I know it has been brought up and discussed ad nauseam, but, not just any 2 3/4” load should go in that gun. The pressure of the 2 3/4” load should be around the 7-8000 I posted, and, you can’t get that ammunition at Wal-Mart.
I would be willing to bet just about all store bought ammunition available these days is sizzling right around SAAMI max. The better to run dirty semi auto shotguns that haven’t had their yearly cleaning for a decade or so.
You will need to learn to reload 2 3/4” ammunition that approximates the service load for that gun,or, buy or load low pressure 2 1/2” ammunition from one of the boutique vendors. I’ve checked wall thickness on more French shotguns than I can remember, and finding a French gun with thin walls doesn’t really happen, in my experience. Finding one with pitted or badly pitted walls is a fairly common event, however, and I believe they should be treated no different than a gun with questionably thin walls.
My own French guns have 2 3/4” chambers, thick walls of about .050 most of their length, and passed triple proof when they were built. Ammunition to use in them is not much of a concern. I do own a short chamber 12 gauge, but, it is a brute, with even thicker walls. It has seen a few 2 3/4” loads, but, they were of the high quality/low pressure variety.
I hope you shoot the gun well.
Best,
Ted
