Chamber Length

[Pat Buford]

Have a question about length of shells. Have one Parker 12 which per letter is chambered 2 5/8 and a pre war Sauer per gunsmith measures 2 1/2 chamber. Both are in good shape with non damascus barrels and have been checked out by gunsmith to be in safe shooting condition.......Are these o.k. to shoot with 2 3/4 low brass.....? Have been told they are so long as round will chamber easily.....What say ye? As a general proposition is this right.....i.e. if its "modern steel" barrel in good condition per gunsmith inspection....it is o.k. to shoot low brass loads............Thanks Pat....p.s. both do chamber std 2 3/4 easily.

[Paul Harm]

IMHO, the 2 3/4 in the 2 5/8 - yes. I'd reload cut shells to 2 1/2 for that gun. "Low brass" doesn't mean anything, they can still have a lot of pressure. Not saying you'd blow anything up, it would put a lot of unnecessary strain on an older gun and " shoot loose " quicker. Paul

[Dean Romig]

I agree with Paul, the Sauer should be used only with 2 1/2" shells while the Parker is good to go with the 2 3/4".

[Pat Buford]

Thanks for the replies.....A little web research finds RST shells 2 1/2 inch 16 ga. 1 oz. 1200 fps what do you think?....no lup cup or psi information is supplied on the site.........10.50 per box not cheap...but reasonable..........Pat

[charlie cleveland]

good shells should be fine for the gun and good for trap or skeet or game...not a bad price for 16 ga shells..order in quanity the cost of mailing is high... charlie

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Pat Buford

Thanks for the replies.....A little web research finds RST shells 2 1/2 inch 16 ga. 1 oz. 1200 fps what do you think?....no lup cup or psi information is supplied on the site.........10.50 per box not cheap...but reasonable..........Pat

Pat, you will not find better loads than RST even if you load your own.

10.50 per box? You will not find cheaper loads than RST (that are good for short chambers) unless you load your own.

1200 fps is great velocity for what they are. An awful lot of testing has gone into the many choices RST offers us.

I won't buy another brand - there's nothing better.

[J.B. Books]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Pat, you will not find better loads than RST even if you load your own.

I won't buy another brand - there's nothing better.

Dean, RST produces great shells and Morris is providing a necessary and wonderful service for aficianados of classic double guns.

That said, you have it backwards, nobody can find better shells then their own reloads. Reloading allows you to develop the best loads for any particular gun by changing the mix of variables; primer, powder, powder amount, wad, hull etc to get the desired performance. Reloading lets you control pressures and even use loads that are not commercially available or readily available such as 3/4 ounce 12ga. It also provides a wider range of shot sizes and shot weights than is currently offered by RST.

If you like to use your guns a lot factory shells are cost prohibitive in many cases. Just for my use in shooting crows over the past 12 months I would have spent almost $1100 for RST 2 7/8" 10ga, cost for the same amount of my reloads, $285. My savings over the course of the year is even greater if I threw in shells used for trapshooting and waterfowling with it.

Again RST's are great and it's the best choice for the casual shooter but the best shells for both performance and volume are reloads.

[Dean Romig]

Can we agree to disagree?

[J.B. Books]

Not arguing Dean just pointing out the facts of reloading vs. buying factory shells. RST's are great shells, but to make a claim you can't find a better shell including reloads is incorrect (unless of course you are selling RST's )

[Bruce Day]

I just shoot what I have.