There is no guarantee against stupidity, like someone shoving a 3 1/2" mag in a gun with only 3" chambers (assuming it would fit and fire).
Not all untoward events are the result of stupidity, unless relying on factory loads is
prima facia stupid. This happened to me a few years ago while duck shooting with Destry, down in Louisiana. My 1927 Parker Bros GH doubled with much recoil and wouldn't open without me taking off the fore-end, and even then the extractor wouldn't extract the shells. I cut a ramrod from the blind timber and pushed the shells out. The mouths of both shells looked like pictures I have seen of over-long shells from back in the old days when they liked to use 3-inch shells in 2 5/8-inch chambers to buffer the shot as it entered the forcing cone by giving up paper rather than deforming pellets.
My ammo was store-bought Bismuth factory loads in shells head-stamped Eley. I switched to Kent Matrix-Impact loads, and kept the Eley shells for further examination when I got home. The Eley shells measured 3 1/8-inch open except were part of the mouth was destroyed. I opened a couple of unfired Bismuth/Eley shells from two other boxes clearly marked 2 3/4-inch and they measured slightly over 3-inches open. As I type this I have the shells in hand: The Eley/Bismuth (marked on the box and on shell) measures 2 7/16-inch closed, while another marked Winchester/Bismuth is 2 1/4-inch unfired. The Winchester shell does not state its length, while the Eley says "2 3/4" and opens to over 3 inches!
A point here is that no one can pull shells out of a bag in the duck blind (and heat of the moment) and distinguish 2 7/16- from 2 1/4-inch, and the boxes said "2 3/4." I am thankful that I was shooting a relatively "modern" Parker with alloy metals reflecting Lindberg's recent jaunt across the Atlantic, rather than some circa pre-internal-combustion-engine fowling piece hammered out in a blacksmith's shop. The Bismuth loads were for ducks and were, of necessity, "Max Dram Eq. 1 3/8 oz number 4s." I called Ken Levine at Bismuth to report the incident and received what amounted to a huge shrug and "so what." I documented the transaction in the Internet with pictures several years ago, and simply post this now to re-state my caveat:
Be careful. Examine your shells, especially factory loads. Look for protruding or defective primers that might fire simply by closing the gun. Compare new shells to old ones that are known to be of proper length. Wear shooting glasses, always, and ear protection on the range and at the traps. I'll be 68 this month and enjoy constant "music" every waking hour...sort of like the rush of a tin waterfall. I never slip shells in the chamber without looking down the barrels...
never. And while I like the old Parkers, late 1920s and 1930s are old enough for me. I wonder what would have been the result if I had slipped those over-long Eley/Bismuth shells in my old 1896 Parker BH with ca.1900 Titanic Steel barrels... EDM
