I reload all of my 2 1/2” shells, 12, 16 and 20 gauge. But then, components aren’t easy to find either… and they’re not cheap either.





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I find it hard to believe those guns are chambered for 2 1/2” shells. Out of all my Parkers I only have one that is truly a 2 1/2” gun. That is a top-lever O frame 16g hammer gun. I’d get a good digital caliper to take your measurements. I was never a fan of those drop-in chamber and choke gauges.

One can always have the chambers lengthened if your BWT is good.

What "expensive" components are specifically for 2 1/2" shells? I use the same primers, powder, wads, and shot for both 2 1/2" and 2 3/4" shells. I load in 2 1/2" RST empties that I pick up at Side by Side shoots.

What is the downside to lengthening the chamber to 2 5/8 or 2 3/4?

If it’s a “shooter” which is a gun that will be used instead of looked at and held onto as an investment, the upside is being able to shoot regular competition or hunting loads out of it.

Bill, the majority of 2 1/2” recipes call for Gualandi “short gun” SG wads which are designed to fit in the smaller capacity hulls.

Loss of originality, nothing else as long as the barrel wall thicknesses are sufficient to safely do the chamber lengthening. As Mike said, no real downside for a shooter.

I might leave the GHE and the 20 ga alone but the 12 ga Trojans and 16 Trojan I like to shoot.
Any recommendation on who could do the work?

Mike, regardless of what your recipes call for, I use any wad that fits in the shell and doesn't hang out the front. The wad I have been using for a few hundred 2 1/2" RST 7/8 ounce loads is a green wad with short petals, don't remember the brand. The loads are beautiful with flat tops. I have two other wads that are identical to the green one in height, one pink, and the other WW Grey.

From Sherman Bell's Article in the 2001 Winter DGJ Long Shells in Short Chambers
“Shooting 2 3/4” shells in 2 1/2” chambers does make them produce more pressure-but in most cases it is less than a 1000 psi increase. I see no reason, related to safety, to modify an original 2 1/2” chambered gun to shoot 2 3/4” shells, if the 2 3/4” load you intend to use would develop pressure that is safe in that gun, when fired in a standard chamber!”