Larry; Thomas did come to exctly the same conclusion Burrard did, that is true ( Your quote from burrard well shows that). However, Thomas "Did Not" credit Burrard with having reached that conclusion. If you read the paragraph ahead of the one you quoted he states;
"Burrard leaves no doubt in his readers' minds that the danger in question arises from the inability of the longer case to open up properly in the shorter chamber, and the higher pressure thus formed. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that it is indeed dangerous, in general, to use a cartridges whose "UNLOADED" case length exceeds that of the chamber of the gun". (emphisis mine)
This is quoted from page 261 of Gough Thomas's "Gun Book". If you read carefully the entire section from which you quoted, you will see he is very strongly inferring Burrard was wrong & he has proved it. I have carefully searched everything I can find in "The Modern Shotgun" & cannot come up with the exact quote Thomas cited. Burrard stated one should not fire cartridges having a "LOADED" length longer than the chamber. All Burrards warnings against the longer case were for loads heavier than the standard 2½ load for which the gun was designed. He specifically warns against those put up in the roll crimp case which would give a loaded length longer than the chamber. Thomas did in fact completely mis-quote Burrard & Bell simply echoed Thomas. He obviously didn't "Find Out For Himself" what Burrard had said.
Miller
