Chamber depth

[Researcher]

This has been my canned response for years on the chamber depth question.

Chamber depth is considered to be the distance between the breech end of the barrels and the joint between the chamber body itself and the forcing cone, which reduces down to bore diameter. This is loosely based on the length of the "Fired" shell. Today, theoretically when the crimp opens on the shell being fired the end would land at the junction of the chamber and cone. Prior to WW-II many companies had the practice of holding the chamber about 1/8 inch shorter than the shell for which it was intended. Fly in the ointment is nominal measurements often differ from actual ones in both chambers and shells. A very good method I have found of measuring chambers without much outlay of cash, and is quite accurate enough for virtually any situation, is a common 6" flexible machinist's scale which you likely have. Hold the barrels with muzzles toward a light source, not necessarily a concentrated one a window is great, while looking into the breech and the cone will be thrown in a shadow. May have to move the barrels around a little until it is distinct. While still looking into the chamber simply slide the scale in until you observe the end coming flush with the shadow line & mark position of breech end with your thumb. Remove and read the scale. I usually repeat this a few times to insure I am getting a consistent reading, but you will be amazed how accurate this can be done. While I own a Galazan chamber gauge, I use this more often than not. The chamber body itself has a taper of about .005" per inch. Sometimes chambers were cut with slightly worn reamers giving a slight undersize chamber. If the chamber is a bit undersize a gauge made to "industry" standards will not go in to the true depth of the chamber. A.H. Fox Gun Co. shotguns are known for having tight chambers. The machinist’s scale method can be more accurate.

Sounds to me like you did it right.

[Charlie Diehl]

Thank you Dave. Very helpful.

[Bruce Day]

Here are the Parker recommended loads from the time your gun was made. I suggest that adherence to these standards is more important than a potential 1/4 “ in expanded cartridge length in some shells.

A 7/8 oz load was either a 20 ga or 16 ga load but not for a 28.

[Charlie Diehl]

Thank you Bruce

[Cold Spring]

Originally Posted by Dave Noreen

This has been my canned response for years on the chamber depth question.

...…….. Prior to WW-II many companies had the practice of holding the chamber about 1/8 inch shorter than the shell for which it was intended. .

Just recently while prepping for an article I found an excerpt from a 1920 dated letter from W.A. King that stated, in effect, that Parker chambers were bored 1/8" short for the intended length shell, and furthermore that Parker had succeeded in getting even better distributed patterns with increasingly more than 1/8" overlap into the cone, to the point where the fronts of the fired [paper] shells were torn and ragged. The King letter also stated that latter practice was not recommended.

Readers please note that progressive burning powders weren't widely introduced for heavy shotgun loads until about 1922.

[Bruce Day]

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