Please indulge me a technical question . . .
Does the gun need to be rated/designed for steel shot?
For instance, will Rem 1100 skeet/trap guns vintage 1970s or Citoris vintage 1980s be potentially damaged shooting steel shot?
I seem to recall when the initial steel shot initiative came about that folks were claiming that they needed to replace barrels with barrels rated for steel shot or risk damage to the gun?
When the switch was originally decided upon, we did some research. The general rule that was "discovered" is that most guns made since the mid-70s are fine for steel, as long as the choke is not Full. If you have a concern, it's best to contact the manufacturer.
Now, several members of my club have high-end trap guns (that's a problem that I don't have!
) and one called Kreighoff (IIRC) and was told "No steel shot" though it's only a few years old. Do I think that a K-80 that's recent will have problems? I can't see why, but were there to be problems, you'd be SOL there...
At a guess, the 1100 should be fine, and the citroi as well. The 1100, being a semi-auto, has a thicker barrel wall than most doubles; the Citori is recent enough that even though it's a double, it would be engineered to handle it.
I'd not use in in my Parkers.
As for the full choke...supposedly the tight restriction can casue "ringing" of the barrel at the choke. As a practical matter, steel tends to pattern more tightly, so you'll likely get the same effectiveness with a Modified choke with Steel, as with Full with Lead.
Obviously, this was a subject of discussion, and since it's of interest to a few folks here, I'll post "in the field" reports as we go forward.
LenS, thanks for the question, and please (everyone) keep them coming.....
Oh, as an aside: We've instituted a new competition: the MAN (or WOMAN) OF STEEL - we're going to have a special award for the first 25/50/75/100 straights shot by members.....my kid is already drooling over that one!