[Austin W Hogan]

Thanks Dave; that fills an important unknown period. The Winchester data I quoted was from the 1890 and 1910 catalogs. We showed some 1930's Remington data from Ken Waite Jr Remington salesman's catalogs in PP last year; Remington was offering short low base shells, and short black powder loads through the 1930's, although your data indicates that they dropped some shell lengths prior to WW I.
The one that has always intrigued me is Stadt Winchester Shotguns and Shotshells. Winchester redesignated the 1893 as the 1897 when 2 3/4 inch shells were begun; they also labelled 2 3/4 inch shells as for "repeaters" for 20 more years.
The spec I posted was from SAAMI. I have inquired to SAAMI for contributions to technical articles several times , but have recieved no response. Parker apparently joined the fore runner of SAAMI around s/n 215000 when they began stamping barrels "overload proved". This follows Remington's and probably other makers cessation of cataloging of many shell lengths.that you show
The real question to be answered is this; were standard shell lengths always .100 inch less than the listed nominal as they are now? We can only learn this by measuring some old, unfired shells.
Best, Austin