Joe: Now go light a cigar with a couple of hundred dollar bills ... that'll show him how you roll, and it won't cost you (or your heirs) any more than altering your Heavy Duck as you propose.
Seriously, of course it's your gun and of course you can do whatever you want with it, but you need to cut Don some slack. You're the one who asked for advice, and now you're getting it, right?
Many here put a lot of time and sweat into preserving fine old guns, and get kind of worked up over things like choke-opening. What Don says of the Winchester Full Choke from that era is true ... it is very highly regarded and guys hate to see them destroyed, when so many already have been. Early on, I opened the chokes on several great old guns, only to regret it later. That's not to say that you will, but you might.
The Heavy Duck is much less common than the standard 12-gauge; George Madis suggests that less one percent of all Model 12s was a HD, and as they say, they're not making any more of them. Anyway, do what you want, but go slow and give some thought to your options. Happy hunting. TT
