Reloading 3" 12ga

Ray B

Hi all,

I recently purchased a used 12ga and when I got home I noticed that it is chambered for 3" shells. All of my 12ga equipment (P-W 375 & 600) & Pacific 105 is for 2 3/4". Can the equipment be adjusted to load 3" shells (a la 38-357) or do I need to get additional dies?

charliemeyer007

I think you will need some additional dies to make it work correctly. I just load 2 3/4 inch shells at 3 3/4 DE with 1 1/4 oz of shot. I would consider loading 3 1/2 inch stuff.

Hawk Carse

Just because it is chambered 3" doesn't mean you MUST shoot 3".
Or do you really want Magnum Power?

Ray B

Back in the day I used 2shot short magnums for geese and they were entirely effective. I haven't hunted them since about 1985 when lead was banned. Since that time I've hunted only upland birds where lead was allowed. Now that there are options other than steel for no-tox reloading I'm considering getting back into waterfowl hunting. The softer shot that is on the lesser expensive scale is also less dense, so I'd be using the 3" shells for the increased volume, but the loads would still be the previously satisfactory 1 1/2 oz. The gun is a Winchester Model 21, so is not suitable for the harder shot.

Ray B

A trial of the 3" case in the PW with 2 3/4" dies didn't work well, since it needed the additional 1/4" of die to support the case, however, the Pacific DL-105 works with either 2 3/4 or 3"; but I need bushings for the humongous loads of shot & powder so I think I'll include a 3" die so I can use the PW for the 3"ers. I'm not sure how many of them I'm going to be sending downrange from a 7 lb 11 oz gun, but I suspect it's not going to be very many.