Post a picture. I think your ex is exaggerating.
I had a Model 30 in .410 that a good friend now has. It's choked ex-full in both tubes. So, your friend opened up the chokes already? My quail hunting is over a flushing dog and most shots are 15-30yds. for the first one, then way out there for the second. In your shoes, I might open the first barrel to .005 and leave the second barrel alone for a while. Just a caution about measuring chokes; make sure the bore is measured then compared to the choke. Simply measuring the choke diameter with a gauge tells you little about the choke effect.
As to LOP, I've come to believe that convincing a shooter of another's belief of correct LOP is directly tied to how much faith the shooter has in the person giving the advice. I don't think you have more faith in me than Chris Batha. But, for me, I like my quail guns slightly shorter than a clays gun. If I shot over a pointer, I could use a longer gun since I could set my feet and position the gun properly (low or high), comb my hair, adjust my collar, set my glasses back on the bridge of my nose, clear my throat and call for the dog to flush the bird.
(I'm gonna need the football helmet)
