All 2 3/4 12 ga shells are not created equal

B

Butzbach

New member
I feel like I missed a rule of thumb / tribal wisdom somewhere along the line. 12 ga 2 3/4 00 Buck shells made by Noble are too long to fit in my Saiga drum mags. I have found other brands of nominally 2 3/4 buckshot that are also too long.

Is this common knowledge to everyone but me? If so, is there some way of knowing which 2 3/4 shells are proper “shorties” if you will and which are longer? Or is physically measuring them the only solution?

Enquiring minds want to know.
 
variation

I have no experience with Noble brand, but I have seen variation in shotshells.
I was once issued a Win 1200 for duty use. The gun would not eject certain brands of slugs, the spent hull would not clear the ejection port...too long. Experimenting yielded one brand it preferred, but I can't recall mfg.

All the 1200's in the district (6) exhibited that flaw, as well as weak ejection overall with any hull. Several did not shoot slugs to point of aim at 50 yds either, as I recall, shooting a foot high if they had the problem.

I stumbled up on the purchase orders. The guns had been bought in the early 70's, and were about $15-20 dollars cheaper than an 870 at the time if my research was correct. The Win 1200's were eventually replaced with 870's, the Winchesters no longer conforming to rewritten policy. Some of the 870's didn't want to run either, but that's another story.
 
I could be mistaken on this, but I am fairly certain the length is measured after firing (not a crimped shell), so there is going to be variation by brand, a few minutes on google has left me not being able to find any compiled chart by brand though.

Have you found any that do fit in the drum? I'm wondering if it is the drum that is out of spec.
 
I don’t think it’s the drums

Rob228 said:
I could be mistaken on this, but I am fairly certain the length is measured after firing (not a crimped shell), so there is going to be variation by brand, a few minutes on google has left me not being able to find any compiled chart by brand though.

Have you found any that do fit in the drum? I'm wondering if it is the drum that is out of spec.
Click to expand...
Remington 00 and 000 are good to go. Winchester #4 Buck and Winchester white box dove loads are also good to go so I don’t think it’s the MD arms or Promag drums.

Good thought though.
 
Rob228 is correct on how the length is measured. A shotshell with a roll crimp will have a slightly longer body, (as an example)
 
OK, but that seems useless from a practicality point of view. How would that facilitate chamber size designations on firearms?

What about the NATO? 12 ga x 76 designation?
 
Last edited:
There can be a considerable difference in length before firing, well over 1/8" depending on the manufacturer. With most tube magazines on repeaters or on break action shotguns that minor difference will never matter. I have seen a few cases where the combined extra length of 3 shells in a mag tube made enough difference that the 4th shell would not quite fit.

I'd never considered a box magazine and how it would matter.
 
Fired length

Box and drum magazines are really not used much in shotguns. The box and drum mags have shown up with the newer tactical and bullpup type designs.

Back in the day there were a number of cheap bolt action shotguns tho most had a blind mag if memory serves. I think Mossburg had a box magazine.

Unlike metallic cartridges, shotgun ammo has always had multiple lengths. It's common to see British shotguns with 2 1/2" chambers. Old 16 gauges require 2 9/16" length hulls.
Not to mention the short 12 gauge shells made primarily to increase mag capacity.

Unfortunately short chamber guns will typically accept the longer hulls. Measuring a shotgun chamber is a bit tricky.
 
I just pulled out two different brands of double 00 buck shot.
Winchester and Nobel Sport 12 gauge.
The Nobel Sport is more than an 1/8” longer.
Surprising!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top