i called a local gunsmith and ask the same thing i asked here, and he said only shoot buckshot in a modified choke. he said even using full choke could cause damage to the barrel if shot a bunch with buck shot. i had already tried mine with the full choke this morning and it patterned well with 3in. #1buck at 30 yards and after i talked with him i changed to my mod choke and it done just as good putting 15 pellets in the heart/lung area on a deer paper target. i moved back to 40 yards and the hits dropped to 3 pellets in the heart/lung vitals. lots of the shots hit the neck and liver and a few shots had pellets in the spine, but i was only counting on the heart/lung shots. my gun is a browning gold in 12gauge with a 30 in. barrel for some reason my rem870 with a 28in barrel will make heart/lung hits with the same 3in superx #1buck at 50 yards. its hard to think a $300 gun will out group a browning gold.