I believe it makes little difference, as I've seen many people successfully hunt turkeys with wood or plastic stock blued shotguns. I'm using an old Wingmaster, but I put neoprene sleeves on it. The barrel is 27½" with the choked screwed in, and I want to be as inconspicuous as possible should I need to swing around to make a shot. I'm trying not to blow it on my first season!