I would be Verrrrry Warrry of this-- The re-intro Smith under the Marlin Aegis 1968-1972 was never built to handle heavy loads, whether 2 & 3/4" or 3"-- I have two 12 gauge Smiths with 3" chambers- a Older 3E re-barreled at Fulton in 1928 with 32" Nitro Steel barrels, factory rib and F&F chokes- has thew reinforcing yoke behind the barrel hanger loop too- and a 1929 Ideal Longrange 30" F&F ejector gun- also with the yoke and stamped Longrange on the bottom of the barrel lug- neither are marked 3"- but as Buck Hamlin checked them out for me, if he says his chamber gauge goes to 3", I believe it- Both have had the stock heads glas-bedded by him, and I never shoot 3" loads in either one--Sounds like the seller is like some of the clowns who, regarding Smiths they are trying to hustle: (1) Don't know ejectors from extractors (2) Don't know a R frame from a FW frame ad infinitum--The later Marlin Smiths came out as a basic DT extractor gun, and you could buy a Japanese Win 101 with single selective trigger and ejectors for the same money- later the Browing Clitori series and also the Daly Japanese doubles-- wrong marketing move- just as the current Italian boxlocks with dummy sidelock plates are no more a real Hunter Arms LC Smith than Chef Boy-Ar-Dee is Benito Mussolini--
