Reloading and short chambers

[Roundsworth]

Dave and Mark,
I should have added that the advice I was given about the RSTs in my short chambers was taken with a grain of salt. I have never used improper ammunition in any of my guns. It just isn't worth it. I have a nice Lee Loader for the 2-7/8" 10 gauge and plan on taking it from there. I made a 2-3/4" Lee work for 2-1/2" 16 gauge shells, so I think I can make this one work for the 2-5/8".

[Smoothebore]

I have other tens with 2 7/8" chambers. I had purchased RMC brass in
2 5/8" to use in all of my tens. With the Federal hulls, I didn't make the same connection, cut them to 2 7/8", and forgot about the one short ten in the collection. I've read many threads over the years about a tighter gas seal being achieved by a shell slightly longer than the chamber. This is true in later guns with a tapered forcing cone. But, it is not necessarily true in an older lifter that has a sharp step from chamber to bore. This sharp step from chamber to bore was made for hand loaded brass casings of that time. It isn't designed for a longer Federal hull. At the lowest pressures it may work without appreciable increase in pressure and recoil, but in a higher pressure hunting load the recoil may increase drastically. Sorry to steal Sherman Bell's phrase, but this is my version of "Finding out for myself".

Dave