Quote:
Originally Posted by Daryl Corona
I have a D grade hammerless with damascus barrels ordered in 1892 with 2 3/4" chambers as per Parker letter. Is that unusual for a gun of that era to be ordered with that chamber length? The gun was ordered by DuBray and it also specified 3 1/2lb. trigger pulls.
|
The ammunition companies were offering a lot of different length cases well before that time. The only UMC 1892 vintage paper I have access to is a price list and it doesn't mention anything about lengths. At that time they offered their 12-gauge smokeless powder loads in their SMOKELESS shell from 2 1/2 drams pushing 1 1/8 ounce of shot for $47.00 per thousand to 3 1/4 drams pushing 1 1/4 ounce of shot for $49.50 per thousand. If loaded in their higher brass TRAP shell an extra $5 per thousand. Their black powder NEW CLUB 12-gauge shells started at $25 per thousand.
Unfortunately we can't look into the mind of the customer and know if he wanted the gun to shoot, 2 3/4 inch shells or 2 7/8 inch shells? I do remember reading an magazine article about DuBray being on a trip through the south doing a lot of hunting with a 16-gauge using 2 7/8 inch shells.
Is there a difference in what was done when the records say "chamber 3-inch" or when they say "Chamber for 3" shells"? Would the first give the customer a 3-inch chamber and the second a 2 7/8 inch chamber?
We can certainly tie ourselves in knots over this chamber length stuff!!
Threaded Mode