12 Gauge: 2-3/4 vs 3 inch, Practical Differences

Subject line gives the the topic. Interested if anyone with experience shooting each length has an opinion to express.

My gut feeling is at home defense range, either is fine.
For hunting, there may be a case for choosing 3".

Same velocity's. Just addition amount of shot in the 3". There are formulas online that tells how many pellets of every size per once. Easy to do the math and calculate the additional number of pellets a 3" has over a 2 3/4" load. For example, 1 ounce of number 8's has more pellets than 1 1/8 ounce of 7 1/2's.

Waterfowl hunting with steel shot mandated is a major driver for 3" 12ga or even 10ga 3 1/2. Large lead shot was distinctly better, especially for geese.
For a shotgun defense load, I prefer #4 buck (.25 caliber round ball) .
I also used this load hunting deer on Ft Lee, VA, which did not allow rifles. Using 00 buck can cause misses and crippled deer by holes in the pattern at moderate range.

When I had a Shockwave I bought a case of this. Never hunted with it, but I'm pretty sure it would be great for home defense. Now I keep my old 18" Winchester 1200 bedroom shotgun loaded with it.

Shotgun shooter...Guided waterfowlers for 35 years...so I've shot a few. But for home defense...you really don't need 3 inch loads. My defense shotgun is a Benelli M 1 super 90...fast semi auto. With ext mag slug bbl and AR pistol grip style stock I can shoot 9 rounds in under 5 seconds. My idea of home defense is somewhat different 1st round is a 1 1/8 ounce #8 trap load...if they can't see you they probably can't hurt you. That should be self explanatory. the rest of the rounds are 2 3/4 inch regular Rem 4 buck. For bear defense in the woods...2 3/4 inch regular Foster slugs all rounds. Learn to shoot a shotgun..never take your head off the stock tween shots...look at what you are shooting nothing else. If using a shotgun in the field...for an average... 3 inch shells will gain the avg shooter approx 5 yards...not a joke...a really good shotgunner maybe 15 yards...key word is really good... Long range shotgunning is something that has to be practiced for

For HD I'm also a fan of the #4 Buckshot in a 2.75" shell. My HD gun isn't a handgun, it's a shotgun loaded with #4 Buckshot.

There is something I really like about 27 .24" round balls being shot at the target all at once.

I see no reason to use any 3" shell in a home.

The only time I have ever used 3" shells is for duck hunting (borrowed a semi-auto SG from a friend for my first and only duck hunt). They are stiff loads and for high flying ducks. Other than that, 2 3/4" shells have worked quite well for me in every other aspect of shotgunning. As a Pheasant, Quail and Grouse hunter for over 55 year, there has been absolutely no reason at all for me to consider using longer shells. The SG's chambered for 3" shells have slightly longer receivers and weigh a little more. As a bird hunter, I don't want a SG that is any larger and heavier than it has to be as we do walk plenty through the fields and woods for hours.

In fact the only SG I own with a 3" chamber is a Remington 870 and that is strictly for home defense. I use 2 3/4" #1 Buckshot in that. All my other SG's are chambered in 2 3/4". Never had any need for more than them.

Accuracy with a shotgun is all about fit--------period!!

My first shotgun was a new Browning Auto 5 purchased in 1972. When I mounted the gun, I could see the front half of the barrel rib. I was pretty sure that was wrong----and off to my gunsmith I went. Now my big advantage was his day job was as "the wood guy" at Browning's facility in the St. Louis area. My session started off with me in one corner of his (very large/long) home shop, and him at the diagonal other. His command was "Shoot me in the eye." I did as I was told. We met at his belt sander where he took my brand new shiny shotgun, flipped the switch on the sander, and----------------------------------- GGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNDD on the top of the stock. I like to have died right then and there!! That routine was repeated several times----ending when he asked, "Do you want a recoil pad on it?" I did. "I'll call you when it's finished." He called. You couldn't tell that stock had ever been anywhere near a belt sander-----and it had a recoil pad on it.

Then---and to this day, all I see when I mount that gun is the bead at the end of the barrel. I have NEVER missed with that shotgun unless I did something wrong------never!! And never mind the bead at the end of the barrel---all I ever see is the target. And about all I ever shoot at is clay birds---although one time I was invited to go Pheasant hunting in Iowa. It wasn't even close to fair for the poor Pheasant, because our host had a trained dog---and our host was a trained Pheasant observer. The dog found and flushed the bird. Our host hollered "HEN"---or not. We could shoot if he didn't holler. I NEVER missed----not even the last bird of the day which I shot at a totally irresponsible long range. The bird set its wings, and sailed off into the distance. My companion snorted, and said "It's about time you missed!" My reply was "I didn't miss---I probably shot at a ridiculously long range, but I saw the bird hit." Right about then, here comes the dog with the bird in its mouth. The Boss Lady reported she found only one pellet in that bird---and that confirmed the ridiculously long range.

