Shotgun Life | The Best in Wing and Clays Shooting

Archive: July 2026

Duck Commander Debuts Catahoula Cut at DUX 2026

Friday, July 31, 2026
Written by Shotgun Life Staff
Categories: News
Tags: duckcalls, duckcommander, duckhunting

August 1, 2026 — Duck Commander, a world-renowned leader in duck call manufacturing, is proud to announce the debut of its all-new Catahoula Cut at the 2026 Ducks Unlimited Exposition (DUX) in Memphis, Tennessee, July 31-August 2, 2026. To experience this premium call in person at the premier duck hunting trade show, visit Duck Commander at booth #621.

The Catahoula Cut is a premium double-reed cutdown call featuring a true Louisiana-style cut. Designed to deliver the classic bark, rasp and range that cutdown callers expect, it offers ease of use on the low end while achieving crisp, attention-grabbing high notes.

Forgiving without being restrictive, the Catahoula Cut enables newer callers to produce quality sounds while allowing experienced hunters to push the call to new heights. Machined from high-quality acrylic in a custom ultra-dark brown, it pays homage to Louisiana’s nutrient-rich backwaters. The call includes a modified LA cut tone board and features a Duck Commander bronze band and crest on the barrel.

“The Catahoula Cut reflects everything Duck Commander stands for: authentic Louisiana craftsmanship, proven performance and a passion for helping hunters sound their best in the field,” said Duck Commander Brand Manager, Jacob Mayo. “We designed this call to capture the unmistakable bark and rasp of a true Louisiana-style cutdown while making it accessible to hunters of all experience levels. DUX is the perfect place to introduce it to the waterfowl community, and we can’t wait for hunters to get it in their hands.”

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Remington’s New Nitro Dove Loads Are Ready for Fall

Friday, July 31, 2026
Written by Shotgun Life Staff
Categories: News
Tags: dovehunting, nitroshotgunshells, remingtonshotgunshells

July 31, 2026 — Remington announces the availability of its new Nitro Dove Loads. The speedy new dove loads deliver excellent patterns at high velocities with Remington’s consistent round shot, Power Piston wad, and Unibody hull. The four new loads include two 12-ga. loads with a muzzle velocity of 1,350 fps, and two 20-ga. loads with a muzzle velocity of 1,300 fps. These new products are now being delivered to dealers nationwide.

“Dove hunting is incredibly popular in our great nation because it marks the unofficial start of the fall hunting season, offers a highly social hunting experience, and provides fast-paced shooting action,” says Ronnie Evans, Remington’s Shotshell Product Manager. “Our new Nitro Dove loads are made to take down fast-moving game birds, no matter the time of the season. Nitro Dove gives you consistent patterns, high velocities, and Nitro performance downrange. This helps ensure fewer birds are lost, which results in more doves in your bag.”

The new Nitro Dove loads are packed with features including American-made lead shot that delivers dense patterns which knock birds out of the sky. The load’s unique one-piece wad protects and cushions the shot column for dependable patterns, and Remington’s proven Unibody hull maintains smooth performance and cycling in any shotgun. The loads are available in four configurations and are sold in 25-round boxes.

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Team Beretta Athlete Kim Rhode Captures Gold at ISSF World Cup Hangzhou 2026

Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Written by Shotgun Life Staff
Categories: News
Tags: berettadt11, issf, kimrhode, skeetshooting

July 29, 2026 — Beretta is proud to congratulate Team Beretta athlete Kim Rhode on capturing the Women’s Skeet gold medal at the ISSF World Cup Hangzhou 2026, adding another prestigious international victory to her legendary competitive shooting career. The ISSF World Cup Hangzhou 2026 brought ten days of world-class rifle, pistol and shotgun competition in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China, from July 20-29.

Competing with her Beretta DT11, Rhode delivered a dominant performance in the Women’s Skeet final, defeating fellow American Samantha Simonton to claim the gold medal and lead a U.S. one-two finish. Rhode finished the final with 34 hits, securing another ISSF World Cup victory and further cementing her status as one of the most accomplished shotgun athletes in history.

“Kim continues to set the standard for excellence in competitive shooting,” said Ricardo Olivieri, Beretta USA’s Head of Luxury and Competition. “Her consistency, dedication and ability to perform under pressure at the highest levels of competition are a testament to her incredible skill and commitment to the sport. We are proud to have Kim represent Team Beretta and congratulate her on another remarkable achievement.”

