Caliber Converters

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Dan Forrester

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Where can i get one of those 12ga to 9mm, .38spl, .45ACP ect "shell shrinkers" as we used to call them? They look like a regular 12ga shell or a snap cap, except their drilled out to hold a pistol cartridge.

Thanks, Dan
 
Dan - I have absolutely no idea - sorry! But am throwing in an item of interest.

Many years back - probably around 1980 in England, I purchased this most useful device - a sleeve to convert from 12G to 3" magnum .410.

I used to keep it in first barrel when hunting to keep noise down - it was of course a horrendous spread but - it had its uses!!! :)


web410sleeve.jpg


web410sleeve_name_02_s.jpg
 
I've seen 12 gauge to 20 or .410, but never shotgun to pistol round.

Sounds like it would be firing the bullet out of like a 1 inch barrel inside the actual shotgun barrel. :confused:
 
I've seen gauge reducers as well but never for pistol/rifle rounds.
By design alone I would bet that any reducer would require a rimmed case. 9mm, 45ACP, .223, etc would be a PITA to extract.
Bass Pro/Cabelas/Brownells has inserts to reduce a 12 to 16, 20, 28, 410. By the length, I'd bet the patern in the smaller gauges would be all over the place.
 
Thing is Peter - that .410 sleeve I showed, has chamber wall well thicker than needed and a 9mm would have just as thick walls. So probably the adaptor is in itself every bit as tough as an average semi barrel. That will take the pressure on firing - as against the 12G chamber and we'll assume that ''set-back'' pressure is no problem.
 
Reducer sleeves

Yeah, I've been looking at those too.

http://www.e-gunparts.com/DisplayAd.asp?chrProductSKU=881160&chrSuperSKU=&MC=

Try this link, they're made by Diana Arms corp.
The things I'm leery about are their aluminium construction (bore and rifling, too) and $15 price tag.
I'm thinking about trying out a 20 gauge .22 though (lead CB's first, moving up to full power carts once I'm confident the rifling isn't going to disintegrate after 5 shots).

Seems like a cheap, easy way to expand a shotgun's usefulness, as well as mildly cheaper training (though heaven help you if you can't figure out a shotgun in the course of 4-5 boxes of shells, which is what this item is worth). Accuracy is the big question, of course.

edit-
Oh, forgot to mention, if you can find them in the websiter, Numrich also carries reducers for pistols- i.e. .44 mag to .22; I saw them advertised in a recent Shotgun News for about $9 each.
 
the numrich ones work well for the few times i have tried them

Also, try:
mcace.com for high quality, and more expensive ones.

One question i had is if the 45 Long Colt-to-22LR adapters will work to shoot 22LR out of a 410 bore.

They do fit in firearms chambered for BOTh, but I have not tried them in a dedicated 410 bore.

BTW: I love these things and all things like them!
There is s product at cabela's i think called Little Skeeters, by browning i think, which reduce 12ga to 20ga and others.

C-
 
Thanks guys for all the responses.

P95Carry: That’s a very nice converter you have there. Do you have any idea as to it’s age?

I just purchased one in .22lr and one in 9mm from Numrich. I’ll let you know how they work.

Thanks, Dan
 
Dan - so you have a couple now eh?! I would certainly like to know your impressions - maybe too give us a clue as to price?

My old 12G/.410 converter, I bought that IIRC around 1976/77 - mainly because I had a new Spanish S/S 12G for field sport shooting - and often felt it unneccesary to have 2 12G shells loaded, when at times a close shot at a rabbit could be srved by a quieter 3" mag .410 shell in one barrel.

Can't say I used it a whole lot but - gave me another option anyways. :)
 
Just about anything you can think of in cartridge adaptors has been made at one time. Somewhere in my stuff is a catalog of adaptors put out by a CA firm years ago. As I recall there were several choices of shotgun to handgun caliber adaptors.
I think they (can't remember the name) are out of business last time I checked (several years now) I would keep looking on the net including ebay .

They have been made .
 
others

There have also been others made by Alex Cartridge, now defunct- but Old Western Scrounger has some left.
The Alex ones usually are not sub-caliber, but allow a same-caliber 'lesser' ctg to be used: ex. 32ACP in 30-06, or 32ACP-in-303british.

Also, Hammond Gamegetter makes a chamber insert that uses 22cal nailgun blanks to launch a same/similar caliber lead ball at varying velocities depending on the power of the blank.
See here:http://www3.telus.net/gamegetter/index.html

Here's some more:http://www.eabco.com/sale8.html


Like i said, i love things like this and would make them myself if I I had the means and skill.
C-
 
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