I went to Catholic schools (semi-public in the 1950's as we also had some non-Catholic students in our classes then too) But I disagree on the sportsman/gauge theory for game birds- you can shoot or shoot at all the clays, crows, barn pigeons, starlings, whatever is legal for a 12 bore with a .410 and you won't hear a squawk of protest from me. I stay with my 12 bores (I do own 3 20's- will be Grandsons' starter guns later on) because at age 70 I kill more efficiently and hit birds that I might miss with the lighter bore guns I carried and shot when I was 35- I also gravitate towards 28" and 30" barrels with tighter chokes, my reaction time is also slower and a muzzle forward balanced shotgun works best for me.

All my shotgunning gurus, now all gone- favored the 12 bore guns: Captain Paul Curtis, Nash Buckingham, Havilah Babcock, Archibald Rutledge, Ray P. Holland, Captain Harold Money, both my late father and grandfather as well. The only exception to this stellar list of "Shootin'Ist Gentlemen" might be the late Dwight D. Eisenhower, who sometimes uses his M42 Winchester on quail. And my all-time favorite Army General, George Smith Patton Jr.-had a borrowed 12 bore side-by-side with him when he endured the fatal (3 weeks later) car accident while on his way to a pheasant hunt in Dec. 1945- his .410 CHE Parker was, I am sure, back home in the States- You could get brass 12 gauge shells (albiet buckshot loads) in any Allied armory in Europe (or the Pacific) at that time, .410's- not so much.

Mike[/quote]