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Beretta Introduces the New A400 Solo: Unstoppable By Nature

Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Written by Shotgun Life Staff
Categories: News
Tags: berettaa400, berettaa400solo, berettashotguns, duckhunting, semiautomaticshotguns

July 28, 2026, Accokeek, MD – Beretta USA is excited to announce the launch of the A400 Solo, a new semi-automatic shotgun engineered for hunters who demand uncompromising reliability, speed and performance in the harshest conditions. Built on Beretta’s proven A400 platform and packed with the company’s latest advancements, the A400 Solo delivers faster cycling, softer recoil and exceptional ballistic performance in a rugged, purpose-built hunting shotgun.

Designed to thrive where conditions are at their toughest, the A400 Solo combines Beretta’s innovative B-LINK® Pro gas-operating system, Steelium® barrel technology and Kick-Off® Plus recoil reduction system into one dependable platform. Whether chasing waterfowl through flooded timber or walking upland fields, the A400 Solo is built to keep hunters focused on the shot, not their equipment.

“Our goal with the A400 Solo was to build a shotgun that hunters can rely on in any environment,” said Caleb McMillen, Beretta USA Sr. Product Manager for Long Guns. “Every feature was designed to help hunters perform with confidence, from faster cycling and reduced recoil to easier maintenance and legendary Beretta barrel performance. The A400 Solo is built for those who refuse to let the elements dictate their hunt.”

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Avian-X’s Expanded Power Butt Kicker Motion Decoy Assortment, Including Three New Species, Now Available

Monday, July 27, 2026
Written by Shotgun Life Staff
Categories: News
Tags: avian-x, duckdecoys, duckhunting

July 27, 2026 — Now available to hunters nationwide, the expanded Power Butt Kicker lineup of motion duck decoys now includes three new species: Mallard Hen, Pintail Drake, and Black Duck.

First revealed by Avian-X®, the industry leader in waterfowl-hunting innovation, at the 2026 SHOT Show event in Las Vegas, these motion decoys are engineered to replicate the precise feeding behavior of live birds, bringing unmatched realism and movement to any spread.

“Each of these units, regardless of species, pairs anatomically accurate bodies with power-kicking webbed feet that generate convincing motion at the water’s surface,” said Josh Lomax, Brand Manager. “From subtle ripples and natural wake to the unmistakable splash signatures of mallards, pintails, and black ducks actively feeding, the system delivers the micro-movements that help pull high-circling flocks down to finish.”

Building on the original model, each decoy arrives ready for the field, including a lifelike feeder-butt body in the hunter’s species of choice, a high-impact power module, two power-kicking webbed feet, and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery with charger—everything needed to deploy realistic feeding action right out of the box.

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A Scientific Quest for Zero Recoil Leads a Physicist to Silicon Valley’s Grip+

Friday, July 24, 2026
Written by Jeff Terry
Categories: Shotguns
Tags: grip+, gripplus, shotgunrecoil

The first surprise came after I returned home from California.

I had just picked up my new Grip+ stock for my Blaser F16 from Sai Chang in Hayward, California, and I was eager to get the gun back on familiar targets. I am a professional physicist, so I naturally like measurements, instrumentation, and using technology to understand what is really happening. In shooting, that means I do not want to rely only on feel or memory when I am trying to evaluate a change. I want data.

Like many shooters who use technology as part of practice, I mounted my ShotKam expecting to review my shots afterward. I wanted to see what had changed, how the new sight picture looked, and whether the stock felt as good at home as it had during the fitting process.

When I reviewed the videos, something was wrong.

My second shots were missing. Not the targets. The recordings.

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Tom Seay Becomes the 2026 World FITASC Champion

Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Written by Shotgun Life Staff
Categories: News
Tags: FITASC, tomseay
Seay

July 21, 2026 — Gamebore Pro Shot Tom Seay has been crowned the 2026 World FITASC Sporting Champion, producing a superb performance to claim the title at Clube de Tiro de Vale das Pedras in Portugal.

Competing against the very best FITASC shooters from around the world, the USA shooter finished on an outstanding 187/200 to secure one of the sport’s most coveted honours and write his name into the history books as a World Champion.

The victory caps an exceptional period of form for Seay, who only last month claimed High Overall (HOA) at the 2026 North American FITASC Championship at Big Red Oak Plantation. Winning both titles within weeks of each other underlines the consistency, composure and world-class ability that have made Tom one of the most respected competitors on the international sporting clays circuit.

