@jrdoner,
Shaping is useful when you are using a low modulation index (m<2) and wish the minimise the transmitted band occupancy. Neither is true for the typical Moteino set up.
Nothing is for free, aggresive shaping introduces inter-symbol smearing, so in general you need a higher S/N ratio for the same bit error rate - which maps directly into reduced range for the same RxBw setting.
Note that if you are trying to test this out, you need to get the Rx signal way down close to the noise floor - if not, the chip AGC will adjust the LNA gain to fit what the demodulator section wants, as a side effect, also changing the effective S/N ratio and confusind the observations.