Some time back Drew Hause posted some old articles about A.W. duBray making the rounds in the south and doing quite a bit of hunting using a 16-gauge Parker Bros. double and 2 7/8 inch shells.
Long shotgun shells have been around just about as long as cartridge shotguns have been around. In the early days there were a plethora of shell lengths. In my 1903 UMC catalogue there were 12-gauge paper shells 2 5/8, 2 3/4, 2 7/8, 3 and 3 1/4 inch. The 16-gauge was available 2 9/16, 2 3/4, 2 7/8, and 3 inch. The 20-gauge was offered in 2 1/2, 2 3/4, 2 7/8, and 3 inch. The “standard” shell, 2 5/8 inch 12-gauge, 2 9/16 inch 16-gauge and 2 ½ inch 20-gauge carried slightly milder loads than the max offered in the 2 ¾ inch shells, but the 2 7/8, 3-inch and longer shells just got more wadding.
The 20-gauge Super-Fox came out in the early- to mid-1920s. Most were chambered for 2 ½ or 2 ¾ inch shells. The only one of the ammunition companies I’ve found to offer long shells with their new progressive burning powder high velocity loads was Peters, and just like the old bulk or dense smokeless powder shells, the 2 7/8 and 3-inch Peters High Velocity shells didn’t carry a heavier payload, just more wadding –
From the 1927 Peters catalogue –
