don't take a perfectly usable barrel and do that to it though.

For what it's worth, I suspect that miles 58 thinks about those chokes as I did. (I'm 78) I freely confess that I was somewhat doubtful about "screw in" chokes when they came out (I always had a phobia about constantly checking it for tightness)- but I knew they solved my objection -so perfectly described by miles 58 - the "screw in" choke was not a "potato" on the end of the barrel. I have no doubt that Polychoke and its ilk "worked" for a lot of people - (It ran enormous advertising in my youth)- I just did't like them as a matter of esthetics. A firearm has to be a thing of beauty for me and the lines of a shotgun equipped with Polychoke or its like just didn't fit the bill for me.

Im with Gerry on this,When I was a youngster I used to shoot a model 50 winchester w/a poly choke very effectively.I was about 12 would go to a lot of money 3 clay bird shoots,they would let me shoot from the womens line,but after I would win all the money in the first round,they would make me shoot w/them and I could still beat them most of the time,but are the ugly.w/regards

I used a couple of shot guns with poly chokes on they are very cheap to buy. I belive the poly chokes cut the value of them quite a bit.

I found that the choke was never on the right setting any way and one used the setting it was on when the birds came by or got up.

I use IC choke for 98 percent of my shooting only throwing in a Mod when going after geese only.(killed a hell of lot of geese with IC) A extra full turkey choke for gobblers and for shooting yotes.

Screw in chokes are so much better. But then I never worry about the fix chokes on some of my doubles I just use them as they are.

I shoot a 101 knob grip pigeon grade 20 with gorgeous wood on it. It has tubes, but I have only once ever had anything other than skeet/skeet in the gun. I had a beautiful Miroku Daly 12 that I shot as well as any gun I have ever put to my shoulder. I got a new wife who took a shine to it but needed a little less choke than IC/Mod for grouse and woodcock. I picked the wrong gunsmith to let put tubes in it and he ran the reamer out the side of one of the barrels. Two inches off the end made so much difference I couldn't shoot it any more.

I cannot imagine what made so many people put those huge ass ugly blobs on the end of something so nicely done as John M Browning's finest work, the model 12 Winchester, but every time I see a solid rib M12 with a potato on the end of it I get a little sick inside. Why of all the guns available to stick potatoes on did such and outlandish number have to be Model 12s? Why couldn't people stick those things on something that was already so homely it wouldn't matter like an A5?

Because back in the model 12 hay day they were just another shotgun. Lots people wonder how could some one do that to a collectable Its at the time they were not collectable.