Rocketman, my all being equal, would be all 3 gauges throwing the same % . My guess is since was the shorter shot column of the 12 would give a more uniform pellet distribution over the 30" circle.
Afraid I must disagree a bit. All patterns will have a Rayleigh distribution (the Rayleigh distribution is, indeed, a Gausian distribution, one of several). That distribution will hold from muzzle until the shot hits the ground. There is no such thing as "uniform" in a pattern. There is no core, either. The highest concentration ( pellets per square inch) of pellets will be at the center and will "taper off" (although not a linear taper) as you move away from the center. As the pattern travels away from the muzzle, the shot "feeds" away from the center toward the edges such that the Rayleigh distribution is maintained. % in some size circle is OK to compare one pattern to another for choke effect, but tells you little about the actual pattern. "Better" is the pattern with the largest diameter of lethal dose within your targets square inch area.
You will likely be able to tell difference among bore sizes of equal choke as they will have slightly lower choke effect for smaller diameters. Larger diameters will be able to achieve slightly "fuller" choke effect.
I have to disagree on shot drafting and crashing into each other. The wakes of those tiny lill' spheres are going to be very turbulent and I do doubt one being able to follow another for any but a very short time/distance.
DDA
