Quote:
Chambered for a 3" shell.
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Most Parker Bros. 20-gauge guns of that era were chambered for the then standard 2 1/2 inch 20-gauge shell. If it was in fact ordered chambered for the longer 2 3/4, 2 7/8 or 3-inch 20-gauge shells of the day, they were nothing like the modern 3-inch Magnum 20-gauge shells introduced in 1954.
From the late 1890s until the early 1920s, the heaviest 20-gauge loads offered by our North American ammunition companies were 2 1/4 drams of bulk smokeless powder or 18-grains of dense smokeless powder such as Infallible or Ballistite pushing 7/8 ounce of shot. In the longer 2 3/4, 2 7/8 and 3-inch shells one could get a slightly hotter load of 2 1/2 drams of bulk smokeless powder or 20 grains of Infallible or Ballistite pushing that same 7/8 ounce of shot. The real value of the longer shells was a better wad column which many gun cranks of the day believed to be important.
20-gauge 3-inch Rem-UMC Arrow.jpg
3-inch IDEAL 20-gauge.jpg