wis.dave,
I think you will need to pattern your shotgun. Several years ago when I was in law enforcement I was able to purchase an
Ithica mdl. 37 that someone had blown the end of the barrel out of, from a second hand store . I sawed the barrel off to the
legal limit of 18 1/4" and to this day use this shotgun as our primary household defense gun. 3 months ago I patterned it
using # 4 buckshot and even with the original choke and most of the barrel sawed off, it shot a tighter pattern than my
Winchester 1200 with a full choke. The pattern was plenty dense enough for coyotes to 40 yards. So you may want to pattern your shotgun as has been suggested before. By the way, new guns are a lot of fun but hunting with a gun that has a lot of history is special too.
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Good Hunting To Ya !!
Merle