Shotgun adapters

[reloaderman1]

Anybody try these?
I have a H&R 20ga. and a double in 20Ga. and I bought a 410 adapter for them. It's been a lot of fun and it
makes it very pleasant to shoot. Especially for the kids and women who want to try it. The 410's are not the cheapest
to shoot but I don't shoot too many ( not enough to get into reloading them ). I think the 20 ga. is no longer a "light" shooting gun ( it's the same as a 12 ga...... until you get into the real heavy loads ) and the ladies don't care for either way, they just don't like the kick of a shotgun. This is not the case with the 410 adapters. So for only about $25 I picked up three shooting partners !

[starmac]

The 20 gauge is no longer a (light) shooting gun???? What has changed? We got my son a single barrel 4.10 when he was 7 and cut the stock down, which he quickly then out grew. I was glad to go to twenty gauge by the time he was 9, just for the price difference in shells.

[reloaderman1]

Around where I live, you can't find anything but 1 1/8 oz loads in 20 ga., unless you order them special. You feel blessed if you find 1 oz loads! What happened to the 3/4 oz "light" loads?????

[texassako]

Which adapter do you use? One of the magazines, don't remember which, tried some a while back. The results were interesting as the .410 shells patterned real well out of a 20ga and the 20ga shells did the same out of a 12ga.

[snuffy]

I have a set of 12 to 20 ga adapters called "little skeeters". These are NOT a full length tube set, but measure 2-¾" in length.

They flat out work! Best used in a O/U, single shot or side by side. BUT you can use them in a pump/slide action shotty. I never tried them in a semi auto.

The neat thing is, the choke chosen for the 12 ga, IOW if you're using a modified screw in choke in the 12 ga. barrel, the 20 gauge shells also becomes a mod sized pattern.

The adapters work well as long as the gauge difference is not too large. 12 to 20 is okay. 20 to 28 is fine, but 12 to .410 is too much of a size difference.

The wads of a 20 gauge shell will expand enough to make a seal in a 12 ga. barrel. The important thing to realize is that most of the velocity is achieved inside the shell, and most of the powder is also burned there. Recovered 20 ga. wads look like 12 ga on the powder gas seal portion of the plastic wad.

[10x]

I gave up on barrel adapters and simply reload 5/8 oz 12 gauge with Gualandi "Rex" wadds.
No recoil, little noise, and clay pigeons break out to 35 yards..
Can't ask for more.

[dakotashooter2]

The reason I didn't like the skeeters is because there is no way to eject the shell. I bought a couple of the savage four tenners instead. I like to think the tube gives them a little better burn/pressure build up than the skeeters. I have them in the 20 ga version and get good results with an x full choke............... I like it for shooting pigeons in the yard.... I was thinking about paring them with a stoger outback as a truck gun but don't like that the stoger doesn't have selective barrels.

A couple years back I borrowed a mec and loaded about 1500- 410 shells @ about $2.50 a box....... Even if that price has doubled it's a lot cheaper than factory loads................

While the 12 and 20 can be downloaded a pocket full of 12 or 20 ga doesn't get you as many shots as a pocket full of 410...........

[reloaderman1]

Which adapter do you use? One of the magazines, don't remember which, tried some a while back. The results were interesting as the .410 shells patterned real well out of a 20ga and the 20ga shells did the same out of a 12ga.
These were the ones I bought ( had to get another one , now the double has a set )
http://www.gunadapters.com/categories/Shotgun-Adapters/

P.S. Don't bother with the hand gun cartridges, my 45 Colts are sideways at 25 yds. and not even close!

[10x]

The reason I didn't like the skeeters is because there is no way to eject the shell. I bought a couple of the savage four tenners instead. I like to think the tube gives them a little better burn/pressure build up than the skeeters. I have them in the 20 ga version and get good results with an x full choke............... I like it for shooting pigeons in the yard.... I was thinking about paring them with a stoger outback as a truck gun but don't like that the stoger doesn't have selective barrels.

A couple years back I borrowed a mec and loaded about 1500- 410 shells @ about $2.50 a box....... Even if that price has doubled it's a lot cheaper than factory loads................

While the 12 and 20 can be downloaded a pocket full of 12 or 20 ga doesn't get you as many shots as a pocket full of 410...........

Having patterned my 12 loaded with 5/8 oz of 8 1/2 shot , and hunted ruffed grouse it has been my experience the 12 gives a better pattern and seems to be much quieter than the 410 with 5/8 oz. The shot cloud from 5/8 oz 12 gauge is short but wide. The .410 gives a pattern that is a shot string that has much more depth. I have found the 12 guage 5/8 oz #9 shot to be very effective on clay pigeons and ruffed grouse. The .410 not so much on clays. Probably ( I suspect) because of the density and length of the shot cloud. I have found that the 5/8 12 gauge pattern at 25 metres is measurably larger than a one oz. load from the same gun. This may well be because of dynamics at the choke.

[.22-10-45]

I have a beautiful Ithica 16ga double with damascus barrels. I use the Savage four tenners and patterns are very uniform. They do change the ballance point a bit though.

[blackthorn]

Does using the adapters affect the range (effective kill zone)?

[Ed Barrett]

I bought a 12 gauge adapter for .45 LC at a gun show, that has about 4.5 inch section of rifleing. I tried it in an old single shot and found it fairly good out to about 20 yards. The only sights were only a brass front bead. I tried it in a friend's shot gun with a rifled barrel, not for the rifled barrel, but for sights on it. I was able to get 5 shot groups 3.5 inches at 50 yards with some cast loads I had laying around. I would like to try it in a shotgun with a scope, But I don't know anybody with one close by. I have a Win 1300 pump with a rifled barrel and sights but the adapter is too long for the ejection port.