doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Safe to lengthen Chamber of 2 1/2" English SXS

Is it generally safe to lengthen the chambers of a 16 gauge English SXS from 2 1/2" to 2 3/4"?
Thanks.
Pete

Why would you want to? The gun was designed to be used as it was made. Buy the right ammunition and enjoy your gun as the maker intended.

The job can be done but it encourages users to then put 'hotter' loads into the gun than its structure is intended to handle. As a result, mid-term damage and wear will be exacerbated.

Lengthening the chamber will also render your gun 'out of proof'.

Agree with Dig. If a gun has a 2 1/2" chamber, the appropriate pressures are far more important than case and chamber length. Low pressure loads will fit nicely in 2 3/4" cases and eliminate the need to rechamber. Also, vintager loads are readily available for 16 gauge in case you don't reload. Further, note that recoil needs to be kept down via light shot charges at lower velocity.

Opening the chamber to 2 3/4" does not, in any way, make the gun suitable for modern "normal" shells.

Dig,
I thought it would make it easier to find shells when I needed them, they are hard enough to find as it is.
Pete

sxsman, you really shouldn't be shooting American off the shelf ammo in it anyway. The pressures are way to high. JMO.

The easy to find shells that you will find will not be of the correct pressure for your gun. In effect you will be shooting shells that are 40-50% to maybe 100% more pressure than your gun should shoot. On top of that the heavy loads will soon make the gun slightly loose and risk the stock failing.

On a personal side the cheap loads tend to kick like Heck and are no fun to shoot.

http://www.polywad-shotgun-shells.com/vintager/

http://www.rstshells.com/shells-best.htm

The Remington "Game loads" in 16 gauge are cheap and effective. 2 1/2 dram eq. with an ounce of shot. The RST 2 1/2" is 2 3/4 dr eq and 1 oz of shot. The rem load actually kicks less.
I wouldn't lengthen the chambers. It will take the gun out of proof and lessen its' value unless you then have it re-proofed which is a terrible waste of money. Stick to the 1 oz, 2 1/2 dr eq loads and you will be fine. It's not the pressure that will hurt the gun if the barrels are of original thickness, it's the recoil.

sxsman1 - if you are going to shoot guns that originally came with 2 1/2" chambers, you are going to have to committ to ordering appropriate ammo or reloading. Again, 2 3/4" chambers is not at all what makes a gun suitable for current American SAAMI standard ammo; it must be designed and made of suitable materials from the get-go. Most 2 1/2" chambered guns are old and need specail care and feeding. Given said care and feeding, they can be shot for generations to come. Fed a few too many higher pressure loads, they will need early repairs.

Some more options:
Eley subsonic/low recoil http://eleyshotshells.com
ARMUSA 'Vintage' http://www.armusa-performance.com
Kent http://www.firearmservice.com

Another 16er and I were discussing options for pheasants and this might be helpful for someone with a 2 and 1/2" (65mm) gun:

B&P shells are 67mm but used in 2 and 1/2" chambers without reported problems
https://www.bandpusa.com/Shopping/product_selection.php
F2 CLASSIC 16 Size 4, 5, 6, and 7 available
Lead: 1 1/16 oz.
Case: 67mm. (2.62 in.)
FPS: 1280
The F2 Classic is NOT a low pressure load at almost 10,000 PSI

LOW PRESSURE LOADS:

ELEY GRAND PRIX 16 ga. 2¾ Dram 15/16 oz #5UK Fiber Wad, 1225fps
Price: $85.90
With uncompromising quality Eley have introduced a line of 67.5mm loads for 21/2" or larger chambers to suit the 16 bore hunter with high antimony shot and hard hitting performance. This load utilizes a Plastic Hull and the Eley KLEENA Fiber Wad in UK#5 (equivalent to a US #6 shot)
http://65.36.235.175/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=ES&Category_Code=16ETG

Polywad Vintager
16 Gauge, #6 Shot, 2-1/2"
Vintager-XXTRA, Buffered "BioWad"
(Case of 250) Vintager 2-1/2" 16 Gauge Shotshells - Low Recoil Low Pressure
24 Gm (about 7/8 oz.), #6 Shot, 2-1/4 Dram Equivalent
http://www.polywad-shotgun-shells.com/16gavin6/

RST has both 7/8 oz. and 1 oz. loads in 5s and 6s available.
http://www.rstshells.com/shells-best.htm

And the Polywad Spreader 2 1/2" load for those tightly choked classic 16s
http://www.polywad-shotgun-shells.com/spreader-16-gauge-loads/