Those qualities were perfectly summed up by fellow Gamebore Pro Shot and former World FITASC Champion David Radulovich, who has shared much of Tom’s shooting journey over the years. In a heartfelt tribute following the victory, David described Tom as not only one of the finest competitors in the sport, but also one of its finest people, someone who has always celebrated the success of others as enthusiastically as his own. He reflected on the years they have spent training, travelling and competing together, saying the World Championship simply confirmed what so many within the sport had believed for years: that Tom is one of the very best shooters in the world.

For Tom, the title represents the culmination of decades of dedication. Having balanced a successful professional career alongside elite competition, he has remained a consistent force at the highest level of FITASC, with his perseverance now rewarded by the sport’s ultimate individual accolade.

Tom has been a longstanding Gamebore user since the brand entered the US market and credits the confidence he has in the performance of Gamebore cartridges as an important part of his recent success.

Speaking about his partnership with Gamebore, Tom said:

“I began using Gamebore as soon as it made its emergence in the States. I do not believe I would have had the success that I have had recently without the Gamebore products. The unquestioned confidence the product gives by its quality is second-to-none. The quality of this product speaks for itself while being affiliated with a first class, professional company behind its products.”

Tom’s latest victory adds the World FITASC Sporting Championship to an already impressive list of achievements and further strengthens his reputation as one of the leading figures in international clay shooting.

With victories at both the North American FITASC Championship and now the World FITASC Sporting Championship in the space of just a few weeks, 2026 is proving to be a landmark year for Tom Seay. Everyone at Gamebore is incredibly proud to see him achieve the sport’s highest honour and looks forward to seeing what comes next for the newly crowned World Champion.

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Why 30-Time World Champion Clay Shot George Digweed MBE Only Uses a Full Choke

Sunday, July 19, 2026
Written by Shotgun Life Staff
Categories: Briefs
Tags: claysshooting, georgedigweed, perazzi
Digweed

George Digweed is famous for using very tight chokes—often full choke—because his shooting style is built around precision, confidence, and controlling the target break point rather than relying on a large margin of pellet spread.

The main reasons a top shooter like Digweed may choose a full choke are:

  • Longer target presentations: In sporting clays, many targets are fast, quartering, or crossing at distances where a tighter pattern keeps more pellets concentrated on the target. A full choke can produce a denser, more uniform pattern at 40–50+ yards.
  • His exceptional consistency: A full choke demands accuracy. Digweed’s eye discipline, gun mount, lead control, and ability to read targets allow him to place the center of the pattern exactly where it needs to be.
  • Breaking targets decisively: A dense pattern gives a greater chance of delivering enough pellet energy to break hard targets cleanly, especially edge-on crossers or distant birds.
  • Confidence and familiarity: Elite shooters often use equipment that matches their instincts. Digweed has spent decades learning exactly how his gun patterns and how much lead to apply with his chosen setup.
  • He often shoots at a higher level of difficulty: At the championship level, targets are frequently designed to test range judgment and precision. A tighter choke can be an advantage when the shooter is capable of exploiting it.

That said, full choke is not automatically better. Many excellent sporting shooters use improved modified, modified, or combinations such as improved modified/full because modern sporting targets include close, fast, and unpredictable presentations where too tight a pattern can punish a slightly imperfect move.

Digweed’s approach is similar to that of a rifle marksman: he prefers maximum precision because he trusts his ability to put the shot exactly where he wants it. For the average sporting clays shooter, a full choke is usually less forgiving—but in the hands of a shooter of Digweed’s caliber, it becomes a competitive advantage.

Visit https://claytargetinstruction.com/george-digweed/

The Effective Range and Efficiency of Different Choke Constrictions

Saturday, July 18, 2026
Written by Shotgun Life Staff
Categories: Briefs
Tags: shotgunchokes
Muller gun

The effective range of a shotgun choke is not a fixed distance where it suddenly stops working. Instead, a choke determines how tightly the shot pattern holds together, which affects the maximum distance at which you can reliably place enough pellets on the target for a clean kill or a broken clay.

The table below assumes modern target or hunting loads with lead shot and a well-patterned shotgun.

