This is the second season my son has shot his "compact" edition, so I am not sure exactly how this will stack up to a full size. But his gun seemed to like the undertaker choke with Apex 9s. There were tighter patterns, but that seemed to be the most "even" pattern with a dense enough pattern for a youth hunter.
Also, as a side note, he smoked a tom this year with it at 38 yards, through some pretty thick stuff. Probable the least amount of flopping I've ever witnessed for a head shot. I also found 8 pellet marks in it's head. I also shot a tom with it last year (made a last minute flight home and wasn't able to get my gun on the flight). I smoked a tom at 15 yards and jellied his head.
Super sweet gun, but loading into the mag tube does kinda suck.