doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Two inch Twelve gauge

Some new news. On Monday. I was driving home from Michigan and got a phone call from a guy in Mount Vernon, Georgia.

He had gotten my name and number from Tom Armbrust and knew that I was wanting to test 2 inch 12 gauge ammo. Well, it turns out that he has made a test barrel with a 2 inch chamber. Seems like a real nice guy, and I'm looking forward to sending him some loads. Probably later next wee


His name is Bruce Ducksworth at bruce big bore ballistics

130 ben anderson st mt vernon ga 30445
Email 338lapuaba@gmail.com

I have several boxes of 10 each in 7.5 and 8;s in their 1.75 inch shells. Cabela's carries them for just over $10 per box. They shoot very well and are really easy on the shoulder. Plus, you can carry enough for a day in the dove fields in your jacket pockets!!

You wouldn't want a game warden shoving, and counting, these shells into a repeater's magazine tube. Gil

Probably not, but my guns only have two barrels anyway!! Besides, they don't do well in autoloaders except the Mossberg with a special little plastic adaptor inserted by the shell lifter.

1954 Rules of Proof :

Max length of chamber 2.100" Min length of chamber 2.000"

Highest Mean Service Pressure 2 3/4 tons at 1" and 1 3/4 tons at 6" (measured by radial method)

For The Proof of Barrels of the First Class :

12G 2" Provisional Proof 266 grains T.P. Powder with 1 1/4 oz No 6 shot (lead obviously)

Definiutive Proof 170 grains T.S.P. Powder with 1 5/8 oz No 6 shot

Even allowing for the vagaries in "strength" of BP as used in Birmingham Proof House and that available today, I think that the figures above provide as much information as necessary for judicial home loading.

Wow! 21 pages of comments on 2" guns. You never know what piques peoples' interest. I reloaded for my guns by cutting down long shells. I even had a load for AAs. Roll crimps work best. These guns are light but still fat. I'll take my 28 gauges!

Thank you greener4me

Much our verbiage is in trying to clearly document the loadings and service pressures of the 2" guns. I'm mostly trying to help borderbill not blow up his 2 incher

The Proof House declared in 35' that 2" would be proved at the max. service pressure of 2 1/2" (and 2 5/8") guns = 3 Dr. Eq. with 1 1/8 oz. shot = 3 1/4 tons by LUP or about 9,800 psi by Burrard's conversion.

What we STILL don't have is documentation of the proof pressures for the 2" loads prior to 1954, and Bro. Venters was looking. The service loads were 7/8 oz., 1 oz. and 1 1/8 oz. It appears that the proof pressures were the same, but we also don't know the powder load for the 3 loadings.

Henry Sharp in Shooting Times, 1939 listed 2 loads for the 2":
26 grains Curtis’s & Harvey “Diamond Smokeless” with 7/8 oz. shot = 2.36 Dr. Eq
28 grains "Empire" with 1 oz. shot = 2.55 Dr. Eq.

1947 edition of Burrard's The Modern Shotgun lists a "Low Velocity: 2" load with 2.2 Dr. Eq. (24 grains of a 33 grain powder) and 1 oz. shot. No pressure was provided.

The "highest mean service pressure" for the 2 1/2” cartridge was lowered in 1954 to 3 tons - 8,960 psi and for the 2” cartridge to 2 3/4 tons = about 8,200 psi.
Standard service is about 75% of max. service

The 1955 edition of Burrard's lists standard load & pressures for 2" cartridges at 7/8 oz. 2.36 Dr. Eq. (26 grains of 33 grain = 3 Dr.Eq. powder) Service 2.25 tons = 6,440 psi; Max. Service 3.0 tons = 8,960 psi.

I certainly love my two inch. In fact I killed a grouse with it just an hour ago. I post a picture but I don't have the time right now. When I get back this weekend maybe.

I also received some new pressure data on reloads for 2 inch. Interesting information if anybody is interested in reloading for 1 of these.

My 2x12 is not nearly so fat as you might think. And a whole lot more interesting than just another 28 gauge.

In a conversation with a noted gunsmith who is a fan of the 2" 12, he compared it to a scaled 28 gauge. Due to arthritic changes in his carry hand, the smaller action of a scaled 28 ga. was more tiring and painful to grasp and carry over the course of a hunt. OMMV. Gil

2 inch shells make this Burgess purr like a kitten. You can stuff 7 of them in the magazine and hunt all day without having to reload…