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Lube Those Screw In Chokes

9.1K views 42 replies 33 participants last post by  Matthew  
#1 ·
I don’t normally care to be considered stupid, but in this case I suppose it fits. I got a rather expensive Briley choke stuck in my BT 99. Now I’m very careful to lube the threads and generally keep my gun clean, but in this case something happened that I can’t explain. I had about a flat through the choke and decided to change it out tonight. Now a flat doesn’t seem like much to me to stick a choke but it did. I broke a T handle Browning wrench trying to get it out. I tried oil, Remington action cleaner, heat, nothing would budge that choke. I finally had to put the choke in my bench vice on the gun and gently turn it to break it loose. It boogered the choke a bit but it finally broke free. That choke won’t be going back in the gun. So I took some anti seize grease and installed my other choke in the gun. From now on, I’m gonna check it between rounds. I figure I lost a good hundred bucks being careless.
 
#6 ·
Yes, it is worth noting to keep the threads clean and inspected. My Citori has one barrel that the threads have been a bit boogery since it was new out of the box. I’m very careful changing chokes on it. Don’t want to even think about a cross thread. I seem to have a bit of an issue with chokes getting loose, so it’s kind of a touchy feeling thing with the choke wrench to get it snug but not tight. All my chokes are extended so it’s not hard to do finger tight which is what I normally do. I suppose I must have snugged this one and waited too long to pull it out and clean it. Won’t do that again. I sure didn’t like the idea of trying to find a gunsmith. I was fortunate I suppose.
 
#7 ·
I have always pulled the chokes and soaked them in Hoppes while cleaning the rest of the gun, which I do pretty much monthly whether warranted or not. I always clean barrel and choke threads then use Lucas Oil Red & Tacky #2 to lube the chokes before finger tightening. The #2 has anti-seize in it so never had an issue getting them out and it keeps them tight because it doesn't heat up, cool, heat, cool etc which is what causes them to loosen in the first place.
I am very happy to have went to a fixed full on my SBT because I'd rather clean ten guns than one choke. Something about them just annoys the crap out of me when cleaning.
 
#9 ·
I’ll +1 for taking care of chokes.

After my 725 with OEM flush chokes went off a pad to the concrete, two things were etched into my mind. 1) extended chokes offer priceless muzzle protection 2) that extended hunk of metal offers a huge mechanical advantage should anything else happen.

I don’t care what the choice of lube is, but routine maintenance is a must.
 
#10 ·
I have never had a choke get stuck in a barrel as my barrel won’t fit in my case with the extend choke in the barrel so I have to remove it in order to but my gun in the case. And my field gun has flush chokes and I have always got into the habit of removing the choke when I’m done hunting and the gun is cleaned.


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#12 ·
After experiencing a close call with a stuck choke tube many years ago, I have a routine that I follow after every outing. When finished shooting for the day I unscrew the choke tubes about halfway. If there is some resistance, it's time to clean. If no resistance, I store the gun with the chokes half out. I agree with Ken C., the choice of lube is not as important as the maintenance, I use whatever gun grease that I have at the time.
 
#13 ·
Thanks for sharing your story. It is a good reminder to keep up on those choke tubes. I have always put grease on mine and have never has a stuck choke tube. I have worked on many others that were brought to me to remove. Some were pretty easy, some were not. The worse ones were the flush chokes that the owner already rounded off the square notches so there was nothing left for the wrench to grip to. I only had one that I just could not get out. The owner took it to another gunsmith and he cut off 1/4" off the end of the barrel to get ahold of the choke to remove it. A pretty drastic step in my opinion. Usually you can soak the end of the barrel in kroil or penetrating oil for a day or so and they will turn out. You get what you pay for if you let it go. Regards, Bob
 
#14 ·
Yep it's a must to check and clean rigorously. It rained on me while shoot Dbls a year ago. Forgot to remove the choke tubes to clean and oil. Well the top tube is stuck . Have not tried heat on this one. Only oil soaked without any luck. I fear applied heat to soft soldered barrels and don't want to wrench on it to hard.
So I have just left it alone for now.

Jason in PA
 
#20 ·
I have extended chokes in my Browning Citori. Best shooter in our local club (AA and regularly makes all-state team) knows I'm a new shooter. He suggested I back out chokes about 1-2 turns after I'm done shooting. I also regularly grease threads. So far I probably have less than 3000 rounds through my gun, but have had no problems.
 
#22 ·
I have had choke tubes stick in the past and I can put the end of the barrel over the electric range and get it hot and with some effort, they will come out, slowly. I have begun using an anti-seize compound on the threads instead of a regular grease or oil and the problem has totally ended.
 
#23 ·
I will use anti-seize grease after a good cleaning. When I take the choke out of the KS-5, I soak it in RGS. The threads are then soaked also inside the barrel. I hook a barrel brush to a drill and clean out the treads, then the rest of the barrel. Spray rinse the threads and swab the barrel with a light coat of oil. Clean the choke tube threads with a brass brush and apply a good amount of anti-seize grease along with a dab of K-gun Gun Glide to the threads and smooth part of the tube. As I screw the choke in, I back it out again after every two rounds or so, and go in further. This insures that grease is in the threads all the way to the bottom. This is important with the bottom threaded chokes. As stated prior, I want that whole tube to be coated in grease when I remove it.

The problems are caused mostly where the tube meets the barrel. Plastic and fouling gets under the lip and dries out the lube, locking the tube in. I usually will back the tube about half way out after a few days of shooting and hand tighten back up. This again gets some fresh grease back down in the threads between thorough cleanings.

If I end up having to shoot in rain, the tubes are removed when I am done, and the whole gun gets dismantled. Nothing will freeze a choke in faster than prolonged moisture.
 
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#25 ·
Yep it's a must to check and clean rigorously. It rained on me while shoot Dbls a year ago. Forgot to remove the choke tubes to clean and oil. Well the top tube is stuck . Have not tried heat on this one. Only oil soaked without any luck. I fear applied heat to soft soldered barrels and don't want to wrench on it to hard.
So I have just left it alone for now.

Jason in PA
Have you tried Sili-Kroil or Aero-Kroil? They are both excellent products when applied along with a dose of patience to allow them time to work. Check out Kano Laboratories on the net.
 
#28 ·
I mix 50/50 kroil & hoppes # 9. Put both on a large bottle. ( No need to put more than a half inch of the mix in the bottle.) Dip a brass brich on a cleaning rod in the bottle. Swab the barrel good which removes ant plactic. The swab out with clean patch. Spray barrel with remoil and swab with oil swab. Your done.
Just to make things easier. I put cleaning rod in a battery drill and clean the barrel & plastico out.