doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com When did 10 ga. 2 7/8" chambers appear?

Greetings all,

I'm trying to determine when the British 10 gauge 2 7/8" chambers first started to show up. As I understand it, the 2 5/8" chambers were the earliest, followed by the 2 7/8" and then the 3".
Any info would be appreciated.

I am not aware of any documented information but I strongly suspect that the longer shells were coeval with the advent of breechloading 10's. They would almost have to be longer to contain four or five drams of black powder pushing 1 1/2 oz or more of shot.

In the 1895 UMC catalogue, they offer both 2 5/8 and 2 7/8 inch smokeless powder paper 10-gauge shells, while their BLACK CLUB black powder 10-gauge paper shells were offered in 2 5/8, 2 7/8 and 3 inch lengths, and brass 10-gauge NPEs could be had up to 3 1/4 inch. A few years later they offered the paper 10-gauge shells up to 3 1/4 inch. By 1906, while they still offered 10-gauge NPEs in all lengths from 2 5/8 inch to 3 1/4 inch, loaded 10-gauge shells were only being offered in 2 7/8 inch cases.