I have posted about this before, but will add it here for the benefit of anyone looking to develop a spreader load. I had a Beretta 425 12 gauge that I wanted to use for doves. It was choked F/M and the tight barrel would completely destroy a dove at 25 yards. Since I like to eat them, I had to figure out a spreader load if I wanted to use the gun.
I tried several types, but the polywad post style seemed to work best when patterning. It did have something of a hole in the center of the pattern, but I heard about a guy who solved that problem by putting part of the shot over the post. I used the Federal plastic hulls that have a very large capacity. A one ounce charge bar was used to drop the shot, then I added the post, and then another 1/4 oz of shot over the post. That eliminated the hole and the gun shot a very consistent modified pattern in the tight barrel. The spreader had some effect on the modified barrel, but not nearly as much as the full choke barrel.
Those shells took a little extra time to load, but they made the gun useful.
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