Comparing to say a hawken,,,, Depends on who made the Hawken. Some made back in the 1970's were real junk, no cast off, to little drop, butts too thin, butt plate too curved and short. I have had an Italian Hawken, a TC Hawken and a Lyman GPR, for me,,, 6 ft even and a 34 inch sleeve length, the Lyman fit the best. (Remember that when hunting, you will be wearing padded winter clothing.) I have a Tulle de something, made by Curley Gostomski, don't remember the name of his company or even if he is still in business. Thing goes off first time everytime. Darn good accuracy at 50 yds with a round ball, I shot trap with it, but I am terrible as a wing shooter anyway. Good on squirrels and got a pheasant with it.
Patterns very depending on a host of things, powder charge, shot charge, shot size, to a lesser extent, barrel length. My 24 ga smoothie, I think has a 40 inch barrel. There are other little tricks to tighten shot groups, using a modern shot cup over a wad, etc. I've seen cardboard tubes used around the shot, even newsprint "shot cartridges" to hold the shot a little tighter together. Works for some, not others. I just use standard Circle fly wads.
