Screw the wrong choke into a shotgun and the best ammo in the world will still throw a ragged pattern. That problem is exactly what Carlson’s Choke Tubes has spent more than thirty-five years solving, from a small family shop in Atwood, Kansas. Carlson’s makes affordable, field-proven aftermarket choke tubes for nearly every shotgun made — plus waterfowl, turkey, and sporting clays tubes, replacement flush chokes, shotgun barrels, and magazine extensions. Here is who they are, what they make, and what is worth buying.

Who Carlson’s is

Carlson’s Choke Tubes is a family shop in Atwood, Kansas that has spent more than 35 years making affordable, field-proven aftermarket choke tubes for nearly every shotgun made, plus dedicated waterfowl, turkey and predator chokes.

Carlson’s Choke Tubes was established around 1988 and is still independently owned and operated out of Atwood, Kansas — a town of barely more than a thousand people in the far northwest corner of the state. It is a genuine small-town family business that grew into the most recognized name in aftermarket choke tubes, on the strength of one simple idea: a choke is only as good as the pattern it actually throws, so you had better test it relentlessly.

And test it they do. Carlson’s has patterned tens of thousands of shells through every make and model of shotgun they can get their hands on, building a database of real-world pattern data and using it to fine-tune the parallel section, the finish, and the exact diameters of each tube. More recently they added an Electronic Patterning Board (EPB) that measures point of impact, pattern percentage, and pattern density automatically. That obsession with measured results, not marketing claims, is the whole company.

On the quality ladder, Carlson’s sits in the value sweet spot: affordable, American-made, field-proven chokes backed by a lifetime warranty, with a fitment range almost nobody else matches. They are not the boutique, hand-lapped custom choke house — they are the brand that makes a great choke for your specific gun and load without charging a fortune.

What Carlson’s makes

Waterfowl choke tubes

This is where Carlson’s shines. Their extended waterfowl tubes — including the Black Cloud and Delta Waterfowl long-range chokes — are tuned for steel and modern non-toxic loads, tightening late patterns so you can reach out to passing ducks and geese. Match the tube to your load and the difference downrange is obvious.

Turkey choke tubes

For turkey hunters, Carlson’s offers extra-tight constrictions, including dedicated tubes for dense TSS (Tungsten Super Shot) loads in constrictions as tight as .640, to wring the densest possible head-and-neck pattern out of a turkey gun.

Sporting clays and target chokes

For clay shooters, the Sporting Clays tubes deliver consistent, even patterns across the standard constrictions, so you can match the choke to the station and the target presentation.

Flush-mount replacement chokes

If you lost a factory choke or just want a better one, Carlson’s makes flush-mount tubes for an enormous list of shotguns and thread patterns — Beretta/Benelli Mobil, Browning Invector and Invector-Plus, Remington Rem Choke, Winchester, and many more. The fitment coverage is one of their biggest advantages.

Shotgun barrels and magazine extensions

Beyond chokes, Carlson’s makes replacement shotgun barrels and magazine tube extensions for popular pumps and semi-autos like the Remington 870 and various Benelli and Beretta models, rounding out a complete shotgun parts lineup.

Build quality and where it is made

Carlson’s chokes are made in the USA, in Atwood, Kansas, from quality steel and stainless, with constrictions cut to measured, repeatable diameters rather than guessed at. The company’s edge is not exotic materials; it is data — thousands of real patterning sessions behind every tube — and that translates into chokes that genuinely pattern the way they claim. Every choke tube carries a lifetime warranty, which tells you how confident they are in the machining.

How Carlson’s compares

Against Trulock, its closest value rival, Carlson’s competes head-to-head on price and fitment, with each brand having its loyalists. Against premium houses like Briley, Carlson’s is far more affordable and covers far more guns off the shelf, while Briley wins for the competition shooter who wants a hand-fitted, custom-lapped choke. Against specialty designs like Patternmaster’s wad-stripping tubes, Carlson’s takes a more conventional, broadly proven approach. The honest read: for the vast majority of hunters and shooters, Carlson’s is the smartest choke-tube buy — but remember that any choke’s performance depends on your gun and your specific load, which is exactly why Carlson’s tells you to pattern your shotgun before you trust it.

Who should buy what

Duck and goose hunter: an extended waterfowl tube matched to your steel or non-toxic load.
Turkey hunter shooting TSS: a dedicated tight-constriction TSS turkey choke.
Sporting clays or trap shooter: the Sporting Clays tubes in the constrictions you shoot most.
Anyone who lost or wants to replace a factory choke: a flush-mount tube for your exact make and thread pattern.
Pump or semi-auto owner building out a gun: a Carlson’s barrel or magazine extension.
Competition shooter chasing a hand-fitted custom choke: a premium house like Briley may suit you better — Carlson’s is the value-and-fitment champion.

If you demand a one-off, hand-lapped competition choke and price is no concern, a boutique maker is the move. For field-proven performance, huge gun coverage, and honest pricing, Carlson’s is hard to beat.

The Carlson’s philosophy

Carlson’s likes to put it plainly: you would not go deer hunting without sighting in your rifle and scope, so why would you trust a shotgun you have never patterned? Their entire business is built on that conviction. Rather than promise magic, they measure — thousands of patterns, every gun they can find, a dedicated electronic patterning board — and then they build the tube to the data. It is an unglamorous, deeply practical approach, and it is why a small Kansas shop earned the trust of so many serious shotgunners.

How to choose your Carlson’s setup

Start with your shotgun’s choke thread pattern, because that determines which Carlson’s tubes will fit — Beretta/Benelli Mobil, Browning Invector, Rem Choke, and so on. Then pick by job: extended waterfowl tubes for ducks and geese, a tight TSS tube for turkeys, Sporting Clays tubes for the range, or a simple flush replacement for general use. Match the constriction to your load — tighter for longer shots and smaller shot, more open for close work — and then, exactly as Carlson’s preaches, pattern your gun with the actual ammo you will hunt with before you count on it. The right tube plus the right load is what puts the pattern where you are looking.

A small Kansas town and a very big pattern board

It is easy to forget that one of the biggest names in shotgun chokes runs out of a town most people have never heard of. Atwood, Kansas, sits out on the high plains with a population you could fit in a high-school gym, and from there Carlson’s has out-patterned and out-fitted far larger competitors by simply doing the unglamorous work — firing tens of thousands of test shells and writing down what actually happened. That refusal to guess, backed by a lifetime warranty, is how a family choke shop became the default answer when a hunter asks what tube to screw into their gun.

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