Originally Posted By: Joe Wood
Originally Posted By: Roundsworth
Joe Wood makes a good point about leaving the chambers alone. There are also some great 2-1/2" shells out there from RST, New Era and Polywad. I use RSTs in a twist steel 10 gauge Baker and Polywad Vintagers in an 1877 vintage Parker with twist steel barrels. Your Trojan should be okay with them. I just bought a very nice 20 gauge Trojan and use the Polywad Vintagers. Cheers!


But the point is there is absolutely no need or benefit to use short hulls in these guns with 2 5/8" chambers. Repeated tests by Sherman Bell, Gough Thomas, Burrard, etc., have shown no danger in shooting a slightly longer hull in these guns. And Parker, L.C. Smith, and others thought it was best for the hull to open inside the forcing cone to assure a proper gas seal. That's why they recommended the longer hull to be shot in their shorter chambered guns.

Another point: I have found many of the so called 2 3/4" hulls actually are closer to 2 5/8" when fired.

Conclusion: Keep life simple and buy reasonably loaded ammunition off the local shelf. Out of respect for the age of the gun I'd avoid anything over 1 1/8 ounce, preferring 1 ounce. Stay away from hyper velocity stuff.


I agree that the length of the hull really isn't the issue--but that does not mean we should recommend firing American factory ammo in ALL vintage guns with short chambers. Both MAJ Burrard and G. Thomas agree that the case length in and of itself won't be a problem, but the higher pressures of American factory ammo can be. As noted earlier, I don't consider that to be a problem in stout guns like Parker Trojans, but it may very well be an issue in a lighter European or British gun.