doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Shooting 3" shells in a 20 ga Bernadelli Gamecock

I have 20g Gamecock and I would like to use some of the longer ranged loads such as heavi shot. They are not made in 2 3/4" as far as I looked.

My gun is not marked with the chamber length but I made a gage by bending a tube oblong and it slows into the taper at about 2 7/8". It will go 3" without much effort.

1. What is the nominal chamber length for a 3" 20 ga?
2. Can I shoot 3" shells in my existing chamber?
3. If not can I ream out the chamber deeper? The taper on the barrels is only .010" for 1/4".

Thanks in advance.

First your self made gauge is meaningless as we have no idea what it's dimensions are. Second, your gun is marked for chamber length somewhere in the proof marks on the underside of the barrel. Tell us what those marks are.

Second, I doubt your Gamecock was made to handle steel shot so using steel or hevi shot would not be recommended by the manufacturer. The Gamecocks I have handled were not well suited to being made into long range guns as they were more the quick handling upland game type gun by weight and balance.

It would take a bit of measuring by a gunsmith to determine whether lengthing the chambers will reduce the safety at the margins of the new chamber.

Third, the extra range of hevi shot is not that significantly different from good lead shot and even if it is the difference is out where few shooters can make proficient use of the much more expensive ammo.

HeaviShot belongs in brazed, chrome-lined barrels with exteded c.tubes having gradual taper. My 'Ole Classic Doubles 201 12ga was a perfect platform through which to launch those 'teardrops'.

First, I doubt your gun is choked for long range work, but the surest way to know that would be by doing some patterning. Get your chambers measured by a professional if you can't find the dimensions. It is most likely in millimeters. 3" is approximately 76 millimeters, and 2-3/4" is approximately 70 millimeters. Rather than Hevi-Shot in that gun, you might want to try some Bismuth or some tungsten matrix. I have been exceptionally pleased with the tungsten matrix personally. Any high powered load is likely going to smart a little out of a very light gun, and I have no experience how Bernadellis hold up to long term pounding with heavy loads.

My oval tubing was formed to be the diameter of the chamber. When you push one in more and more you can feel the beginning of the taper where the chamber may end. The beginning of this taper, as I wrote, measures approx. 2 7/8".

The underside of the left barrel is marked from left to right as follows: + VB/15,8 vbg 8AM.76 112XXX (sn) 20

The left barrel: +++ KGI 220 KMO 20 15,8 PSE HNITO XXV1 173 20

Top of the barrels: ACCIAO-SPECIALE=EXTRA-CANNE CROMATE
V>BERNADELLI-GARDONE V.T. Made in ITALY

The sides of the barrels are marked GAMECOCK and Stoeger Arms Corporation HACKENSACK, NJ

The barrels are 27.5" long choked full and IC.

You really need to post some pictures of this gun's barrels and the receiver flats. IF the gun is stamped XXVI it was produced in 1970. Without being able to see the proof stamps, it is very difficult to determine the proof pressure used.

You need to have the barrels measured by a professional for the chambers, choke and wall thickness the entire length of the barrels. I have an Beretta sxs sitting here that has been repaired. The repair can not be seen, until you know where to look. Apparently there was bulge just ahead of the fore end. The left tube is dangerously thin for about 1" inch there. I would not have caught this with the measurement. The gun looks great, but I will not fire it. Some how grown attached to my thumb over the years.

Pete

The "76" (although it looks to be in a strange place in your string of proofmarks) likely is the chamber length, and that would be 3". I would not use Hevi-Shot in that gun. If you are waterfowling with it, or are in a nontoxic only area for upland birds, I'd recommend Kent's Tungsten Matrix. Great stuff.

If you're just looking for more range and don't need to use nontox, you might try the 2 3/4" 20ga magnums, 1 1/8 oz shot, usually buffered. They'll give you a pretty good kick in a Bernie Gamecock, but the buffering and the heavier shot charge will give you a denser pattern and a bit more range.

You're gonna need a bigger gun. Use the twenty as it was meant to be used: as a quick handling upland game gun or a duck gun over decoys. The 3" twenty is made for idiots. For cripe's sake, read some english books on shotgunning and forget the American infatuation with magnumitis. Chopperlump

The 20ga. is a questionable platform for 3" mags in any case. If you must blast 3" HeviShot, get yourself a gun that's made for it and save your nice Gamecock for loads it was made to digest.

Thanks for the heads up. The heavy loads would be used for coyotes and maybe turkeys. The state land here will not allow rifles with any punch.

Who makes the 2 3/4 magnums?