Carlson, any good? How to decide which to get?

Go to their site they offer a lot of details. I went through a few different chokes and theirs worked the best in my Versa Max.

yes Carlson are good they have different levels of good also.

as to what your deciding on , what are you shooting and what are you trying to hit at what distance.

I have used plenty of Carlson choke tubes with no problems

I am running a Carlson's BSC buck shot choke in my 500 12ga 20 inch barrel I am getting birds at 50-55 yards not a ton of pellets but enough

mostly running lead #4 Winchester 2 3/4 1-1/4 ounce at 1250 over the chrono

ported choke which might help with recoil. I don't notice recoil much so can't say
I bought it for buckshot and it is a full so I just ran shot through it and got good patterns and run it almost all the time.
It also does well with #5 and #6

the logic of a longer choke helps pattern because the constriction happens in a longer distance

part of why I think several of the shotgun manufactures use a very long choke now

Chokes depend on what shell and what you’re after. You can have a custom choke made for whatever it is you’re wanting to shoot and what shell you’ll be using. Different constrictions for lead vs HTL shells. And believe it or not, they’re generally cheaper than mass produced chokes. You can call and tell them your gun make, model, and gauge and then tell them which brand and shot size you’ll be using and within 2 weeks or less you’ll have “your” choke. My guy even jokes and asked me do I get tore up on turkeys or am I cool calm and collected…20” pattern at 40 or 10”? I laughed and said you better give me a 20-30” pattern!!

would you share your guys info if not here by direct message

I use Briley chokes in my sporting gun, Briley has food info on their web page. My hunting guns shoot Carlson and Trulock chokes just fine.
My turkey gun has a Winchester choke.
Choosing choke is dependent on range and target

Best choke pattern I’ve seen was from my nephews Mossberg pump with factory choke not sure what model, not the 500 a thiner model but that was as close to perfect as I’ve a pattern ever come across.

Expensive doesn't mean better...

My stoeger likes a believe it's called primos tightwads $15-20.. better than 3 other tubes I tried..

SumToy Customs
912 237-4360

William will build you a choke for everything from shooting deer with buckshot to waterfowl chokes.

It's a little like playing the lottery, as mentioned above a cheaper choke might end up being the best you have.

I've patterened Kicks, Briley, Carlson's, Hunters Specialties, Mobil Benelli, Rem Chokes, etc.

My best patterning buckshot choke with #2 shot through #4 buck ended up being a Mark Bansner Tru Glo turkey choke...Go figure!

The patterning board always picks the winners.

They make great choke tubes...

it can change with ammo also

definitly patterning board alwasy tells the truth but you need a number of them also

I shot some buck out of a Carlson's extended Full Rem Choke from my 870 6 of 9 pellets at 50 yards on the first round
2 of 9 on the next and 4 of 9 on the 3rd

I moved in to 25 yards and it was about a 12 inch pattern with all 9

when you find a combo that works well it makes you buy a case of that ammo.

^^^ Absolutely!

SumToy makes great chokes. He will make you one for whatever you’re shooting. Lots of good choices out there. Indian creek makes a great choke. I have not found one that doesn’t shoot well. Some of the best patterns I have seen with a 20 ga has come out of a tightwad choke. The IC in .570 with a load of 2oz #9s. Is a turkeys nightmare, good core with good coverage. But just because it works with one gun or load, doesn’t mean it will do the same with yours.

I use Carlson‘s in my Stoeger Condor Supreme 20 gauge O/U. I bought it as an affordable double ten or fifteen years ago for my daughter. They work very well, that gun is a grouse, woodcock and pheasant killing machine.

I shoot it so well that I traded her my expensive Remington 332 for it.

I also have a condor in 20 ga and 12.... No complaints

I use Carlson’s waterfowl tubes , my turkey Chloe is a tightwad.

Someone mentioned it, but the ammo makes a difference as well. I have a dedicated gun/choke/ammo for turkeys. I KNOW when I pull the trigger it’s a dead bird out to a distance I rarely even shoot, but it’s nice to know I can. With that said even trying a mass produced ammo from different manufacturers in the same shot and weight will throw a different pattern. You’d think a 1 5/8oz load would be the same no matter what, but it isn’t. So yeah, I have enough ammo for a lifetime. I even call and order it and get all the same lot number. I shoot one shell from each batch of lot numbers and haven’t had a shell not perform and that’s 8.5’s, 9’s, and even 10’s. All my out of state birds last year were shot with the #10’s. 17-42yds. The 42 was on a pasture in Montana and I didn’t have the best cover and they had topped a rise and didn’t see the hen that should’ve been there.
My wing shooting is just with factory chokes and Rio shells. For some reason whether it’s their dove loads or duck loads, they just pattern the best in my 12ga with both IC and Mod.

I have a complete set (6) of Carlson extended tubes in my competition gun. Work great if I'm doing my job. I use Carlson's Delta Waterfowl series in my semi-auto waterfowler, have no complaints.