My ignorance will be showing here, but what the hey. Gotta start somewhere. Over the last few years I've become enamored of drillings. I may make an offer on a Sauer 16ga x 16ga x 8x57. The shotgun barrels have 2-9/16" chambers. Any problem firing 2-3/4" shells in a single shot with 2-9/16" chambers?

GWB

I have been told that it does not hurt anything. I do know that most 16 gauge shells are not 2 3/4" even if the are marked as such. It's not much of a problem to have the chambers lengthened or lengthen the forcing cones which also takes care of the problem.

RST carries a full line of 2 1/2" 16ga shells at nearly the same price as you will pay for 2 3/4" shells and Graf & Sons carry 2 1/2" primed hulls and components. Why take a chance on ruining a fine weapon like a drilling.

My personal 16ga drilling has factory 2 3/4" chambers but I have an older one coming with 2 1/2" chambers if all is well with it I'll have the forcing cone lengthened and the full chokes opened but will leave it at 2 1/2" and just load shells for it. I'm already loading 2 1/2" for my 12ga bird gun so it's not a big deal.

Be very careful lengthening chambers. Older drillings have barrels that were struck about as thin as safe to keep weight down.

I have used 2 3/4" ammo in my 65mm chambered 16 and 12 gauge drillings all my life with no problems.

REMEMBER...DON'T SHOOT MAGNUM LOADS IN YOUR OLDER DRILLINGS!! They probably won't blow up, but they'll sure as heck get as loose as a sailor with a three day pass!

I have a 16ga long forcing cone reamer I use on some guns with plenty of meat to allow for this. MANY don't.

Use a good quality field load like Remington Sure-Shot ammo, and you won't have any problems. Don't force heavy shot loads through the tight choked barrels. You'll get "ringing" an inch or two back from the muzzle, and this could vastly change the rifle barrel regulation.

What luv2safari said. Go slow and keep pressures low. Wrecking a drilling is a cultural crime. And higher pressures don't make better patterns in most guns.

Closed and unfired they are not. Fired and open they are. Which is when it counts.

+1

Personally, I wouldn't do it. The additional pressure from trying to iron out the crimp in the forcing cone can change the burn characteristics of the powder and cause higher chamber pressure or an earlier pressure spike.
No need in loosening up the action prematurely.
2 1/2" ammo from Polywad, Gamebore and others should be readily available even with the ammo shortages.

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

What shot size are you not able to get in 12ga in B&P loads?

I shoot 12ga and 16ga B&P's #5,#6, and #7 have not had an issue getting them.

I just recieved a pallet 105 flats. 60 flats were 12ga, 40 flats #7 and 20 flats #5. 45 flats of 16ga, 30 flats of #7 and 15 flats #6.

As to the Fox chambers you are spot on.

I shoot the 67mm 16ga shells. I love them and think they're excellent in every respect but one.

B&P are always out of them in #6 and #7 shot sizes. I have no use for #8 shot.

I see they're back in stock with a good selection. Their ammo is some of the very best I've used in my lifetime.