doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hollenbeck drilling:12guage over .25-25 Stevens

Once Again; 3" shells were in use long before 1923. They were "NOT" the heavy loaded SuperX Magnums which were introduced in the 1920's, don't recall for certain if 1923 is the exact date or not. The fact that it has 3" chambers now is not an absolute guarantee it has been re-chambered. Nash Buckingham wrote of using his Father's gun when he was growing up, which as I recall was from the 1880's & chambered for 3�" shells. It was a Greener Hammer gun but they acquired American loaded shells for it, loaded with the "Heavy Load" of 1oz shot. Several American makers adopted the 2 3/4" shell as standard quite early on while others stayed with the 2 5/8". In 12ga lengths from 2�" through 3�" were available on order in 1/8" increments As I stated in my earlier post the primary difference was in the amount of wadding used, not necessarily heavier loads.
I am in total agreement I would treat this ol gal kindly & not put heavy loads through her, either most modern 2 3/4" or 3" ones.

Sorry about the reposts, they weren't intentional, not even a mistake on my part as I haven't looked at the post since I posted it. I've been on the road driving the whole time.

I read that original post to mean that this gun is 25-25.
The manufacturer also offered them chambered in either of the following calibres. 32-40, 30-30, 25-35, 25-25, 25-20 & either 12g or 16 g shot barrels at 28" length.
O.M

.Oskar;
No problem; I wondered why you came back with an identical posting after my post. I have seen some posts come up like that before with no apparent reason, just a glitch in the system I guess. You are correct as to when the 3" Magnum using a heavier payload at higher velocity was introduced. Both longer chambers & shells/hulls had been available to order for quite some time prior to that though.

FWIW, they were also chambered in .22 WCF, .25-21 Stevens, .25-20 SS, .25-36 Marlin, .32 Ideal and .32-20.

Do check and make sure that old guy REALLY IS 3". Anything is possible in old guns since in those days the customer always was right, but I suspect that it was designed for 2 5/8" or 2 1/2" shells originally and any longer chamber was done aftermarket.

No reason to strain a gun that is pretty uncommon to begin with and in a rarish rifle chambering. Be neat if you could pass it along to the next generation, used, loved, and still sound! American made drillings in interesting chamberings and with family history are not found in every pawn shop....more like winning the lotto!

Western Cartridge Co. introduced their Super-X progressive burning powder loads in 12- and 20-gauge put up in their 2 3/4 inch FIELD shell in 1922. The Super-X 16-gauge load followed pretty closely on their heels but put up in the 2 9/16 inch FIELD shell. By the next year they got their 12-gauge 3-inch Super-X load of 1 3/8 ounce of shot on the market, put up in their high-brass RECORD shell.




Super-X loads 1923 --



Super-X loads 1929 --



It wasn't called a MAGNUM. While a number of our gun writers were throwing around the term, the first time I have found any of our North American ammunition companies calling a shotshell MAGNUM was when the 3 1/2 inch MAGNUM-Ten was introduced in 1932. The 12-gauge, 3-inch, progressive burning powder loads got the term MAGNUM in 1935, when along with the introduction of the Winchester Model 12 Heavy Duck, Western's Super-X and Winchester's Super-Speed were offered with a payload increased to 1 5/8 ounce of shot, but the 1 3/8 ounce loads were not called MAGNUM.

Would be great to see a few pics of this gun! Post some please. Always enjoy looking at Hollenbecks!

OK, new to forum and got confused: didn't know to go to page 2;3, etc:old timers disease at age 64, I guess. Figured ya'll were just a quiet bunch or I had said something wrong.
Yes, I plan to treat this old girl with respect and you're going to help me do that. I just want to do my part as her steward and leave it better than I found it.
I have ordered loaded .25-25 shell coming from Buffalo Arms along with die,shell holder and more empty cases. Gun is on it's way to Brad Bachelder Master Gun Makers in Grand Rapids, Michagan:Go Wolverines!Firing pins were removed for safety but my Uncle says gunsmith hid them in gun somewhere;not in butt plate: may have to fabricate them if nothing else. I sent my Zeiss 1.5x6x42 along with drilling, which I think I got at he US Army Rod and Gun Club outside Heilelberg, Germany in 1982:lot's of hunting and great memories there!Brad Bachelder says they can do pivot or claw mount he thinks: with my vision I need optics. Still fantasize about insert in 30 30 Akley with fabricated full length and outward adjustable insert: Here ( can't disclose location:Roll Tide,War Eagle!) we need weapon for cloven hoofed game and varmits: i'm not mad at the birds.
How do I send pictures? Glad you want to see her!

ginge,
To go to page 2 or 3, just click on the number you want to go to at the bottom right hand side of the page.
Mike