2 3/4" .410???????????

[Lee Barner]

i was at an estate auction this morning a they sold a single shot Stevens .410 that was marked for 2 3/4" shells. good condition and it went for a whopping $225.00. i never recall seeing any other .410s so marked. all i remember seeing is 2 1/2" and 3". i know the brits had 2" guns. mostly just curious. thanks. lee

 

[cass]

2 3/4 is/was the norm.

 

[Alpo]

That's astounding. I've never heard of one before. As Lee said, 2 1/2 and 3 inch in 410. 2 3/4 is the norm in 12, 16 and 20.

 

[cass]

I stand corrected - I checked my 410 guns and all were 3in. Now, I am confused.

 

[Indiana George]

That is a new one for me too, Lee. I don't recall .410's in 2 3/4" but there are a few listed on Gunbroker; Single shot, bolt and older pump.

 

[Lee Barner]

thanks guys. i don't have any reference books on shot shells, but all i remembered seeing over the years was the 2.5 and 3". lee

 

[MK]

I didn't know they made a 2.75..
I have two old Stevens .410's and both are labeled to
shoot either 2.5 and 3 inch. Had never heard of a 2.75..
I bet those can be hard to find at times..

 

[AirCommando]

If you measure a loaded 3" shell, it measures 2.75". Maybe back then that's how they did it?

AC

 

[gunlovingirl]

2¾ is new to me too. That could account for the price it sold for, but I know from experience, that any time an estate auction advertises guns in the sale, it draws people from miles around! I've seen some ridiculous prices paid for a common older gun. Some folks seem to think that "old" means "valuable".

 

[H Richard]

You're right. a 3" marked .410 shell actually measures 2 3/4". I had to go downstairs and measure one to verify, and it does. Now why would all the mfg's. list them as 3" shells for all these years?

 

[AirCommando]

I think that when a shotgun shell is fired, the length increases in the chamber, and the expanded shell needs room. So they list the length of the chamber.

Thinking along these lines, a 3" loaded 12 gauge shell should be shorter than a 3" .410 shell. The radius of the crimp is larger. (If both empty shells are 3".)

AC

 

[2152hq]

Nothing was standardized in the shotshell industry early on. An attempt to do so was started in the late 20's early 30's. Up till then, odd length 410 chambers like the 2 7/8, 1 3/8 , 2 3/8 and others existed. The standards were set at 2, 2.5 and 3 for the 410, though there was nothing in place to demand any mfg to strictly follow that. The ammo companys had as much to do with the standardization as the gun mfg'rs.

I've never heard of a 2 3/4" 410 shotshell. But the marking being on a Stevens shotgun wouldn't suprise me if they mearly left the '2 3/4 inch chamber' marking die in place for all the barrels being made regardless of gauge and then placing the proper gauge marking on the correct barrels.

A 410 then becomes a 2 3/4" chamber (marked) mearly out of need of production speed. You see alot of odd marked stuff from Stevens. Even some Stevens marked guns made by Savage after they took control of them.

The shotshell length is the length of the fired case,,,crimp unfolded. A 3" length shell case is supposed to be 3" in length but in reallity is usually a bit shorter than that and varies from maker to maker. Crimped/loaded length can be all over the map as crimp tightness and center depth can vary alot.

The chamber length is more accurate to spec and will accept any shotshell length up to and including the listed chamber length.
The forcing cone of the chamber (tapered area ahead of the chamber that leads to the bore diameter) is not included in the chamber length dimention.