Tips and Tactics

Before You Buy:

1. Please review the Indian Creek Shooting Systems Choke Tube Exchange Chart prior to selecting a choke for your gun. Indian Creek Shooting Systems is not responsible for improperly selected choke tubes and will charge a restocking fee of $10.00 plus shipping to replace choke tubes wrongly selected.
2. You should know what thread pattern choke tube you will need for your gun. If you are unsure we highly suggest you call the manufacturer of you gun and they should be able to tell you.  Have your model number and serial number when you call them.
3. It is very likely possible that your new choke tube will change your point of impact. Be sure to update your sights and adjust accordingly.
4. Black Diamond Strike (turkey) chokes achieve optimal performance when used with a turkey scope/red dot sight or other optic.
5. Try several loads to ensure your gun and tube are synergized for optimal performance.
6. If you are considering TSS shells, check the shell manufacturers’ website ( i.e. Nitro, Apex, Federal) for their recommendations with our choke tubes.

Patterning Process for your gun – Choke – Shell

Many people ask about patterning and sighting in a shotgun for turkey hunting. The following is how we, here at Indian Creek SS, perform that process. We think that pattering a shotgun and sighting one in are two totally different things. If you look at it this way you will have better results.

After saying that, let’s go back a little and say that you can do both at the same time. If, for example, you shoot your current shell and choke combination and your pattern is off to the right, then you can adjust your sights immediately.  But, if you get your new choke, shells and gun or any combination of these, you must shoot patterns to be able to see where the concentration of the shot goes.

Shop Now

Here is a step by step procedure of how we do this at Indian Creek SS.

This is what is needed:

• Shotgun
• Choke or chokes
• All shells you want to test
• A 4’ x 4’ paper or cardboard *
• A place to shoot 40 yds
• 10” dia circle or way to measure this
• Sharpie pen
• Gun rest or sand bags

* Why a 4’x4’ sheet?

This size is required to view a 30” pattern at 40 yards with an Indian Creek choke tube and a 4’x4’ will accommodate that.

When you are patterning you are not really concerned if your gun, choke and shell combo are hitting point of aim.  You are just trying to find what combo gives you the best pattern.  After you get the combo of shells, choke and gun you like, then we move on to sighting your gun in.

1. Choose the choke ,shell and gun
2. Place target (4’x4’) at 40 yards (write on the target what gun, choke and shells used)
3. Set up on a good gun rest or sand bags
4. Shoot first target (put a dot in the center of the 4’x4’ target to aim at for reference only)
5. Retrieve target
6. Find center of pattern and trace 10” dia circle around the center (not aiming point, but center of shot pattern)
7. Count all shot that are in the 10” circle
8. Repeat this process until you have shot all combinations of choke, shells and guns (putting up a new 4’x4’ sheet each time)
9. Record all information from the targets and chose the best combo.

Now you can sight this combo in, as you would a rifle.