Ted, I'm sure Researcher could tell us when Savage went to 2 3/4" chambers on their 16's. Best I can recall, it was mid-30's. By SN, this is a 1939-40 gun, and it's stamped "16GA--2 3/4 IN CHAMBER" on the right barrel. My Shooter's Bible tells me that the 3 1/4 DE, 1 1/8 oz 16ga load was available then, and if I felt it necessary, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot that load at the occasional pheasant--but probably won't. The 1 oz Game Loads (2 1/2 DE) don't recoil so much that they're a problem shooting a couple rounds of skeet.

It was Hunter Arms (LC Smith) that was very late in going to 2 3/4" chambers in their 16's. I seem to recall it was about 1940 before they made the change.