I was taught to handle the military Ithaca on which the late M6 was based. This included actual wing shots at clay birds with those expensive aluminum shells.
Still the system's #1 priority as set by the USAF was WIEGHT.
And truth be told most aircrewmen in our C 130s flying Alaska slipped something personal in their flight bags.
My personal piece(s) was made back east. It was called Hershey.
I've shot combination firearms from the M 6 to the Luftwaffe survival drilling with the 9.3x72 rimmed equal to a .375 H&H.
That is a confidence building weapon- if you have a Junkers to stow it in.
In theory they are great for mixed game hunting in the bavarian woods when every animal on a black forest clock may pop out, including the cuckoobird.
In real use they are always a compromise in handling, and even the popular Cape Gun of South Africa was eventually supplanted by rifles.
I refer back to Mel Tappen's tome. A centerbore rifle literally gives the most 'bang for the buck' in terms of sheer game wieght for expenditure. And to that end I have a SMLE with a bandolier of military FMJs and some handrolled 215 rhino bullets.
But mostly I still replenish my Hersheys, except I've upgraded to Trader Joes 73% organic dark cocoa.I do so, because even the Inuit find the caribou have changed migration routes without warning.
As for small game, 20' of S/S wire isn't as romantic as a'piece'but it's just as effective and even simpler to reload.