Early 3 1/2" Ten Factory Original

[charlie cleveland]

bill this sure is a interesting gun you have found i hope somethings turns up for you on this gun. i m sure the fellow who ordered this gun with these long chambers was shooting heavier loads than the factory was loading in the 2 7/8 shells..i convinced myself that some foks were shooting handloaded shells that were close to magnum standards of today..i have a 3 frame eh gun with those 7 lbs 10ounce barrels that are 3 1/2 chambers but do not know if it was factory long chambers...good luck on the hunt for answers on this gun...charlie

[Researcher]

Are you sure the gun is chambered for 3 1/2 inch shells? The longest 10-gauge NPEs I've found offered back in those days was 3 1/4 inch, but most were not offered over 3-inch. In 1901 the UMC EXPERT NPE for bulk smokeless powder was offered up to 3 1/4 inch in 10-gauge --



and the UMC UNION NPE for black powder --



As were their BEST quality brass shells --



By 1910 none of the 10-gauge NPEs for smokeless powders were offered longer than 2 7/8 inch, with only the paper and brass NPEs for black powder offered in the 3 and 3 1/4 inch lengths.

[Bill Murphy]

Dave, the order specifies 3 1/2" chambers. Charlie, do you have a letter on your big gun yet? My Vulcan Steel ten has wall thickness no thinner then .100. If my new gun has .100 wall thickness, I will be shooting modern 3 1/2" mag ten lead shells in it. The bores are shiny, so I will measure to see if the thickness is there. The barrels are marked 8-1 if I recall.