SS56 that is a little to close for me!!!

haha, naaaah it's way more fun at close distances.

I shoot 12 ga., 3 1/2's , #5 shot in a Benelli Nova. Choke is a ported .670 "turkey choke". I do not know what the effective range is. I do know that I have taken gobblers cleanly out to about 40-45 yards. For 25+ years, my so called "turkey gun" was the only shotgun I owned ... an old Savage SBS, 30", 2 3/4", F/F. So for sure the 3 1/2" is not necessary. What you are mainly accomplishing is getting more shot in the pattern, but you pay for it on the butt end. I have a chart Winchester put out that that compares the typical recoil for dozens of popular center fire ... and also lists several shotgun loads. It rates the recoil of the 3 1/2" , 12 ga. turkey load at roughly 4X the recoil of a 30.06 Spr., and greater than that of a 416 Rem Mag.