Shotgun adapters?

[AbitNutz]

I've never heard of these things before, inserts that slide into your break open shotgun that allows you to shoot various other calibers from 22lr, 357 mag, 45lc, 45/70 410 to 20ga, just about anything really. They come in lengths from a couple of inches to 18. Now I have to admit it sounds rather Micky Mouse to me. However there's a certain appeal to being able to shoot 45/70 or 45lc out of my exposed hammer double barrel, 20" coach gun. They say that 45lc is eerily quiet.

I'm not sure how many makers of there are but it's more than a couple. They vary widely in price. An 8" 45lc was $139.00 at one maker and an 11" 45lc was $65.00 at another, Everything is sold out everywhere. What isn't?

Has anyone played with these inserts? Are they junk? I saw on YouTube you have to pluck the cases out with your fingers, no extractor. Anyone have an opinion on these or which maker is best? I might try a couple of the 45lc in my double barrel. I'd likely go with the 11". Contrary to popular belief, you gain almost nothing after that on 45lc. I have a pretty neat idea on how to put a small Skinner ghost ring sight on it. Of course, this all depends if these things are not crap and if they ever come up for sale again.

 

[DocRock]

Mainly gimmick. You can’t shoot “anything” because the adaptor doesn’t magically transform the pressures that your shotgun was designed to operate at. Pistol calibers are fine - remember SAAMI spec for 45LC is 14,000 psi. I would imagine that 45-70 loads should be kept to Trapdoor levels, for example. 30-30 is 42,000 psi and I wouldn’t want to shoot too many of those from my shotguns.

You have rifled and unrifled adaptors, which explains the price differential in some cases. A 4” unrifled adopter for 45acp is less useful than a slingshot in most cases, since you are more likely to hit what you are aiming at beyond muzzle contact range with the slingshot.

So, now we are into 5” + rifled adaptors for pistol calibers and 12” + rifled adaptors for low pressure rifle calibers. That explains the expense. These are generally take-off barrels milled to fit shotgun barrels. How do you fit them so that they are removable and non-damaging to the shotgun barrel? You need something that more or less centers them in the shotgun barrel and is friction tight. So, we are talking polymer or rubber rings of some type.

You force a barrel held in place by rubber/polymer boots or O rings into the shotgun barrel. Is it concentric? More or less. Does it stay concentric from shot to shot? More or less. What does more or less mean when you place a barrel inside another barrel of a firearm that is intended, generally, to be pointed not aimed? Accuracy of highly questionable value.

So, I have an MCA 20 ga 18” rifled 20ga to 30-30 adapter and an unknown origin 5” rifled 45 Colt to 20 ga adaptor. The MCA uses rubber O rings. The 45 Colt adaptor has wide polymer bands. They are pain to get in and out. Extraction is manual and needs getting a knife edge or screw driver under the rim. The 45 Colt is hopeless. I would say about 10 MOA at the very best and very inconsistent between shots. The MCA is about 6 MOA, maybe, and effective use is probably fifty yards. It is more consistent shot to shot but at fifty yards POI will move 3-4 inches.

Meanwhile, Brenekke 20 ga slugs will do 3” groups at fifty yards from the smoothbore barrel.

Use the money that you would have spent on an adaptor to find the slug that shoots well from your shotgun.

 

[AbitNutz]

Well...that about sums it up. Thanks.

 

[MAKster]

I guess I disagree. I have a rifled adapter in 9mm. I think they are as accurate as a pistol of the same barrel length. You can easily hit targets at 100 yards. Break open shotguns typically don't have iron sights so that is a negative but I think these are more about increasing the use of a cheap break open shotgun and not maximizing accuracy. You shouldn't think of these as a replacement for a rifle or 16 inch pistol caliber carbine

 

[AbitNutz]

Who made yours and did do you have any problem with the point of impact changing when you remove and replace the inserts?

 

[entropy]

These cheap inserts are a far cry from a quality European rifle insert for a drilling or combo gun, or a set of Kolar sub-gauge inserts for Skeet, which require 'carrier' barrels, so the shotgun has two barrel sets: 12 ga, and the carrier set. $$$$$$!

 

[AbitNutz]

Yeah well, that's probably not what's available to me even if I could afford it.

 

[Hugger-4641]

I bought a couple just for SHTF and I run out of 12ga. ammo but have others available. I tried the 20ga insert in my old 12ga single. It works, but don't expect to drop a squirrel out of the tree top, and you have to manually remove the spent case.

 

[MAKster]

Who made yours and did do you have any problem with the point of impact changing when you remove and replace the inserts?

Short Lane adapter. And yes the looseness affects accuracy. But as I said these are really about finding a new use for a cheap H&R single shot. If you are looking to shoot small groups it isn't what you want.

 

[AbitNutz]

Like I said, I'm interested in trying a couple of 11" 45lc's in my CZ 20" coach 12ga double. I'm going to put a skinner ghost ring front and rear that'll be adjustable for elevation. From what I've read, I may be able to regulate the barrels by witness marking them and rotating them about. It's likely to be an imperfect solution but as was pointed out, it will be at least and likely more accurate than my 45lc revolvers. It also sounds like a hoot. The recoil will be nothing and the noise will be very low (I've read).

 

[entropy]

Sounds like something fun to play with.....

 

[AbitNutz]

Sounds like something fun to play with.....

Agreed...and cheap to play with too. I have all I need to reload and cast 45lc on hand. It will literally cost me nothing. It'll also take up all kinds of time twiddling with it to get it to do what I want. Now if they can only get some in stock...I just put myself on the wait/notify list.

