Can you shoot 3" when the gun is chambersed for 3 1/2"?

[cjjcb]

Sorry if it's a silly question but I honestly don't know. I know you can shoot 2 3/4" out of a 3"chamber so I'm guessing you could launch a 3" out of a 3 1/2".

Thanks for the help.

[ellensburgpo]

Yup

[cjjcb]

Thanks for the quick response E.

Appreciate it.

[pianoman9701]

or 2 3/4"

[cjjcb]

Make sense.

Thanks MM.

[Oldguy]

I love it that this site is so helpful and respectful of people ask for help and it is given without criticism or making fun of the question. 

[wadu1]

Yes you can, it should be marked that way on the barrel.

[h20hunter]

Following along as my thought was well, maybe! Barrel tells the tale as mentioned as I assume the answer is not yes in every case. Better safe than sorry!

[Parasite]

A guy I knew when I was younger shot a 3" shell out of a 2.75" Ithaca bottom eject/loader. He had stolen one of my 3" shells and approached me to ask why the shell wouldn't eject out of his gun. I explained.

He was never the sharpest knife in the drawer and still isnt to this day.

By the way, shell fired fine, just got stuck ejecting. Still cant say I recommend it. Sort of like shooting "cut shells". I'm surprised shotguns can handle shooting those.

[lokidog]

Following along as my thought was well, maybe! Barrel tells the tale as mentioned as I assume the answer is not yes in every case. Better safe than sorry!

How could it not be yes? 

A guy I knew when I was younger shot a 3" shell out of a 2.75" Ithaca bottom eject/loader. He had stolen one of my 3" shells and approached me to ask why the shell wouldn't eject out of his gun. I explained.

He was never the sharpest knife in the drawer and still isnt to this day.

By the way, shell fired fine, just got stuck ejecting. Still cant say I recommend it. Sort of like shooting "cut shells". I'm surprised shotguns can handle shooting those.

I had a duck hunt in So Cal and bought the last box of shells on the way to the desert. After the second one I shot failed to eject, I realized I had accidentally bought a box of 3" for my 2 3/4" 870. The first shat actually did eject as I was racking it for a second shot, the second one I went to eject into my hand and stopped. Luckily, one of my buddies had the right size shells for me and the right size gun for my shells.

[BD1]

Just curious but what gun are you shooting that is strictly chambered in 3 1/2?

[Bob33]

A gun chambered for 2 3/4 inch shells will fire a 3 inch cartridge. The problem is that the chamber its too short to allow the crimp to fully open without hitting the forcing cone. The best case is nothing bad happens.  What could happen is damage to the barrel. It may even be possible to fire a 3 1/2 inch cartridge in a 3 inch chamber, but the 1/ 2 inch difference will almost certainly result in damage.

It should always be safe to fire a shorter cartridge than the chamber is designed for but not vice versa