Chamber Adapters for Shotguns

[Badger Arms]

I've been hankering for a .22 lr and shotgun combo. I've looked at many in the past. The Savage o/u was an option as was the Baikal combo. Recently I've noted the Rossi break actions and though a 12ga / 22lr / .50 Muzzleloader combo would be neat. Maybe 20ga. Then I remembered about chamber adapters and though if they made one for a Shotgun to shoot .22LR, that'd be really useful.

Soooo, I got out my calipers and started searching for a few dimensions. My concept was to build a "receiver" the same dimensions as a Ruger 10/22 barrel. Cut a few appropriate-sized collars with "O"-rings and mount the barrel inside the 12ga barrel. The front collar and barrel would have to be offset so the firing pin would strike the rim right. I figure I'd use a different offset for the front collar so I could regulate the barrel just by turning the front collar...

So, fast-forward and I see these chamber adapters from "Dina Arms". Never heard of them before. I've attached a picture and here's their web site: http://store.dinaarms.com/default.asp. The web site is a bit difficult to navigate, but it gets you there. What really interested me was the .44 Magnum adapter for the 20ga. You can buy 6 of these for your Mossberg (for $120 total minus shipping). You now have a sleek pump-action 44 magnum with 6 shots! Or just swap it out for a .22LR chamber and pop a rabbit in the head!

Also, if you've got a 26" barrel, I'd imagine these things are pretty quiet. Don't know if they're quiet enough to go without hearing protection... but who knows. I'm ordering a couple for the 20ga and 12ga. I figure I can load them up with blanks like the ones you get at Lowes for nail guns and use them to train the little ones so they won't be as timid the first time they shoot. Then let them shoot the 22's to practice before moving on to full-load shotshells.

Then I start thinking about all the other uses for these adapters. Let's make a list. Here's what I have so far:

1) cheaper to shoot .22 than 12ga
2) you can turn your pump shotgun into a 6-shot 44 magnum pump gun (well, snub-nosed 44's)
3) shoot blanks for familiarization
4) put a rubber ball down the bore and shoot a blank for a mini-spud gun!
5) it's quieter to shoot
6) use spent .22 casings in the adapter so it's now a snap cap
7) training aid: load a random .22 blank in the magazine for Squib-clearing drills
8) dog training (blanks)

First, does anybody have any experience with these? Also, are there any more ideas for how to use them?

 

[sbarkowski]

Thats one of the strangest things I've ever seen.

So something like pie plate sized groups at 25 yards?

 

[Badger Arms]

I'll let you know. It's not for accuracy... heck I don't have a rifle-sight equipped shotty anyways, it'll all be beads-on-target!

 

[sbarkowski]

Im curious to see the outcome of this, keep us posted.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

Take a peek at this thread: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=253023

 

[PT1911]

so.. confused.. if this thing worked, then great, but havent you just given yourself a single shot riflle?.. I see your point about getting six of them but I can only assume they are not made for feeding into a pump gun as they are probably much heavier than even a 3 inch magnum... maybe I am being too critical.

Cool idea though... could be handy in a single shot... the more versatile the better....

 

[kirklandkie]

PT1911, it appears that the adapters give the ammunition the dimensions of a regular shotgun shell thus it would feed properly
cheers

-kirk

 

[PT1911]

I dont question the demensions for their feeding capabilities but their weight and overall composition.. seems like it would put unintended stress on the feeding system of the gun...

 

[sbarkowski]

I get what your saying, would the mag spring be strong enough to reliably feed that 5th or 6th round on to the.. carrier is it? They do look like they'd be pretty heavy.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I have a Hammond Game Getter for my Winchester Model 70 in .30-06. It looks a lot like the picture -- basically an offset .22 chamber in the head of what looks like a convetional .30-06 case. The bullet is an 00 buckshot (sized with an included sizer.)

This rig prints 1" groups at 25 yards, just as the top of the thick part of the lower vertical crosshair. I've harvested quite a few squirrels while sitting on a deer stand with this rig.

 

[desidog]

I'd be concerned about the muzzle of your shotgun barrel - sending a .22lr bullet down a 2" barrel (1" bullet/3" shell, more or less) is going to make for inherent inaccuracy, and if there's any kick...ala the .44....that round might brush up against the shotgun barrel if its long enough. Not to say that it would happen, but all it might take is once to mess up your shotgun barrel, say when i little kid is using it and doesn't have the experience or reach to control muzzle-jump.

a .22 might be soft enough not to matter in a steel-rated barrel, but a copper jacketed .44? too much of a gamble for me. I mean, for 120 bucks, you can find some very decent used .22 rifles, and i'd certainly rather add a new gun to the collection.
/I'll be interested to hear how this pans out.

 

[Jim K]

I am surprised at 1" groups at 25 yards. I have seen a few of those and most won't do that well, at least partly because of the poor sights on most shotguns not to mention the play of the adapter in the chamber.

Sort of like a 2" barrel .22 pistol with no sights.

Jim

 

[Badger Arms]

I dont question the demensions for their feeding capabilities but their weight and overall composition.. seems like it would put unintended stress on the feeding system of the gun...

I don't think you're looking at this the right way. I've got snap-caps that are SOLID aluminum and they weigh about the same as my buckshot loads. With a hole in them, I bet these way less than a buckshot load. Lead is much heavier than aluminum.

As for the bullet hitting the barrel... well steel shot goes pretty fast out of the barrel and it hits them extra-full chokes without any ill effects. Even a 44 Magnum would be hard pressed to do any damage to the bore of the shotgun.

All this being said, I would like to see a rifled steel liner in place of the aluminum rifling, but we're talking .22lr for my purposes.

 

[Navy_Guns]

I recently started this thread: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=441727

I drilled out a 12 gauge A-Zoom dummy round to fire 6mm Airsoft pellets with shotgun primers. At 1,850 fps, those 0.12 gram plastic pellets could still inflict serious harm!

 

[Sam1911]

As those .22 adapters feed out of the magazine they're going to be "clocked" around the bore axis randomly. I think 1" accuracy at 25 yds. is pretty amazing considering that the cartridge is starting out in a random offset orientation to the bore. If you single-load you could manually position the offset in the same direction each time, which would help, though still not be very precise.

Otherwise, that's a pretty cool idea.

I like the concept of the feed-able inserts that are the length of standard shells, but I think I'd probably prefer to have a 16" or 18" single-shot insert in .44 or some small .224" caliber or whatever (centerfire to keep it concentric) that would give me carbine velocities and much better accuracy. Still short enough that you could carry it in a pack or even in a belt carrier for quicker access. Obviously this would only (easily) work on break-actions though. I guess you could pull the barrel off an autoloader and insert the loaded sleeve, but that is a pretty long-winded manual of arms.

I'd assume that none of these sub-caliber cartridges could produce enough pressure (with no bore seal) to actually cycle a gas-op gun. Wonder how powerful a cartridge it would take to get it to cycle a recoil-op gun? Maybe a very heavy .44. .454 Casull? .500 Mag? Of course, at that point you should have switched to slugs!

Cool!

-Sam