My benelli auto loader 12 ga is patterning about 6 " low with the two beads directly behind one another....I can get a pattern centered on my front bead if I put a little space( show rib) between the beeds when I shoot. I am making my own custom choke tube for turkeys now at my shop. I have this idea, that if I leave the final choke dim way way undersize and then fit the tube to the barrel and mark the top. The come back and bore the final ID off center towards the top of the barrel, would that tend to throw my patterns upwards, or just make them center higher, the same amount I bored off center???????

then If I bored off center the final ID and added a little angle to get the shot going upwards, would that be a viable plan....I am making the tube no matter what....it would be just a little more work to do it different....and if so how much angle....1 degree????? I am thinking 1 degree would move the pattern about 8" at 40 yards....enough to get the target above my matched beads.....any opinions.......thanks..bob

222blr---

Don't "aim" a shotgun. The butt stock is the rear "sight".....actually your eye is, but the stock is what locates it.

Wrap the latest issue of a 3/16 inch thick magazine around the comb and hold it in place with electrical tape. Shoot and see. Increase or decrease as needed.

Does the barrel have a rib on it? If not you can easily bend it enough to change half a pattern.

222blr,

There are some good aftermarket sights available which attach directly to the rib and which I believe allow adjustments for elevation. I have peered down some barrels so equipped and the view is actually pretty good. I don't think trying to effect the correction at the choke will produce the results you want. You could end up blowing holes in what pattern you have.

Malm

Me again,

Along the same lines and thoughts as Belk, you can change the pitch of the gun which can shift your point of aim also.

Try this. Loosen your recoil pad and install washers between the pad and the stock at the toe. This pitch change will usually force the barrel in an upward fashion which can move your point of impact in the vertical direction provided you do not try to align the beads which will then result in more frustration.

Like Belk was saying, you don't aim shotguns, you point them. Shotguns require proper fitting to place you on target. That said, there are two instances where careful sighting of the shotgun is a must. #1, When using a slug barrels and #2, when hunting turkeys. In this case, properly oriented beads or sights would be a good plan.

Good luck,

Malm

Jbelk...actually you DO AIM a shotgun when you turkey hunt...they go so far as to put scopes and rifle sights on them. I do use this gun for waterfowl hunting and I understand it has to "fit" the face to get things started, but this choke tube will only be used for turkey hunting. I was told by the shotgun gunsmith who fitted me to my wooden stock shotguns that I could bend the barrel.....but the barrel is perfectly straight at the moment...and I shoot it very well on ducks...so I want a solution that is temporary or revolves around my choke tube....I was thinking I would just try to remember to tilt the barrel and make sure I see lots of rib....I was thinking of the add on sights...but I STILL want a choke tube that will give me a tighter pattern....so the tube is getting made....I was thinking I could kill two birds with one stone( nice one huh).....on another note....this benelli has a bore of ONLY .7200"...thats a super tight 12 ga.....and one of the reasons that some of the aftermarket tubes dont work very well...I have two here and one starts out at .736" and the other starts out at a wopping .742"!!!!! so my pattern doesnt get choked until it gets half way down the damn tube!!!!!!!!!! my new tube will have an ID that starts out .723".....bob

222 blr

When you finish the choke tube, set it up in the mill and mill the face out of square with the bore line. If it is shooting low try about 3 degrees off square so that the top is shorter than the bottom. Did you ever notice some older doubles that the barrel face appeared to be not square with the bore? That was no accident, that was how some old timers regulated the point of impact, with a file.

craftsman...neat idea...the problem that comes to mind in that scenario is .. I bet the shot column disperses upwards, and the pattern gets larger...turkey hunting is pretty unique to shotgunning, in that most standard assumptions are gone...you are in essence shooting it like a rifle...and you want the pattern to stay as one ball of shot...because you only are shooting at a 2" wide target maybe 4" high as far as 40 yards away.....so shot dispersion is bad....but thats a good tip to stash away for a bird hunting gun, especially an old double, you dont want to risk trying to bend the barrles......I have made the tube except for the final bore..it fits perfect and came out real nice...its made of 17-4ph, and has a 3 "long taper to the final choke dimemsion.Nice smooth transition. I am worried that the angleing of the final bore would disrupt the shot column, so I will leave it centered, and probably make a small rear sight to attach to the rib, to force me to raise the front sight...and thus get the pattern up...the tube and the rear sight can come off for waterfowl hunting....thansk for the insights.....bob