Chamber Length

[Mark Riessen]

Need a bit of help. Can some one tell me if guns made in Meriden ever had 2 3/4 " chambers ? I'm aware that some of the later guns made in Ilion had the longer chambers but was not sure if or when any change was made in Meridan ? As always thanks for any and all help or info.

[Double Lab]

I have an 1892 12ga., 32" DH Dam., with a factory letter showing it was ordered with 2 3/4" chambers and 3 1/2lb trigger pulls, a 1904 20ga. with letter and 2 7/8" chambers and a number of 12ga. and 28ga. ordered with 2 5/8" chambers from the early to mid 1920's.

[Researcher]

By and large Parker Bros. had the policy of holding chambers 1/8 inch shorter than the intended shell. This remained even into the Remington years, see pages 164 to 169 of the book The Parker Story for the Remington era specification sheets. Semantics really come into play on this. If a customer requested that his/her gun be chambered for 3-inch shells, the gun would be delivered with 2 7/8 inch chambers. If the customer ordered "3-inch chambers" supposedly that is what the customer would get.

Long shells have been around just about as long as cartridge shotguns have been around. 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 in 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. In those days the "standard" 2 5/8 inch 12-gauge, 2 9/16 inch 16-gauge and 2 1/2 inch 20-gauge shells carried a slightly milder maximum load than the 2 3/4 inch and longer shells. The advantage of the 2 7/8, 3 and 3 1/4 inch shells was more and better wadding for a better gas seal which many serious Pigeon shooters thought to be an advantage. The heaviest loads offered in the 2 1/2 inch 20-gauge shells were 2 1/4 drams of bulk smokeless powder pushing 7/8 ounce of shot, or 18 grains of Ballistite or Infallible dense smokeless powder pushing the same 7/8 ounce of shot. In the 2 3/4 inch 20-gauge case, one could get 2 1/2 drams bulk smokeless powder or 20 grains of Infallible or Ballistite dense smokeless powder, but still pushing 7/8 ounce of shot. The 3-inch 20-gauge shells for the famous Widgeon Duck Club Parker Bros. guns and the J. Stevens A & T Co. No. 200 pump guns carried these 7/8 ounce loads, but more wadding.

These are the shells a Parker Bros. 20-gauge, chambered for 3-inch shells, during at least the first quarter of the 20th Century would have been made for --



Same load in a 2 7/8 inch shell --



And, the same load from Peters Cartridge Co. --

[Dean Romig]

Parker guns in 12 and 16 gauge that were made to shoot paper hulls generally had 2 5/8" or 2 9/16" chambers with conical forcing cones. They were chambered this way in the belief that by doing so a better gas seal was created where the forward 1/8" or so of the paper hull would be pinched in the cone as it opened upon firing.

[charlie cleveland]

love those old boxes... charlie

[J.B. Books]

Where are the 2 3/4" chambered 10ga guns?

[charlie cleveland]

a good question... charlie

[Bill Murphy]

If someone ordered a gun with 2 3/4" chambers, ten or another gauge, that is what he got. Parker Brothers did not seem to dispute anyone's preference when honoring an order.

[J.B. Books]

Bill my point is that if Parker did deliberately (rather than "market" such information) make chamber lengths 1/8" shorter than the intended shell there is little evidence I have seen of that in 10 gauge where far fewer options for shell length were available. My question is, where are the 2 1/2" 10ga guns (for 2 5/8") and 2 3/4" for the 2 7/8" shells. All the guns I have seen for myself measured a true 2 7/8".

We all know there is little harm in shooting a slightly longer shell than the chamber length. We also know there was some advertising of a benefit to holding chambers 1/8" short. We also know there were a lack of standards and many options in the 12, 16 and 20 gauge shell length. However we also know Parker Brothers were very good at their marketing and I still believe guns were chambered for a specific length shell.

[Roundsworth]

Here is a box of 2-3/4" 10 gauge. It is the only one I have ever seen. I wonder if there were actually 10 gauge chambers out there at 2-3/4", or if these were for the 2-5/8" chamber (taking into account Parker's policy on shorter chambers).