We talk to Teague Chokes about their brilliant service - taking suitable guns to the Birmingham Proof House to be proofed for steel shot cartridges

Teague, who make weekly trips to the Birmingham Proof House, are acting as a middleman for any shooters wanting to get their guns steel shot proofed. They have seen a sharp increase in customers approaching them for this service, and issued the following advice for anyone considering getting their barrels proofed: “There are certain requirements a gun has to meet in order for it to be proofed for steel shot. Until we physically have a gun in front of us for assessment, we cannot say for sure if it meets these requirements. However, there are some things you can check yourself prior to sending. Doing this will in no way guarantee your gun’s suitability, but it will hopefully help you make an informed decision about whether it is worth sending it for assessment with us as you think it has a good chance of meeting the requirements, or whether it definitely does not meet the requirements and shouldn’t be taken to the proof house for steel shot proofing. Those requirements are:

* A minimum chamber length of 2½” to be proofed for standard steel shot, and 2¾” or 3” to be proofed for high-performance steel. Check this yourself as there may be discrepancies between what’s printed on the barrels and the true chamber length, in older guns especially.

* Check that there is no pitting or marking inside the barrels – this is very important, as it cannot be worked on if there is.

* Check that there are no weak spots in the barrel wall thickness.

* Make sure the barrels are ‘on the face of the action’, i.e. there is no gap between the barrel and the action when the gun is closed.

“In addition, we would remind people who will be using steel shot not to use anything tighter than a Half choke (which produces equivalent results to Full choke on lead). Also, if you’re having multi-chokes added to your gun, which plenty of people are in order to help accommodate steel shot, consider getting it steel proofed at the same time, thus killing two birds with one stone.

“Shooters can contact Teague once they have made these checks, submit their gun for assessment and, all being well, Teague will take it to the Birmingham Proof House to get it proofed.

If you want to talk to Teague’s experienced team about getting your gun proofed for steel shot, use the contact details below...

Phone: 01666 841 496

Email: sales@teaguechokes.com

Website: www.teaguechokes.com