ChokeTypical Constriction (12 ga.)Approximate Pattern at 40 YardsEffective Range
Cylinder (CYL)0.000″40%20–25 yards
Skeet (SK)0.005″45%20–25 yards
Improved Cylinder (IC)0.010″50%25–35 yards
Light Modified (LM)0.015″55%30–40 yards
Modified (M)0.020″60%35–45 yards
Improved Modified (IM)0.025″65%40–50 yards
Full (F)0.030″70%45–60 yards
Extra Full/Turkey0.035–0.045″+75–90%50–70+ yards (turkey-specific loads)

Practical applications

  • Cylinder: Home defense, upland birds over pointing dogs, very close sporting clays.
  • Skeet: Skeet shooting, quail, woodcock, rabbits.
  • Improved Cylinder: The most versatile choke for upland hunting and many sporting clays stations.
  • Light Modified: An excellent “do-everything” choke, particularly popular for sporting clays.
  • Modified: Pheasants, ducks over decoys, trap singles.
  • Improved Modified: Long crossers, late-season pheasants, handicap trap.
  • Full: Long-range waterfowl (with appropriate non-toxic choke), turkey, trap handicap.
  • Extra Full/Turkey: Specialized for turkey hunting with dense, high-performance loads.

How pattern diameter changes

A rough guide to pattern diameter is:

ChokePattern Diameter at 20 yd30 yd40 yd
Cylinder20–22″30–34″40–44″
IC18–20″27–30″34–38″
LM16–18″24–27″30–34″
Modified15–17″22–25″28–32″
IM13–15″20–23″24–28″
Full11–13″18–21″20–24″

Important considerations

The choke is only one part of the equation. Pattern performance is also affected by:

  • Shot size (larger pellets retain energy better).
  • Payload weight (more pellets generally produce denser patterns).
  • Velocity (high velocity can sometimes degrade patterns).
  • Wad design (modern wad technology can significantly tighten patterns).
  • Shot material (steel, bismuth, tungsten, and lead behave differently).
  • Your individual shotgun (two shotguns with identical choke markings can produce noticeably different patterns).

The bottom line

For most sporting purposes:

  • 0–25 yards: Cylinder or Skeet
  • 25–35 yards: Improved Cylinder
  • 30–40 yards: Light Modified
  • 35–45 yards: Modified
  • 40–50 yards: Improved Modified
  • 45–60 yards: Full

Many experienced sporting clays shooters today consider Light Modified (0.015″) the most versatile choke because it provides forgiving patterns at close range while maintaining enough density for targets out to about 40 yards. For hunters, Improved Cylinder and Modified remain the two most versatile choices, covering the majority of upland and waterfowl situations.

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Is it OK to Use Extended Chokes on My Classic Side by Side?

Friday, July 17, 2026
Written by Shotgun Life Staff
Categories: Briefs
Tags: shotgunchokes, sidebysidesshotgun
C1

Whether you should use extended choke tubes on a traditional side-by-side depends on what you value more: performance, aesthetics, or convenience.

For most traditional side-by-side shotguns, flush choke tubes are the better choice.

Here’s why:

  • Preserves the classic appearance. A traditional side-by-side is prized for its graceful lines. Extended chokes protruding from the muzzles can detract from the elegant look.
  • Maintains the original balance. Although extended chokes add only a small amount of weight, enthusiasts often appreciate the lively handling that side-by-sides are known for.
  • Protects the traditional aesthetic. If the shotgun is a fine British, Spanish, Italian, or American double, flush chokes are generally more in keeping with its design.

Extended chokes do offer several practical advantages:

  • They can be changed without a choke wrench.
  • The extended section is easier to grip in the field.
  • Many are clearly laser-marked, making choke identification quick.
  • They provide a small amount of extra protection for the muzzle if the gun is bumped.
Perazzi DC 12 2

Do extended chokes improve patterns?

Usually no—at least not because they are extended.

Pattern quality depends primarily on:

  • The choke’s internal geometry.
  • The quality of the machining.
  • The ammunition being used.

A well-designed flush choke and an equivalent extended choke from the same manufacturer will generally produce virtually identical patterns.

When they make sense

Extended chokes are a good choice if you:

  • Shoot sporting clays or skeet regularly and change constrictions throughout the day.
  • Hunt different species where you may switch between open and tight chokes.
  • Prefer the convenience of tool-free choke changes.

When to avoid them

Consider sticking with flush chokes if you:

  • Own a classic or collectible side-by-side.
  • Primarily hunt upland birds using one choke combination (such as Improved Cylinder/Modified).
  • Value the traditional appearance and handling qualities.

A good compromise

Many side-by-side owners keep:

  • Flush chokes installed for hunting and everyday use.
  • Extended chokes in their shooting bag for sporting clays or occasions when frequent choke changes are needed.

For a traditional side-by-side, I would generally recommend flush chokes unless you’re competing in clay target sports where the convenience of extended tubes outweighs the aesthetic considerations.

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