 

[LoonWulf]

Ive been shooting 9mms out of my 20ga with an 11" Chaszel insert. Ive got a set of adjustable turkey sights on it, and while i haven't checked actually accuracy, its so far been pretty decent offhand.

 

[ozarkhillbilly]

I work in the entertainment industry and I have seen hundreds of these being used in live and film entertainment. Mainly because 45 long colt full load blanks are cheaper and more reliable than most other blanks, so its very common to see these in 12 and 20 gauge shotguns just for shooting blanks. As a matter of fact I know somewhere in my basement i have 50 to 100 45LC blanks and an adaptor for 20 gauge somewhere.

 

[AbitNutz]

I'm really intrigued by it for some reason. I'm reasonably sure that I'll spend some time trying to get it to shoot the way I want and then relegate it to amusement section of the gun room.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

I bought the Chiappa set for 20. Of course, the gun has irons and a decent scope as well.

Now this old rascal goes; .22, .357/.38, 9mm, .45, .410/.45 Colt and of course 20 gauge with its own myriad loadings.

It's fun to see what a round will do out of a solid, heavy, scoped, shoulder-fired pistol barrel.

Too, I'll be ready for those scenarios which shall not be named lest they incur the electro-wrath of subjective moderation.


Todd.

 

[kBob]

Todd

Whatever it is (since we can't mention it) that is a rig that I would be very jealous of in that imaginary situation! How many canned hams or gallons of wheat or corn would you take for it then?

If they every git caught up and producing for sale to folks not pre ordered you might want to look at Chaszel barrel adaptors. An 18 inch rifled steel .30-30 in that sucker might be fun!

-kBob

 

[kBob]

Abitnutz,

Chaszel is currently showing 2 & 3/4 inch length 12 gauge in .45 Colt. Shorter than you want but in stock and only $25 if you want to get one to get your feet wet.

If you do let us know about it....unfortunatley the .410 / .327 11" will not be in stock again before fall....oh sad me!

-kBob

 

[wcwhitey]

I have an old FIE 12 Ga single shot that had been abused at some point and cut down to 20". I fit a fiber optic sight, cleaned it up and bought a few inserts. 20 guage, .44 Mag/Special and .38/357. They work, the 20 patterns fine, the .44 will hit a 12" target at 25 yards. The .38/257 is rifled and will shoot 4" groups at 25 yards. You just have to be realistic. I put it together to keep at my vacation home not having to worry about losing something of value just in case. $80 invested. Its nice to have a good 12 guage with options while away.

Caliber Conversions | Gun Parts Corp.

 

[MacAR]

I own a 12 ga/ 22lr adapter from Short Lane; at 25 feet (not yards) you can hit a pop can with it 3 out of 5 times. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed. It did a good job on trapline dispatch duty, though. However, I'm seriously considering one of the rifled 38/357 adapters. Even a 2 3/4" one would be intriguing, and this one would be $26 shipped to the house: https://www.dinaarms.com/product-page/38-357-cal-20-ga-16-ga-12-ga. Is this the one you have @wcwhitey ?

Mac

 

[DT Guy]

I have an old FIE 12 Ga single shot that had been abused at some point and cut down to 20". I fit a fiber optic sight, cleaned it up and bought a few inserts. 20 guage, .44 Mag/Special and .38/357. They work, the 20 patterns fine, the .44 will hit a 12" target at 25 yards. The .38/257 is rifled and will shoot 4" groups at 25 yards. You just have to be realistic. I put it together to keep at my vacation home not having to worry about losing something of value just in case. $80 invested. Its nice to have a good 12 guage with options while away.

Caliber Conversions | Gun Parts Corp.

I checked out that link, and was surprised to see those adapters are rifled, but made from aluminum....it seems odd you could put an aluminum sleeve in a shotgun chamber and safely fire a .44 magnum....

Larry

 

[wcwhitey]

This is what I bought from the shooters box. Not sure who makes them they have their stamp on them though. These are stainless not aluminum. The .44 Mag I’m one I have is smooth bore. The .357 shown is rifled. Welcome to The Shooters Box - What You Need Is In The Box I should of took pictures of the project. I cleaned up the shotgun nicely, added one of those inexpensive fiber optic shotgun front sights and put it in a nice shotgun "Tacticool" case. The case holds the adapters and plenty of ammo. I put in a box of buck, slugs, some .44 shot shells that I load along with some other .44/.357 and .38 reloads. Like I said it was designed to leave at a property I get away too, was worried about leaving too much of a valuable firearm behind. I really did not expect the inserts to perform great, but they did OK. They are all more than capable of minute of man hits. And being a dedicated 12 Guage anyway, game is not a problem.

 

[wcwhitey]

I checked out that link, and was surprised to see those adapters are rifled, but made from aluminum....it seems odd you could put an aluminum sleeve in a shotgun chamber and safely fire a .44 magnum....

Larry[/QUOTE). Mine are stainless, see pics in above post.

 

[DocRock]

Firing 54,000 psi cartridges in a shotgun proofed for 11,500 psi strikes me as a route to Darwin Award fame.

 

[AbitNutz]

Are you sure they're made from aluminum?

I saw this on the Short Lane sight

• Made from Alloy steel 4140 & CNC machined for precision.

I would assume that Chaszel makes theirs out of comparable material. I can't imagine firing any modern centerfire cartridge in an aluminum anything. Of course, I don't have much imagination.