Fox Collectors

Hello all, my first post here. To start I have thank everyone here the info is invaluable.I have been roll crimping 2 9/16" 12 ga. federal papers to feed my fox sterling worth,love them! Now I dug out the 5000 once fired sts' I've saved. Never thought about shell length before so I checked some while grading and sorting. I only measured 8 hulls till problems arose. 3000 hulls later I have 3 lots marked, 2 3/4 - fox , 2 3/4 , and 2 3/4 +. Yes 2 3/4 + is about 200 hulls that measure longer than 2 3/4". As far as I can tell my gun has original 2 5/8" chambers so 2 3/4 + concerns me. The range in length of the 3000 to 4000 hulls I've measured is 2 21/32"to 2 51/64" . Shorts 1/32 over 2 5/8 and longs 3/64 over 2 3/4 and every micro measurement in between. I'm not sure if I even have 2 shells exactly the same length! This turned the light on to the randomness in my previous reloaded crimps, 5/32" in shell length variation! The punch line I guess is know what you're shooting. I'm interested to hear everyone's 2 cents on this, especially if someone has molded and measured their 2 5/8 chambers. Would a 2 51/64" long sts with a 1/64" case wall thickness constrict beyond a 12 ga. Bore in your 2 5/8" chambers? Thanks it was great talking to some of the members at the north east sxs!

Way more has been made of this issue than it deserves. Kind of like worrying about "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin." As long as the pressure of the load in the shell is reasonable, the fired length of the case is of little issue.

Yup, I second what Dave said. If shells are too hot (Fiocchi Super Crusher type) then we don't want to use them in a vintage gun anyway. Most any 2 3/4 dram factory load should be OK. I use plenty of them with no issues to the Foxes. BTW, welcome to the Fox Fellow Fraternity!!

Wholeheartedly agree with Dave and Mike. Keep the pressures low and shell length is of little concern. Light payloads, moderate velocities and you're good to go.

Thanks for the input. I'm still splitting my lot for crimp quality and will run the shorts in my sterlingworth.After much research and reading Lyman's and ballistics products manuals I look for loads with hot primers ,fast burn powder,and 7 to 8000psi seems to work so far. Chose these for cold temperature ignition and they're very clean. I finished measuring my lot tonight and was just very surprised that I have close to 2 cases of hulls over 2 3/4".