Stan;
I would believe. Being 72 yrs old & having been interested in shotguns since around age 15 I have heard a lot of them. My very first shotgun which was all mine was an old, pre WWI J Stevens double. This gun had a through bolt for stock attachment.
Would you believe someone told me if I took off the butt plate & dropped a penny down in the bolt hole it would reduce the "Kick". Now even at that age I could see absolutely no effect a penny down the stock bolt hole could have on kick, but naturally had to try it. Just as naturally no difference at all could be felt, but as far as I know that penny is still there, just have no idea where the gun is.
If anyone ever runs across a J Stevens model 325 with a penny in the stock bolt hole it was probably mine. Actually this was a rather heavy gun & I was shooting regular field loads so kick was not an issue to begin with. I have though been rather skeptical of all "Magic Cures" for recoil ever since & found virtually all of them to simply exist in someones imagination, as you say shotgunners are an imaginative lot.
