You ought to be safe in a vintage 12 in good condition with the 8,000 psi load. I'd avoid the low noise/low recoil loads in cold weather. I've heard a number of them "poof".

The beauty of 12ga is that you can work up 7/8 oz reloads that are really easy on the shoulder and the gun, but absolutely crush targets. Pressure around 6,000 psi, velocity still in the neighborhood of 1200 fps.