12 Gauge Chamber Reaming

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MinuteOfBarn

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Simcoe County, ON
Hello all! I am looking to ream out the 2 1/2” chamber of my SxS to 2 3/4”. This of course requires the proper tools, namely a 2 3/4” 12 gauge reamer. Does anyone have a lead on where to acquire one of these in Canada/rent one here in Canada/or does anyone have one they would be open to selling/renting out?

TIA
 
I just went though this and ended up getting a forcing cone reamer and bumped it ahead a 1/4" inch in my Merkel sxs

You need to make sure there is enough barrel thickness ahead of the chamber. Some times there is a good taper on the barrels after the chamber and cutting the chamber deeper can cause a weak spot.
 
Some old doubles are built like a tank ( handle that way too), some are carefully made to handle as sweet as pointing your finger. Many of these sweet ones are built with adequate strength for the intended ammo but are not over built to handle heavier loads than proofed for. Bear in mind that lengthening the chamber in a shotgun will have a negative effect on strength when using the longer shell. If the gun is old, shaky or poorly made you may also face problems with the more robust ammo related damage and accelerated wear. The gun was designed, built and proofed to use a specified ammo, the use of heavier loads can only have negative effects. Future owners are buying a gun that has not been proof tested for the more powerful ammo. In the case of a more valuable gun with possible collector value you will lower this value and considerably lower the number of potential buyers. 2 1/2” ammo is available with a little extra effort and a hunting gun doesn’t get used enough to make the added cost a consideration.
 
Best bet is to buy 2 1/2 inch shells from Kent, they are available here. Lengthening chamberscan be a slippery slope as it puts the gun " out of proof" as the Brits say. And without barrel thickness gauges can make a fine gun unsafe to shoot.
 
Mike Webb said:
Best bet is to buy 2 1/2 inch shells from Kent, they are available here. Lengthening chamberscan be a slippery slope as it puts the gun " out of proof" as the Brits say. And without barrel thickness gauges can make a fine gun unsafe to shoot.
Click to expand...

To put it another way - why would you risk potentially making a gun unsafe to shoot?
 
Mike Webb said:
Best bet is to buy 2 1/2 inch shells from Kent, they are available here. Lengthening chamberscan be a slippery slope as it puts the gun " out of proof" as the Brits say. And without barrel thickness gauges can make a fine gun unsafe to shoot.
Click to expand...

If you can find them...

Last two boxes of 2 1/2 inch Kent shells I bought, are almost old enough to vote! Paid $12 each retail, and the scalpers were looking for $40+ pretty soon after they were available.

On the plus side, one gent over on the Double Gun Journal website, posted his results showing the actual pressures from shooting 2 3/4 shells in a 2 1/2 chamber. Use that data at your own discretion!
Going to depend (a lot!) on what gun, and what construction, and what era it was made. It may not be as much a concern as you thought, or it may be a dire warning. All depends on too many things.
 
Why don't you just find a smith with a "long forcing cone" reamer and get rid of the ridge completely???? Then you can shoot any length 12 gauge you can find.
 
I bought a long forcing cone reamer and added 1/4' to my 2 3/4" chambers. My shotguns are either break actions or 3" receiver pumps. I had a spare 870 barrel in 2 3/4" that now takes 3" as well as a few break actions that are now 3"

No issues.

Go slow, measure often, use lots of cutting fluid and polish it when you are done.
 
I bought a forcing cone reamer from Brownels & reamed many 2 1/2" chambers to 2 3/4".
Went well untell I tried to ream a chroam linned barrel. They will duel your reamer , but had it
resharpened by a company near Toronto Airport They siad they do them regularly
Whatever chamber length you want ,,,,, just ream in more.
 
35Wailin said:
I bought a long forcing cone reamer and added 1/4' to my 2 3/4" chambers. My shotguns are either break actions or 3" receiver pumps. I had a spare 870 barrel in 2 3/4" that now takes 3" as well as a few break actions that are now 3"

No issues.

Go slow, measure often, use lots of cutting fluid and polish it when you are done.
Click to expand...

Would you be interested in selling/renting the reamer?
 
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