20 gauge shells

[Greg Massey]

This pass weekend my wife was at estate sale and pickup some bags of 20 gauge shells that are marked 2 1/2 inch not 2 3/4 inch. I have a total of 37 of these shells. Is it okay to shoot these shells in a 20 gauge gun that has 2 3/4 marked on the barrel of the gun ? I had only seen these before in 410 shells that were 2 1/2 inch. Were these made for some early shotguns or What...

[wvmntnhick]

This pass weekend my wife was at estate sale and pickup some bags of 20 gauge shells that are marked 2 1/2 inch not 2 3/4 inch. I have a total of 37 of these shells. Is it okay to shoot these shells in a 20 gauge gun that has 2 3/4 marked on the barrel of the gun ? I had only seen these before in 410 shells that were 2 1/2 inch. Were these made for some early shotguns or What...

Not knowing the manufacturer, I can't say for sure. One thing that I know has happened in the past is that oversea manufacturers have messed up the dimensions when converting from standard to metric. It's made for some odd length shells over the years. Also, some loads were simply made short to cut down on expenses. They'll not hurt the gun but as mentioned above, may not cycle in a SA shotgun.

[Greg Massey]

This pass weekend my wife was at estate sale and pickup some bags of 20 gauge shells that are marked 2 1/2 inch not 2 3/4 inch. I have a total of 37 of these shells. Is it okay to shoot these shells in a 20 gauge gun that has 2 3/4 marked on the barrel of the gun ? I had only seen these before in 410 shells that were 2 1/2 inch. Were these made for some early shotguns or What...

These shells are winchester

[wvmntnhick]

This pass weekend my wife was at estate sale and pickup some bags of 20 gauge shells that are marked 2 1/2 inch not 2 3/4 inch. I have a total of 37 of these shells. Is it okay to shoot these shells in a 20 gauge gun that has 2 3/4 marked on the barrel of the gun ? I had only seen these before in 410 shells that were 2 1/2 inch. Were these made for some early shotguns or What...

These shells are winchester

Bang away ol' chap. Bang away.

[Greg Massey]

 

Just to be clear...a 2 3/4" shell is  2 3/4 inch long when open or shot. They will measure shorter when not fired yet..

A 3 inch shell measures roughly 2 9/16 before fired but that can vary depending on the style of crimp.

Might be best to open one up if you are not sure what you have.

They are mark on the shells 2 1/2 inch 7 1/2 shot and number 8 shot on some...

[allaboutshooting]

It's always a good idea to clean the chamber and forcing cone thoroughly after shooting "short" shells. Otherwise, as has been stated, they should be just fine.

Thanks,
Clark