old gun, new shells

[Mike of the Mountain]

I find it hard to believe those guns are chambered for 2 1/2” shells. Out of all my Parkers I only have one that is truly a 2 1/2” gun. That is a top-lever O frame 16g hammer gun. I’d get a good digital caliper to take your measurements. I was never a fan of those drop-in chamber and choke gauges.

One can always have the chambers lengthened if your BWT is good.

[Bill Murphy]

What "expensive" components are specifically for 2 1/2" shells? I use the same primers, powder, wads, and shot for both 2 1/2" and 2 3/4" shells. I load in 2 1/2" RST empties that I pick up at Side by Side shoots.

[Clark McCombe]

What is the downside to lengthening the chamber to 2 5/8 or 2 3/4?

[Mike of the Mountain]

Originally Posted by Clark McCombe

What is the downside to lengthening the chamber to 2 5/8 or 2 3/4?

If it’s a “shooter” which is a gun that will be used instead of looked at and held onto as an investment, the upside is being able to shoot regular competition or hunting loads out of it.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

What "expensive" components are specifically for 2 1/2" shells? I use the same primers, powder, wads, and shot for both 2 1/2" and 2 3/4" shells. I load in 2 1/2" RST empties that I pick up at Side by Side shoots.

Bill, the majority of 2 1/2” recipes call for Gualandi “short gun” SG wads which are designed to fit in the smaller capacity hulls.

[Stan Hillis]

Originally Posted by Clark McCombe

What is the downside to lengthening the chamber to 2 5/8 or 2 3/4?

Loss of originality, nothing else as long as the barrel wall thicknesses are sufficient to safely do the chamber lengthening. As Mike said, no real downside for a shooter.

[Clark McCombe]

I might leave the GHE and the 20 ga alone but the 12 ga Trojans and 16 Trojan I like to shoot.
Any recommendation on who could do the work?

[Bill Murphy]

Mike, regardless of what your recipes call for, I use any wad that fits in the shell and doesn't hang out the front. The wad I have been using for a few hundred 2 1/2" RST 7/8 ounce loads is a green wad with short petals, don't remember the brand. The loads are beautiful with flat tops. I have two other wads that are identical to the green one in height, one pink, and the other WW Grey.

[Craig Larter]

From Sherman Bell's Article in the 2001 Winter DGJ Long Shells in Short Chambers
“Shooting 2 3/4” shells in 2 1/2” chambers does make them produce more pressure-but in most cases it is less than a 1000 psi increase. I see no reason, related to safety, to modify an original 2 1/2” chambered gun to shoot 2 3/4” shells, if the 2 3/4” load you intend to use would develop pressure that is safe in that gun, when fired in a standard chamber!”

[Drew Hause]

Craig: as you know that statement was based on a study of 12g shells
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...A/edit?tab=t.0

We have NO data regarding using long for chamber 16g or 20g shells.

Again, some modern nominally 2 3/4" shells are shorter than 2 3/4". It was recently reported that Aguila 16s were short
https://trueshotammo.com/ammunition/...1-oz-1200-fps/