Breech closing issue

[Dean Romig]

Bill Murphy has a 28 gauge rim cutting tool he has been known to loan to PGCA Members…




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[J. A. EARLY]

With the barrels off you could experiment with the different brands of shells in each barrel and determine is it the extractor or rim. Just take a wooden dowell to push out each shell while experimenting. You may even remove the extractor and see how the shell fits without the extractor. This will clearly show what is making the shell head taller than the breech of the barrels.

[Bill Murphy]

The rim cutter I have used on three early 28s did not belong to me. Early 28s need to have the rim recesses enlarged. One of our members may have such a cutter. Maybe Brian Dudley will help you.

[edgarspencer]

My daughter found me a very early (1901) VH 28ga which was one of a pair, ordered from HD Folsom by the owner's great-grandfather for his two daughters. I bought the gun, and the other remains in their family. The man gave me several boxes of original Brass 28ga shells and said that's all they shot, because the Florida humidity made the paper shells swell. I could not close the gun on anything but Fiocchi shells, as the chambers and rims were made for the brass shells.
I recut the rim recess with the tool shown above and all was right thereafter.

[Pa SxS]

I had a 12ga. Parker that did the same thing. I believe the rim needs to be deepened slightly. Examine shells that work and shells that don't. I found that some companies shells had a slight radius when you look at the side wall where it meets the rim. Those wouldn't work or were very difficult to close the gun on. The other shells that had a more 90 degree angle would fit in the chamber just fine. The solution was to deepen the rim cut.