Stand by, boys. This'll be a long one: Twenty five years ago, when I was fifty, I used to hunt a small marsh owned by my dearly beloved pal, John Zaleski. Each morning a huge flight of mallards crossed his land at first light. It seemed they were always about 60 yards and too high for my Model 12. I went whole hog and bought a nice AYA 10 ga. mag. Next morning I took a shot at a trailing single and killed him slap dead dead in the air. What a gun! When I plucked him I couldn't find a wound on the body. On closer examination I discovered a single wound on his chin (if ducks have chins?). Pellet exited top of his skull, and my love of the 10 bore faded. Went from that to my old faithful M-97. Took the next duck at around 45 yards with 1&1/4 oz. of #5's. Deader than the dollar today. Point I'm trying to make is that bigger ain't always better. These days I stick to light loads, when I am even able to walk. Never have regetted it. 20 ga. 7/8 oz. or 28 ga. 3/4 oz. Does it for me at birds within 30/40 yards. Ammo companys are always about bigger and better. All the things I've seen evolve in the world of scatter gunning are b---s---t. What's coming next --- a 5" 12 bore cartridge? We already have ported barrels, lengthend forcing cones, backbored barrels, choke tubes, newbies opening chokes, ergonomic Brownings that resenble a checkered shovel. I'm just getting older, and let me tell you, nobody needs to be 75! Chops
