What Year Did Shotgun Manufacturers Introduce The 3" Chamber?

Remington introduced the 3" 870 in 1955. They called it the 870 Magnum. Remington has always been a couple of years behind everyone else so you can bet it was in the early 50's. It was probably 1960 or later when 3" became the common one it is now.

Back in the mid 50's the term "magnum" became a magnet sort of word; Elmer Keith stretched out the 44 special and it became the 44 magnum, cars came with magnum V-8 engines, condoms were labeled "magnum sized", etc; so it was inevitable that shotgun shells would simply have to be called "magnum" to make them more desirable. You couldn't just put out a shell and call it a "3"? Ho hum!! Call it a "3 inch MAGNUM" and you have something everybody will want; and the rest is history.

President Barack Obama, speaking at a rally in Philadelphia, said "the American people deserve to know who is trying to sway their elections" and raised the possibility that foreigners could be funding his opponents. "You don't know," Obama said at the rally for Senate candidate Joe Sestak and other Democrats. "It could be the oil industry. It could even be foreign-owned corporations. You don't know because they don't have to disclose." No 'blatant lies' here. He's right, all the Chamber has to do is open their books and show where their donations are coming from, but they won't. The US Chamber of Commerce has openly stated they are going to spend $75 million dollars on Republican only campaigns across the country. If there is even a chance that most of that money is coming from foreign multi-national corporations then it should indeed be disclosed.

It would have been in the 1870s, when the 12 gauge rimmed shotgun shell was intended for use with black powder.

As black powder fell out of favor, the shortened 2 3/4" shell became the standard. It wasn't until environmental regulations banning the use of lead shot over water became commonplace that the 3" shell firing steel or bismuth shot regained in popularity.

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