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Anyone know who made first 12 ga 3 inch chambered shotgun?

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01 May 2015, 09:31
Gatogordo
Anyone know who made first 12 ga 3 inch chambered shotgun?
This is not a quiz. I'm asking, I don't know the answer.


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03 May 2015, 08:34
465H&H
My memory is somewhat fuzzy on this but I seem to remember that Winchester came out with the 3" 12 gauge shell. It was either Fox or Winchester that came out with the first gun chambered for it.

465H&H
04 May 2015, 01:39
Gatogordo
I dunno about the guns, but there was a 12 ga UMC 3 inch shell in their 1896 catalog. Winchester came out with a 3 inch Super-X shell in 1921 but probably made some before that.

According to a very knowledgeable shell collecting friend of mine, buying shotgun shells prior to WWI and for quite a while afterward was somewhat of a custom deal and the buyer could order just about anything that the paper tubes could be made for. Of course, they had "standard" loads available and they were the ones in the hardware stores.


xxxxxxxxxx
When considering US based operations of guides/outfitters, check and see if they are NRA members. If not, why support someone who doesn't support us? Consider spending your money elsewhere.

NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR.

I have come to understand that in hunting, the goal is not the goal but the process.
07 August 2018, 01:44
450 Fuller
While Winchester could have made up an experimental "first" heavy duck Model 12, it was generally conceded that AH Fox and Bert Becker did it -working in tandem. They developed the very first Super Fox HE chambered for the 3 in shell using the first unmarked box of 3 inch shells to leave the Winchester factory. About 1924-1925.


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08 August 2018, 21:46
enfieldspares
We Brits were making them since the end of the 19th Century. But these were the old 3" chamber guns that fire approximately 1 1/2" ounces of shot. Not the 3" Magnum that the OP possibly is referring to?