I have another shotgun--an absurdly expensive Browning Superposed Sporting Clays edition of some sort. My St. Louis gunsmith is long gone, and I've never bothered hunting up another, so it's my own fault; but I can't hit anything with that gun----'cause it just plain doesn't fit-----ME!!

The bottom line is if the gun fits, and I see the target, the target is dead. So Step One is get your shotgun fit to YOU-----or don't even bother picking it up!

Now----home defense----just point and shoot! Don't even bother spending any time aiming---you're going to be so close to your target you can't miss! (And that fellow who said to use #4 Buckshot or whatever (24/25 caliber shot) is right on the money---27 pellets in a 2 3/4" round---and a deadly pattern------if/when you're far enough away for the pattern to mean anything.)

Ralph Tremaine

The only thing I will add is to pattern whatever shell you are using. Shotguns like revolvers tend to shoot some loads better. The only way to know is to shoot them and see. Use what it shoots best be it 2 3/4 or 3 inch.

Hugh


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3" and 3 1/2" have more powder, more pellets and more recoil.

The only 3" shotshells I have are some older BRI sabot rounds. It's an aerodynamic 50 cal slug, looks like a giant .177 cal pellet. and they'll penetrate a fender and the engine block of a car, or pass through both fenders at the rear or both doors of a car. Nasty things and I've had them for years. I do keep some #4 buckshot loads, 2-3/4" for antipersonnel rounds. They were standard loads when I worked for the state prison system 45 years ago. Less chance of a miss at longer ranges. All I shoot any more are 2-3/4" upland game loads, #7-1/2 or #8 shot, at the clays ranges of our club.

Only difference -- a few more pellets in the 3". Utterly irrelevant for home defense.

The principal purpose of the 3” (or longer) shell is to hold more shot so it can be more effective for longer shots at waterfowl. Largely superfluous for any other use. Sort of a distant ancestor of the punt gun idea.

2 3/4" v. 3" 12ga means more payload with better pattern density, but IMHO really seems to matter more for larger shot sizes (think waterfowling) and steel shot.
I shot plenty of 3" 12ga BB and BBB hunting geese and I think it sometimes helped outside of 25yrds.

I don't really think this would be a factor in HD use.

In the old days the 12 Ga. 2 3/4 shell was all that was needed, when you could use lead pellets for EVERY THING.

In the 80's when water fowl called for steel pellets, they moved up to the 3" hull
in order to get a larger payload of steel pellets, than needed to be larger than lead pellets,
in order to get energy's that would penetrate the bird to hit it's organs.

This is when the gun companies started to make 3" or longer chambers
to aid in taking ducks & Geese with steel pellets as large as BB's up to size "T", to reach out 65 yards, for a killing shot, per local regulations.

The size and type of pellets, as well as the velocity needed, will dictate
what size hull will work for your type of shooting, as well as the amount of recoil.

I posted shotgun data, that would help explain this but
the "longgun" thread dose NOT have a "Shotgun" thread,
so this info disappeared.

I think the first 12 gauge 3” shell was made for the Winchester Model 12 heavy duck gun in 1935. That is a pretty good indicator of its intended purpose. In my collection, the earliest box of 3” 12 gauge is a box of Peters from 1947.

Home defense shotgun = 20 gauge.

For home defense I like a 20 gauge 2-3/4" with the biggest buckshot I can find which is normally #3 at Walmart. It's light, handy, and easy to shoot one handed if I'm needing to open a door.

I never saw anything other than 2-3/4 12 gauge in LE, mostly 00 Buck, rarely #4.

Not going to beat a dead horse, but I too never fired anything but a 2 3/4 shell until the Feds required steel for waterfowl hunting on state or federal land sometime in the 80's.

The early steel loads were extremely disappointing. I can recall seeing feathers fly on mallards and geese hit with steel shot and they just kept right on flying.

I had to go to a Remington SP10 and 3.5 inch #3 steel shot for ducks and T's to have the same knockdown power of and old 2 3/4 # 4 and 2 respectively.

Home defense does not require 3" mags.