3" shells in a Stevens 311A ??

[alleyn59]

I picked up some 3" Wingmaster shells for duck season. Unfortunately, my 20 gauge double barrel is marked for 2-3/4 shells. Yet, the longer shells fit.

I know that "magnum" shotgun shells can be kind of a misnomer. Any ideas if these longer shells will be safe to use?

[jmr40]

NO!

The chamber is cut to leave room for the shell to open up. Yes the 3" shells fit, but when fired, the crimped part of the shell has no place to go. It will result in increased chamber pressure. It will certainly be bad for your gun and could result in a blown up barrel.

[maxman894]

NO!

DO NOT SHOOT IT. It can cause you serious injury.

[Murrdock]

X2 on the above posts.

An example of what can happen is my buddy had a pump that took 3" shells, and he accidently grabbed my 3 1/2" turkey slayers and it cracked his barrel just below the chamber. Luckly it wasn't worse.

[highvel]

There was an old rumor that if the shell fit you could fire it, but no,and h***no!
A friend told me that years ago and he demonstrated that the 3" shell would fit, and it did fire, but the amount of ground plastic it left inside the barrel was scary!

[Dave McC]

As was said, DO NOT DO THIS!

Here's why....

The specified shell length is of the FIRED shell. IOW, a 2 3/4" shell is only that long after firing. Firing a shell longer than the chamber means it will not fully open, and pressures will spike.

Shotguns have the same working pressures as WWII grenades, I'm told.

Unless you suffer from excess eyes and fingers, stick to what the gun is desgned for.

I like 311s and have owned a couple. But, they are great 2 3/4", reasonable loads shotguns, not Ubergun....

[zippy13]

NO!