I agree- I've been a serious waterfowler for over 50 years- No steel load will drop big mallards and Canadian geese like the lead- and the Winchester Lubabaloy coppered, the old CIL "Canuck" and especially the coppered Federal Premium loads were first rate-
With steel I use either a std field M12 and No. 2, or my 3" mag M12 and heavier BB for Geese- especially when the season gets into flight birds. I shoot field and water decoys, a lot of pass shooting- both M12's are 30" Full, no damage to the chokes or muzzles from years of heavy use with steel-BUT, I would go back to the coppered lead loads in a heartbeat if the Feds dropped this silly steel shot reg for migratory birds.
If I use either my 12 GHE or 12 LC Smith 2E with 3" chambers- I use the Cabela's Classic doubles- No. 4 for ducks and 3" No. 2 for Geese. Both guns are somewhat "hybrids"- the GHE is a project gun with 28" Vulcan steel barrels, 2 & 3/4" chambers and .015 right and .025 left barrel choke constrictions-(I doubled on Mallards with it last year- a "first ever') The Smith was rebarreled at Fulton in 1927 with a set of 32" Nitro tubes and factory raised ventilated rib- 3" chambers (not marked Longrange) both tubes choked .035"--
I dropped two Canadas on the opening morning this past Sat- 9/Oct- with the Smith and those Cabela's loads- field hunting with decoys- 20 yards and closing- both birds folded in mid-air and dropped (one got the second barrel for insurance) and when I cleaned them later, the pellets had penetrated the feathers, skin and had broken breast bone and wing bone joints at the body juncture- BUT- both birds were incoming and hanging their wings, ready to drop down and greet the K-Mart "foolies" below. Pass shooting at greater distances, taking high over head shots, or outgoing "spooked" birds- those shots I pass up nowadays. By 0930 a Bluebirdy day, so I picked up and packed it in- no ducks working--
For pheasant, here where we don't yet have to use steel or non-toxic- Tower released birds at the area clubs- I usually use that big tight choked Smith 2E- with live pigeon loads- usually a 1&1/8 oz. in first barrel, a 1&1/4 oz. in the second barrel- Towers are high, wind and sun, but other shooters have done well with more open chokes and lighter loads, even in the Winter months. A study of the British driven pheasant shooting might verify the best shell selection. For upland hunting on the same clubs (our area native fezzants are scarce nowadays) I use either the GHE 12 or a 3E Smith with 7 & 1/2 shot AA Trap loads in both tubes--same with pointing dawgs or flushing dawgs-- more pellets in the pattern than with 6's- BUT a hunt in MT. for "Ditch Parrots" with wind and heavy weather, the std. M12 and Express 6's (where lead is still legal) get my nod.
Just my 2 cents worth, but boy do I wish for the good old days more as I get older-
