How to Identify a Browning Choke

Use the right choke for your situation.

Experienced hunters select the choke on their shotgun based on what type of shots they expect to take. The choke is the last section of barrel where the slug or shot emerges from the shotgun after it is fired. A full choke, which narrows the opening at the end of the barrel, is used for distance shooting, while a cylinder choke does not constrict the barrel at all and is a good choice for close-range shots and rifled slugs. Browning stamps its barrels with choke codes about six inches ahead of the chamber. Know what kind of choke your Browning shotgun has before you head afield.

Instructions

1. Unload your gun. Unless you are shooting, it is safest to keep the gun unloaded.

2. Look on you barrel about six inches ahead of the chamber. You will see one or more asterisks and perhaps an "S" or an underscore "_." The gauge and chamber length of your shotgun are also marked here.

3. Examine and Identify your Browning's choke stamp, which is indicated by the number of asterisks and underscores: one asterisk ("*") is full choke; one asterisk with an underscore ("*_ ") is improved modified choke; two asterisks ("**") is modified choke; two asterisks and an underscore ("**_") is improved cylinder choke; two asterisks with an "S" and hyphen ("**S-") is skeet choke; and three asterisks ("***") is cylinder choke.

References

• Ohio Department of Natural Resources: Section 1: Firearms
• Gunsmoke: General Firearms Information