10 gauge to 12/20 gauge adapters

[jefferyconnor]

Has anyone used these with satisfactory results? I’m interested to know the brand and how well they worked for you. It would seem there would be a problem with the gas seal but maybe not.

[James Rhodenizer]

I use 10ga to 12ga little skeeters in my Ithaca Flues 10ga. They work great with target loads. I have 4 so I can shoot a station at sporting clays. I also use 16ga to 28ga little skeeters, but the real savings is in the 10ga. A ten pound 10ga with 12ga target loads has very little recoil. Good luck

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Another type of those were called GaugeMates. The Gold version worked with ejectors. I dont know if they are still made, but may be available on EBAY or Amazon.

[David Holes]

Yes the little skeeters are fun in a 10 ga I use 20 and 12 ga

[Milton C Starr]

I had a pair of the gold Gaugemates but in 10ga/16ga.
They have rubber o rings around them to seal in the chamber.
I didnt particularly care for them, they made my guns really hard to close. Although I had one 10ga that was a little off the face and they would make it close like a vault door.

Im not sure anyone has actually done any chronograph testing with these gauge adapters. The 16 gauge loads I was shooting were 1 1/8oz @ 1350fps and they kicked noticeably harder than the RSTs 1 1/8oz @ 1150 fps. So I dont think the over sized bore is hurting velocity that much .

[CraigThompson]

I had a pair of the gold Gaugemates but in 10ga/16ga.
They have rubber o rings around them to seal in the chamber.


The OP I think meant the smaller wads sealing or filling the larger gauge barrels . I’ve used the Briley shorty tubes in 12 gauge O/U plenty times with no issue if 20 , 28 or 410 . I will say with the shorty tubes 410 factory skeet loads seemed a good bit louder coming out of a 12 gauge barrel .

[jefferyconnor]

That’s correct 6pt-Sika, I was wondering how the shot charge/wad seals down the barrel and if there was a velocity drop. I’m inclined to guess 10 to 12 would work fine. I remember Stan Baker used to essentially put a 10 gauge barrel on 12 gauge guns for better patterns, maybe “flatter”.

It’s a fair point about chamber sealing though, anyone had trouble with inserts regarding that?

So far we have gauge mate, skeeter and Briley as available brands to check out.

[Dave Noreen]

I'm only set up to reload five gauges and 10-gauge isn't one of them. I've had good luck with the 10- to 12-gauge Gauge Mates and my Remington STS 12-gauge reloads. I also have a set of the Browning Little Skeeters but it is often difficult to get the empty hull out of them.

[Paul Harm]

I don't believe the Gaugemates had a rubber o ring. Those were Chambermates. At least all the Gaugemates I've had or still own never had o rings. The Golds came in a soft case with a brush and tool to remove them. They also had part of the lip removed so they could be used with ejectors. They also cost 150 compared to the $50 " Silver " Gaugemates. I only got bit one time. After that I'd just grind off a 1/4 of the lip and have the same thing without the little accessory pack. At one time I had 12/28 and they worked of skeet ok. I never did understand how the bore could be so much bigger and still work. Guess everything happens within the shell. They aren't made anymore. The last I knew was they only were making adapters for pistols or rifles.

[Milton C Starr]

I don't believe the Gaugemates had a rubber o ring. Those were Chambermates. At least all the Gaugemates I've had or still own never had o rings. The Golds came in a soft case with a brush and tool to remove them. They also had part of the lip removed so they could be used with ejectors. They also cost 150 compared to the $50 " Silver " Gaugemates. I only got bit one time. After that I'd just grind off a 1/4 of the lip and have the same thing without the little accessory pack. At one time I had 12/28 and they worked of skeet ok. I never did understand how the bore could be so much bigger and still work. Guess everything happens within the shell. They aren't made anymore. The last I knew was they only were making adapters for pistols or rifles.

These are the ones I had but in 10-16ga. I didnt really care for them they didnt extract well and the orings were fragile .Never tried any like the little skeeters but if I was to buy chamber adapters again I would probably go with something like those .Or if I was going to shoot that many sub gauge shells spend the money on the Briley tubes .

[charlie cleveland]

I had trouble getting the shells out of the skeeters so I split them long ways with aair drven cutter worked fine no problems since...I use the 8 ga to 12 ga a whole lot even use 10 ga in the 8 ga at times...patterns very good.....even killed a turkey this way....charlie

[Paul Harm]

First ones I have seen with the o rings. Learn something new every day.

[Milton C Starr]

First ones I have seen with the o rings. Learn something new every day.

It was one of those ideas that sounds good on paper but is flawed in practice .
Even when the extractors would remove the adapter you still had to use a rod to remove the cases from the adapters. I think when it comes to gauge adapters its best to KISS ( Keep it simple stupid) as my AG shop teacher used to say :rotf: . Honestly though for me vintage double gun collecting is such a expensive hobby worrying about shell cost is a non starter for me .

[Paul Harm]

On my " silver " some of the lip was removed like a " gold " so the fingernail could be inserted under the rim of the shell so it could be removed without removing the adapter.

[Milton C Starr]

On my " silver " some of the lip was removed like a " gold " so the fingernail could be inserted under the rim of the shell so it could be removed without removing the adapter.

Yeah the shells I were using would always get stuck in them. I think maybe the heavier loads werent meant to be fired in the adapters .

[Erich Bretschneider]

There used to be some plastic adaptors, I bought a pack of 25, 12 to 20 to shoot a special club match, they weren't very expensive and worked fine. I'd load all 25 and drop them in my bag and push out the empties and reload them between rounds..

[Lewis Brooksys]

Here are some samples
chambermates left Gaugemate silver middle and Gaugemate gold right

https://i.imgur.com/OSTuGpv.jpg

[charlie cleveland]

I also use gage mates and skeeters 10 ga to 12 ga...they work very well...I took a little die grinder and split the skeeters shell comes out real easy...also use the savage 410 to 12 ga insert works well....charlie