Breech closing issue

[edgarspencer]

My daughter found me a very early (1901) VH 28ga which was one of a pair, ordered from HD Folsom by the owner's great-grandfather for his two daughters. I bought the gun, and the other remains in their family. The man gave me several boxes of original Brass 28ga shells and said that's all they shot, because the Florida humidity made the paper shells swell. I could not close the gun on anything but Fiocchi shells, as the chambers and rims were made for the brass shells.
I recut the rim recess with the tool shown above and all was right thereafter.

[Pa SxS]

I had a 12ga. Parker that did the same thing. I believe the rim needs to be deepened slightly. Examine shells that work and shells that don't. I found that some companies shells had a slight radius when you look at the side wall where it meets the rim. Those wouldn't work or were very difficult to close the gun on. The other shells that had a more 90 degree angle would fit in the chamber just fine. The solution was to deepen the rim cut.