My 2 cents.
I have an ammo cabinet full of 2 3/4" #1 buck and #4 buck, non magnum. I also have 1 oz slugs. I lean towards the #4 buck because there are fewer big gaps in the pattern. Better to get single #4 buck pellet hit than a #1 buck miss.
Just my opinion.
Perhaps we should open a thread about "pattern". It would be interesting to learn more about it.