Well me and a small group of gentlemen shoot some vintage English guns some are hammerguns every week at clays here in North Carolina and we all shoot vintage 12 bores that weigh under or slightly over 7 pounds and we use light loads.
I do agree that one of the next guns I may purchase will be a 20 bore since you can shoot clays and game and it will do whatever a 12 bore can do. But I feel no way at a loss shooting the light English 12 bores.I can shoot a 7/8 ounce load or a 1 ounce load.

Mike Proctor