choke maintenance?

[high_revs]

so i have extended chokes. manufacturer says make sure to remove and clean as carbon build up can get into the grooves and cake, thus will need a gun smith to remove the chokes. they are finger tightened and there is no tool to use to remove (no groves or slots).

how often y'all clean your chokes? manufacturer says every field strip, probably 1000 rds, sooner the better. they said make sure to drop some lube also.

do y'all actually put a little lube in the grooves. i figure lubing would attract more carbon and cake vs. keeping it dry after cleaning?

not sure how much carbon will actually get in there unless the choke just loosens/unscrews it self ever so slightly. is the pressure that much to force carbon into the grooves on a finger tightened choke?

[swifty]

...is the pressure that much to force carbon into the grooves on a finger tightened choke?

[DirtyDave]

Anti-Sieze the threads and a Bore-Snake takes care of most build up. Plastic from the wad can build up on the choke too.

[epic1856]

Plastic from the wad can build up on the choke too.

Agree on the plastic. I shot about 1,000 rounds from my 12 g o/u and the plastic was a PITA to remove, not so much of the carbon getting in the threading area. of the choke.

[greybeard]

They do sell special choke cleaner and lube. I use Slip 2000 cleaner, just dunk them in and remove in 10 min. Choke lube something in a can that says choke lube.

[BigDogatPlay]

Agree with the above, plastic and caked on carbon inside the choke tube is a bit of a PITA, but can be dealt with pretty easily. I clean my guns about every 500 rounds or so, whether they really need it or not. Otherwise after shooting but between cleanings I just wipe down the outside of the gun, run a swab through the bore to knock out loose fouling and then a patch with CLP.

With a choke tube tool or not, chokes tubes should be pretty much finger tight. If you are shooting clays check them for looseness when you head up to the line start each round. Any grease that is labelled for choke tubes, or a light anti-seize grease, will do nicely. I run four light beads ~45 degrees apart from each other across the length of the threads and screw the choke in. That's probably all that it needs, but different shooters will have different ideas of how much grease to use. Running choke tubes without some form of grease in the threads is not a good idea, generally speaking.

[wjc]

I clean them every time I use them. I also clean the threads inside the barrel.

I put a dab of choke lube on the choke and smoosh it around the threads before assembly.

[prc77]

I clean them every time I use them. I also clean the threads inside the barrel.

I put a dab of choke lube on the choke and smoosh it around the threads before assembly.

"smoosh" is that a technical term

[2barrels]

Anti-Sieze is my friend one of my shot guns i didn't use it and i almost ruin the barrel trying to remove the choke

[wjc]

"smoosh" is that a technical term

Absolutely. A little more would be a "splooge".

[.300 Weatherby Mag]

I pull my chokes out about every 1000 rounds (about once a month)... I use a little bit of Pro-Shot Products Pro-Gold grease on the threads... It acts as a seal/anti-seize... On the precision built guns the tolerances are such that very little fowling gets into the outside of the choke between the tube and the barrel.. The fowling comes off the out side of the choke tube with a little bit of CLP on a rag... I clean the inside of the choke tube with Shooter's Choice as it makes quick work of carbon/powder and plastic fowling...

[high_revs]

crap.. i just realized... i have a dewey shotgun cleaning rod i bought some time ago for my 870 but don't have a barrel brush for it. guess i wasn't thinking about the wad stuff. i was surprised that the slotted jag provided was very small, i.e. not quite a tight fitting or remotely close to snug fit like when cleaning my ARs, 22 rimfires or even pistols.

guess i got some ordering and cleaning to do.

i have mpro 7 cleaner. haven't not used it as much other than the bcg for my ARs. regular bore cleaner like hoppes and butch bore shine work too for the barrel, right? i figure a bore cleaner is a bore cleaner even on shotguns. at least i don't have to do copper cleaning i guess. (newb at cleaning shotguns; i just ran some wet and then dry patches on the 870 the only time i cleaned it).

and a tooth brush to clean the choke grooves? guess i gotta be more diligent especially on the choke.

how big of a difference is choke lube vs. just gun oil? (i use mpro on that too and a from otis iirc).

[.300 Weatherby Mag]

how big of a difference is choke lube vs. just gun oil? (i use mpro on that too and a from otis iirc).

That is personal preference.... I use grease, my father uses oil... We haven't had any issues with stuck chokes..

[sargenv]

I tend to use Slide Glide light since I've picked up a few tubes of it at verious matches.. It seems to work well on the choke grooves and on internal gun parts. If I am shooting in the cold (usually waterfowl hunting), the choke gets grease and the gun will get some form of synthetic oil.