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Mightymoose410

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So I recently bought some federal 3in no.2 shotshells, took them to the range on Saturday and I noticed that the Shell's where marked 3in mag. Puzzled by what I though was a miss label I put them aside and continued on with my day.
Fast forward to today and I called federal and explain my situation to a very nice fellow. He tells me that any commercial manufactured shotshell that is marked 3in is automatically a magnum and any 3 1/2 is a supper mag.
I am puzzled as this is the first time I have heard such a thing. No nowhere on my gun it says magnum, just 3in I a have another 12ga that is clearly marked 3in magnum. I do not know what to think now I feel like a newbie all over again as I am truly baffled by my response from federal
Thanks for any input View attachment 96160View attachment 96161
 
Frankly, I am just impressed you were able to talk to a real person at federal instead of an answering machine!

If ya got a 3" gun you can shoot 2.75" and 3" regardless of what they are called.
 
The shell length marked means it will take that length and shorter
2.5" no longer than 2.5" should be used
2-3/4" can take 2.5" and 2-3/4"
3" can take 2.5" and 2-3/4" and 3"
3.5" can shoot all above.
 
"Magnum:" as a shotgun term is just another generic way of saying more, larger or more powerful than "standard". All 3" 12 ga. shotgun shells can be considered "magnum" whether labeled as such or not, simply because they are longer than the standard 2-3/4". There is also such a thing as a 2-3/4" magnum, some people call them "baby magnum" because they hold a heavier than standard shot charge: 1-1/2 oz of lead shot vs. 1-1/8 oz for instance.

This terminology does not translate to the same usage in rifle cartridges, which are very specific. A .300 Savage is a completely different cartridge than any of the .300 "magnums" which are also completely different from each other whether .300 Winchester, .300 Winchester Short magnum, .300 Weatherby etc. etc.

In a shotgun, any 3" chambered gun can safely fire any shell 3" or shorter. Some repeaters may not feed and eject shorter shells well, but all can shoot them safely.
 
Ignore the magnum when it comes to shotguns. All that matters is the length.

Note this does not apply to rifles.

+1.
There are 3 common lengths of shotgun shell 2 3/4", 3" and 3 1/2"
A 3 1/2" chamber will allow you to shoot all 3 sizes,
A 3" chamber will allow 3" and 2 3/4" shells....
A 2 3/4" will only shoot 2 3/4" shells. Unless you can find some. 2.5"???? Personally I have Never seen any 2.5"
 
"Magnum:" as a shotgun term is just another generic way of saying more, larger or more powerful than "standard". All 3" 12 ga. shotgun shells can be considered "magnum" whether labeled as such or not, simply because they are longer than the standard 2-3/4". There is also such a thing as a 2-3/4" magnum, some people call them "baby magnum" because they hold a heavier than standard shot charge: 1-1/2 oz of lead shot vs. 1-1/8 oz for instance.

This terminology does not translate to the same usage in rifle cartridges, which are very specific. A .300 Savage is a completely different cartridge than any of the .300 "magnums" which are also completely different from each other whether .300 Winchester, .300 Winchester Short magnum, .300 Weatherby etc. etc.

In a shotgun, any 3" chambered gun can safely fire any shell 3" or shorter. Some repeaters may not feed and eject shorter shells well, but all can shoot them safely.
Very good answer
 
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