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Shot Talk

Revisiting worries with further discussion & clarifiction

Worries Revisited

My column “Worries,” in November/December 2007, offered a brief treatment of three issues of concern to many shotgunners. It was not intended to fully explore the technical details about any of the issues. However, two of the items require further discussion and clarification.
    First is the worrisome issue of shooting longer-than-intended shells in short chambers. I discussed the effect of firing shells that exceed a gun’s chamber length by 1/4" and longer. As part of that discussion, I stated: “From my testing, you can count on at least a 1,500-psi increase in 12 gauge for the first 1/4" of excess shell length.” That is a mistake, and the mistake is mine. It should have read: “. . . at least a 150-psi increase . . .” And that which followed should have read “. . . a 400- to 500-psi pressure increase for firing certain 3" .410 loads in 2-1/2" chambers” (not 4,000 to 5,000 psi). I don’t know how I missed that extra zero in both statements, but I did. I’m sorry for any heartburn this may have caused. Happily, the error was in the direction of safety.
    Setting aside exactly how much pressure will increase when shooting long shells in short chambers (which varies by load, length differential and gauge), the fact is that longer shells often contain heavier loads, which often develop higher chamber pressures than the more modest loads generally assembled in shorter shells. This is what the gunmakers have to worry about. They do not have control over how much heavier the shot charge weight or how much higher the pressures may be in longer cartridges depending on how they were loaded. And even though they are fully aware of exceptions, they do not want to take the read more »

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