There is no "best load", don't get trapped into thinking there is. The best load for youmight be different than for other guys. If you're pass shooting, you'll want one type of load, and if you're shooting decoying birds, you'll need another. The gun and loads I shoot probably wouldn't work for a lot of guys, but they're great for me. I shoot a 2 3/4" 12 gauge with a 26" improved cylinder barrel. For ammunition, I mostly shoot #6s early in the season when we shoot more wood ducks and the mallards have lighter down and feathers. About mid-way through the season I switch over to #4s, and just about all the loads I shoot are 1 1/4 ounce loads. A lot of guys would tell you that isn't an optimal setup, but they probably hunt under different circumstances than I do. I shoot in a riparian marsh where we're shootingworking birds over decoys. I'm sure that 90% of my shots are around 30 yards or closer and 95% of my shots are 40 yards or less. For the type of hunting I do, my gear and loads are pretty optimal. They would suck for hunting in conditions that some other guys hunt in. There is no place for a 3 1/2" magnum, or even 3" magnum whereI hunt, just like there my 2 3/4" gun with standard loads wouldn't work as well as those big guns and heavy loads of large shot would work where some other guys hunt.

The point I'm trying to make is that you have to tailor your loads and gun to the conditions you hunt in. And that will vary from hunter to hunter. Gotta run now, I"m heading up to my club to do some final work before next Saturday's opener.