One of the investments I made several years ago was a set of chamber length gauges from Brownell's. They are a solid steel cylinder with gradations at 2 3/4" and 3" lengths. It is easy to scribe lines for 2 5/8" and 2 9/16" on the blued surface. I use them whenever a new gun shows up unannounced. When out on a scouting trip they are in my car console along with my choke gauges.

Sherman Bell, a regular contributor to Double Gun Journal , had an article in that magazine some years ago in which he described his pressure tests using 2 3/4" hulls in a 2 5/8" and shorter chambers. While there was a pressure spike associated with the longer shells, it was not excessive to a point where he recommended only shooting shorter shells in our old guns. That being said, the practice of trimming hulls to the length to which the gun was designed is a good policy. One does not want to invite the early arrival of the Reaper. It is something I do (shell trimming, that is) regularly with the myriad of tools I own which were made for that chore.

Just a few minutes ago a flat of Polywad 2.5 inchers arrived at my doorstep and I'm going to run them through my Sterlingworth, Lefever and GH.

My Sterlingworth is light and it is a wonderful old double to shoot. I've been shooting it at clays....so I really don't know how well it hits, if you get my drift.

I have no fear shooting standard 1 oz loads in my Sterlingworth since it locks up so well and has thick walls. It looks and feels like a very strong gun to me.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...hotguns001.jpg

I'm just going to save my Polywad 2.5" shells and reload them.

Steve What type of recoil pad is that on your fox. I like the look of it. Mine is an old red rubber pad that is as hard as a rock, and it makes the stock to long. About 15 in LOP.

The gun had that pad on it when I bought it. I think it's a Silvers Pad and several of my old guns have them and you can still get them. My Parker SBC had one on it that was trashed, squashed flat, and I replaced it with a new one. I kept the original tho.

There are several modern butt pads that I like. If I have an old gun that needs one I try to find something like an original. If I can't find one I get one that feels good and that has a rounded top so it won't catch on my shooting jacket.

I like shooting RST 2.5 inchers. Quaint, I guess and they seem to shoot as hard as anything....it's the cost however. So, far I have only been shooting them in my GH and I've been shooting 2 3/4 1 oz loads in my Sterlingworth. No problem, but she just kicks more than I'm used to. Same shells in my Miroku O/U don't seem to kick at all.

I think it is a Silvers pad. It was on the gun when I bought it.

Like the look of that silvers. We have a new gander mountain opening in town tomorrow. It will be nice to just go and pick up what you need without haveing to order it. Our area has been devoide of places to buy gun stuff. I need a couple rubber but pads so I guess I will see what they have.

keep your loads light and your screws tight!