Before we start, let's agree to some things.

There are a lot of "what-ifs" when shooting a shotgun.

What if you used a longer barrel?

What if you used a tighter choke?

There are many others.

I used my Mossberg 12 gauge Maverick, cylinder bore, no choke.

This is a typical "Combat" or "Tactical" shotgun.

First we will try at 12 feet, the normal across-the-room distance.

Looks awfully close, doesn't it.

I shot all four on one sheet of butcher paper.

Here I am shooting the 3" Magnum load.

Tman caught me in full recoil.

"Kills on one end, wounds on the other."

These are the results on the paper.

The smallest group was the Hornady at 1 3/4 inch.

The largest was the 3" Magnum at 4".

It seems we see that dport heard correctly.

The reduced loads did indeed shoot a smaller group at close range.

This might make precision hits easier than the heavy hitter magnum.

Let's move the target out to 20 yards.

Even 20 yards is a ways away.