I think that your question for back when is answered by what we thought was good enough.Ben Lee did suggest a Coke can ( That meant Coca-Cola, Pepsi,etc.) at about 30 yards and if you could hit it with 6-8 pellets or more you were good to go. His choice was a full choke and #4s. Heck, back in those days it would have taken the whole clan to provide enough fingers and toes to count up all the shot we can now days put into a 10" circle.