RE: "Too much kick to be accurate..."
 

Buy a Limb Saver recoil pad. Well worth the money on a bad kicking gun.

RE: "Too much kick to be accurate..."
 

First off, do what you are comfortable with. Don't be bullied into shooting a bigger gun than you are comfortable with. You need to have confidence in the weapon you are shooting. Secondly, if you do shoot the 12 ga. use ear protection and put padding on your shoulder. This will help you avoid training a flinch into your shooting. If you flench while practicing you'll flench when it counts. The boom and the kick are two reasons people flench. Dr. Kroll actually uses a .22 model of the rifle he shoots for practice so that he doesn't have to worry about the recoil and then just shoots the bigger gun during hunting, and to sight it in of course. If you don't want the abuse drop down to a 16 or 20 ga. slug gun. As you said, they'll get the job done. Or as suggested use 2 3/4 shells.

RE: "Too much kick to be accurate..."
 

I know guys that have the same problem with their 7mm mags.

I have had this problem with my 30.06. I bought a vice but I was still flinching a little.

What I did was take a deep breath, let it out half way, then squezze the triger, stay relaxed.

When I sighted in this year I was grouping extremely tight at 100 yards.

I agree that when you are shooting at a deer you won't have this problem. I never have. But you have to overcome it when sighting so that you "know" that your gun is dead on.

RE: "Too much kick to be accurate..."
 

I tired the same thing with my 1300, only took one time out to switch back to the 2 3/4 inch sabots. Also remember, no matter what gun you are shooting, you always feel the kick in practice, but when showtime arrives, its like it doesnt kick at all. You just dont notice it when shooting at a deer