[RoscoeC]

For shooting trap and skeet, or sporting clays, the 2 3/4" chamber is fine. It is also fine for quail, dove, and a number of other upland birds. If you are going to hunt, depending on what you are going to hunt, you may need the 3" chamber. There is a lot of conjecture whether the 3 1/2" beastie is necessary at all. I don't have one, and have not used one, so I cannot really say. I have read a number of writers that think that with modern high power ammo, the 3" will perform just as well as the 3 1/2". My boss is an avid goose hunter, and swears by the 3 1/2" rounds. I haven't ever hunted waterfowl, so I don't know.

I have recently taken up sporting clays, with an occasional foray onto the skeet range, and the trap range. There are often thousands of spent rounds lying about the various stations. I haven't ever seen anything but 2 3/4" shells, and I haven't used anything else.