RE: Ammo of Choice?
I tried hevi shot last year. Found it not to be too different from steel, except it goes farther.
If I had my choice, I would probably shoot bismuth as it has seemed to pattern very well with my gun and from what I've seen and heard, it has a lot of similarities to lead. My issue with hevi shot and the others is that yes they are heavier and go further, but they are still very hard metals. Upon impact, all of it behaves very similar to steel. Again, I haven't tried it on game yet, but from what it seems, bismuth will behave more like lead causing more damage as it enters the cavity.
I have chosen to go with Kent's 1 1/4 oz loads of 3 for ducks and 1 for geese (couldn't swallow the cost of bismuth for waterfowl). We'll see how it comes out. I am going to be using the bismuth for upland game as my wife has said she doesn't want me bringing home any game shot with lead shot.
Good luck to all this season...