3 inch in 2 3/4 chamber

B

Bwillsonhunter4

New member
I was wondering why is it so bad to shoot 3 inch shells in a shorter chamber. I have seen it done a lot in several different guns (beretta 302 and 303, several Remington 870 wingmasters, 870 sportsmen, Remington 1100). The only problem I have ever seen from it was a extractor pin broke on a 303 but nothing else. I have or have seen probily over 3,000 rounds go through guns like this in goose loads, slugs, and turkey loads, but I have read that it is very bad and dangourouse on the internet. Why?
 
Can you chamber a 3" in a 2 3/4" chamber and close the action without forcing it? I don't know.

Suppose you could. 3" shells have more shots than 2 3/4". Muzzle velocities are the same. The only possibility is higher pressure in 3" guns.

-TL
 
It's not safe to shoot 3" shells in a gun with 2 3/4" chambers ....because shot shells are measured after they are fired.....meaning the petals of the crimp opening in a 3" shell don't have room to open up properly in a 2 3/4" chamber....and constricting the chamber, forcing cone and the barrel.....significantly increasing pressures.

It's not safe to do it !!
 
nope

I was wondering why is it so bad to shoot 3 inch shells in a shorter chamber. I have seen it done a lot in several different guns
Click to expand...

As noted above.....in a word...Pressure.
Excessive pressure has a cumulative effect. A firearm may work repeatedly without apparent issue and then one day it lets go.
Just because you can doesn't mean that you should.
Pete
 
Folks who overstress the gun will have a serious accident sooner or later. Your eyes and other important body parts are mere inches from what basically becomes a pipe bomb. It only takes one time to result in a very bad day.
 
In case any new shotgunners are out there reading this ...thinking some guns are strong enough to do this ....even once in a while.......( its not ok, to do it at all !! ). Noone, with any sense, I hope -- would want to intentionally fire a gun -- shotgun, handgun or rifle -- with a partically blocked chamber, forcing cone or barrel ....and think its ok ...!

Shooting a 3" shell in a gun chambered for 2 3/4" shells...you end up shooting a shell in a gun with a partically blocked chamber, forcing cone and/or barrel...

The petals on a shell, depending on the brand of shell, are about 3/8" long....so that is why a shell called a "3" shell" ...unfired is only about 2 5/8" long unfired...( 3" is the fired length ). So that is why an Unfired 3" shell ......can be unsafely loaded into a shotgun with a 2 3/4" chamber...

I have a buddy that owns a used gun shop and sells a lot of used shotguns....and this issue of chamber length comes up all the time - he says at least once a day ( espeically on older field guns ) / and I am always shocked when a buyer implies that checking the length of the chamber in a gun is best done by just dropping an unfired shell in there...and thinking that is how its measured --- its not !!

( and a little off topic..of 12ga shell length ) ...its also possible to drop a 20ga shell into the chamber of a 12ga...and the 20ga shell will drop all the way down and stick in the opening of the barrel...and it goes down far enough ...to allow an unfired 12ga shell to be loaded in behind it ---- in effect creating a bomb ..if that 12ga shell is fired with a fully blocked barrel with that 20ga shell. That is why in the field...or even on sporting clays fields...I would never allow anyone to carry both 12ga and 20ga shells in their vest ( maybe a new shooter is shooting the 20ga / so the other shooter carrying a 12ga...says they will carry all the shells ( 12ga and 20ga )...its a recipe for disaster ! Because in the heat of the moment ...its easy to forget ...and drop the wrong kind of shell ( a 20ga ) into a 12ga.
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While I understand some guys might think firing 3" shells in a gun chambered for 2 3/4" might be ok once in a while....like others have said....its a ridiculous risk to take !

The same risk applies on all gagues of shotguns...( 12ga, 16ga, 20ga, 28ga and .410 ) ....you need to match the shell to the chamber length of the gun. Some guns, especially field guns may have 3" chambers...or even 3 1/2" now...but there are a lot of "target" guns out there with 2 3/4" in 12ga thru 28ga / or 2 1/2" chambers in .410..../ read the markings on the barrel...and if the barrel is not marked..talk to a gunsmith or an experienced shooter that understands how to measure the chamber length --- please don't guess !!
 
Just to reinforce what has already been said. The unfired shells will fit inside the chambers and fire when the trigger is pulled. You can put a 3.5" shell in a 3" chamber too, but it is even more dangerous. But once the shell opens the petals has no place to go. If you measure unfired shells of the same advertised length you'll often see quite a bit of difference. If someone has been doing this and not blown up a gun yet it is a lucky combo of 3" shells that are shorter than standard and a gun with a longer than standard chamber. One thing is for sure, a barrel that has had longer than spec ammo fired in it is weakened and I'd no longer shoot it with the correct shells.
 
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