With the proper choke and load of large steel pellets, you can get a 10-gauge to shoot good, clean-killing patterns to 50 yards and beyond on big birds like Canada geese and swans. Switching to a denser non-toxic material like bismuth or tungsten-iron pellets potentially increases the gun’s range even further. The 10-gauge doesn’t have a huge advantage over the 3½-inch 12, but many experienced long-range shooters swear they can tell a difference between the two, and that the 10 rules for long shots.