doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Baker steriling 12 ga.

I gust bought a Baker sterling 12 ga trap. I have always wanted one but could never find one I could afford. I shot it the other day and can't believe how enjoyable it is to shoot. The recoil is very soft I could shoot it all day. I shoot a Remington 1100 for trap and the Baker shoots just as soft. I am surprised at the technology for a gun almost a 100 years old. I shoot WWAA shells 18 gr. of red dot, cb1100 wads, and 1 oz. of shot. 8600 psi. Before any body gets a chance to tell me I know it only has 2 1/2" chambers but I just had to shoot it,about 5 rounds. And it is parable one of a few guns of that era that can take it.
Pete

More likely 2 5/8 chamber, if it's not kicking may be lengthened to 2.75. Trap shooters support more gunsmiths than any other type of shooter.
bill

The chances of it having original chambers at this junction in time are about zero.
Measure them!
Best,
Ted

Bill, oddly enough, most of the couple of dozen Baker single barrel trap guns I have measured with the Brownell's solid gauges and my bore gauge with measuring increments, measure 2 1/2" chamber length. Most of the Paragon doubles measure 2 3/4" from the same era. Not quite sure why. The Galazan folding multi gauge chamber measurer seems to measure the Trap Gun chambers about half way between 2 1/2" and 2 5/8".

Bill like Daryl I have measured it with both Galazan folding gauge and the Brownell's solid gauges and it measure 2 1/2". This gun has some pitting on the barrel and some light rust on barrel at the receiver. So that makes it a good shooter it has lost a lot of its value because of that, if I were to reblue it that would take away from its value so I have decided to open it to 23/4" and in joy it for what it was meant for. I apologies to the purest but there are enough of them for you gentlemen to collect. The gun is tight so do you think it will be safe to open it to 2 3/4", knowing the history of the strength of Baker.
Pete

ttt

Before I invested in a rechamber job, I'd try the old 6" scale method. The chamber may be a "Bit Tight" rather than short. To do this if you don't have one buy one of those little 6" metal flexible scales from your home improvement store for about $3.00. Hold your bbls up toward a window or other light (but not with the sun on it) & look down the bore until you see the forcing cone as a shadow. Slide that scale in beside your face holding one edge against the chamber wall where-ever is convenient to see. Slide it in till the corner just touches the shadow. You won't feel it, but can see it. Mark the scale at the breech & read the depth. Repeat a few time to insure you are being consistent. With just a wee bit of practise you will find you can consistently measure the chamber length to the smallest graduation on one of these scales, which is plenty accurate.
As a chamber body has about .005" taper per inch should the end of the chamber be only .001" smaller than the dia of a precision gage made up to SAAMI specs it will indeed stop .200" short. In talking of guns of this age tolerances may well have been a little looser than today. Unless that gage just happens to be a perfect match in dia to the small end of the chamber the scale can actually be the more accurate method of measuring it.
As 2½" was never really a standard length for 12ga shells in the US & trap shooters were more prone to using the longer hulls for a better wad column, I seriously doubt the gun was designed with 2½" shells in mind.