Finding a decent shot size is now next to impossible in Gamebore, B&P and others. If all your hunting is with 8 shot, you're fine. Availability is awfully spotty the last 18 months.
Location: Glendale, AZ
This topic comes up so frequently that I thought I'd post this from the Fox Collectors Forum written by Researcher (who knows his stuff) This was published in The Double Gun Journal, Volume Fifteen, Issue 4
FOX CHAMBERS --
The only two A.H. Fox Gun Co. catalogues, that I have seen, that state chamber lengths are the 1913 and 1914. They both state 12-gauge guns are regularly chambered for 2 3/4 - inch shells, 16-gauge 2 9/16 � inch shells and 20-gauge 2 1/2 - inch shells. That being said, virtually every 12-gauge Ansley H. Fox gun made in Philadelphia (other than the HE-Grade Super-Fox) that I've run a chamber gauge in shows about 2 5/8 - inch. The chambers of unmolested 16-gauge guns seem to run about 2 7/16 inch and 20-gauge guns a hair over 2 3/8 inch. A very few graded guns were ordered with longer chambers. I have a 1920-vintage AE-Grade 20-gauge that letters as being chambered for 2 3/4 inch shells. Its chambers are 2 5/8 inches. Savage began stating chambered for 2 � inch shells in their 1938 Fox catalogues.
All this being said there is a good body of evidence that back in those days chambers were held about 1/8 inch shorter than the shells for which they were intended. In the recently published book "The Parker Story" the Remington vintage specification sheets on pages 164 to 169 call for a chamber 1/8-inch shorter than the shell for which it is intended. Also in the 1930's there were a couple of articles in "The American Rifleman" (July 1936 and March 1938) on the virtue of short chambers. A recent issue of The Double Gun Journal carried an article on tests showing no significant increase in pressure from shooting shells in slightly short chambers. IMHO I don't much sweat that 1/8-inch in 12-gauge guns. On the other hand when one gets a 20-gauge chambered at 2 3/8-inch likely intended for 2 1/2-inch shells I do worry about folks firing 2 3/4-inch shells in such guns.
Also, Askins mentions (Modern Shotguns and Loads, 1929) that for the last 3 years or so the US makers started to hold their chambers shorter since the constriction made when shooting 2-3/4" loads in 2-5/8" chambers was found to improve patterning.
The advent of plastic wads has changed this a bit, and the old felt wads were easier on guns in general, IMO. The pressures from older style paper hulls and new plastic hulls were about the same, so they don't seem to be a real factor. The pressure rises weren't significant. JUST USE LOWER PRESSURE AMMO as a rule, and the 2 3/4" shells won't pose problems, according to the man who tested longer shells in short chambers, Sherman Bell. Here is the crux of what he determined by using sophisticated pressure equipment, as reported in his article in the winter 2001 Double Gun Journal.
Vol. 12, Issue 4, Winter 2001, �Finding Out for Myself� Part V
Sherman measured the Pressure increases when shooting long shells in shorter chambers. He used differing 2 �� shells and shot loadings. He fired the 12 Ga 2 �� shells: in 2 �� chambers, 2 �� chambers with lengthened forcing cones and in the standard 2 �� chambers.
Pressure increases were generally in the 500-1,000 PSI range for the shorter chambers; not enough of a pressure increase to damage a shotgun assuming the starting load was reasonable. In the past, thick walled paper shells were thought to produce higher pressure increases in short chambers than and thin plastic shells; there was no consistent difference between them in the tests.
Previous tests of components changes, such as Primers, Shells and Wadding, often showed increases in pressure in the same range as short chamber
Last edited by luv2safari; 06/16/13.
