I agree, one doesn' t see folks reaching out to 300 yards with shotguns. If it was possible though I' m betting you' d start seeing some serious glass on shotguns in place of the old " bead and barrel" .

I' m not sure however that a " bead and barrel" shot for taking on a tom turkey at 40 yards is actually an easier shot than taking a deer with a braced 3X to 9X high power cartridge at 200 yards. Our thread starter did not indicate his " standard shooting distances" hence folks are starting to interject their own standards. I personally feel I' ve failed a bit as a " hunter" and that things are starting to nudge " unethical" over 250 yards in common hunting (no-benchrest) situations.

I agree, shoot the smaller, less expensive stuff to sharpen up with -- last heard mastering both small bore and larger bore rifles were not mutually exclusive of each other -- fundamentals are mostly the same aside from some prudent techniques to manage recoil and maintain accuracy with the bigger boys -- not rocket science though.

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM