WTF is the purpose?
I cant imagine that the wad will seal gases or keep shot together much past those little inserts....but they might be good for training young or small individuals to shoot that big old 10 or 12 gauge...
I imagine that the things tend to mangle shot patterns, at least to some degree. Don't know for sure, never tried 'em.
If you only step down a gauge they are OK at shorter ranges.
12 to 20, 20 to 28... but to drop from 12 to .410, you’ll have a pretty blown pattern.
About as useful as light beer.
Reducers allow you to shoot 20 gauge, 28 gauge or .410 gauge shells in a 12 gauge over/under shot gun. They are primarily used in skeet shooting, not trap. A good skeet shooter competes in all 4 gauge competitions. The smaller the shell, the less pellets, the harder it is to break the bird. If you are serious about skeet shooting, plan on spending $1000 or more to buy tubes, such as brilleys. A set allows you to have a full length tube in your barrel for each caliber.
Guessing it would cause a much bigger pattern, shooting the smaller shells out of a 12 ga. shotgun.
I personally would not use a short insert for fear of chamber erosion ahead of the case.
Another good use of this little device is to turn a flare gun into a hand held shot gun. I used to sail in the Pacific NW and the Canadians didn’t allow firearms so I would always have one of these little devices on board when I left Washingto waters so I could in a matter of seconds turn my flare gun into a very leathal weapon.
I've never seen them used and am interested to know if they are worth the time and money.From reading the links, they're for over-under, side-by-side and single shot shotguns (Skeet & Trap shotguns).
No good for a pump action or an auto-loader.
Yes, I’ve used them and depending on the manufacturer, they work very well.
They are used mainly by skeet shooters so they can use the same gun for each guage class. There are some noticable velocity and pattern changes when you skip more than one guage but it is consistent and can be adapted to. There are also models that are essentially slip in barrels, so the pattern and velocity changes aren’t so pronounced as these chamber only models.
Just buy a shotgun in the guage you want, and forget about those things. They’re a hassle, expensive, and potentially dangerous.
I have a set in .410 for my Lanber 12 GA. Over/Under. They work great for what I use them. I train my kids without having to buy a separate youth model or shotgun in a dubious caliber. Plus, it’s fun to pop a few .410s every once in a while.
I haven’t formally measured the patterns, but they seem to group just fine.
Most of the complaints I’ve seen on the web concern people who bought them for shooting clays, and found that you can’t reload the shells fast enough for competition. You have to poke the husk out of each insert with a pencil or stick. Buying an insert for each shot wouldn’t make economic sense.
There are other limitations. They are clearly marked to use target loads only. Also, I have to be very careful breaking open, so the ejectors don’t send them flying. Hitting the ground too many times would probably ding the inserts, as they appear to be made from aluminum.
But the best shotgun accessory in my opinion is the Knoxx SpecOps recoil reducing stock. It makes a 12 ga 3" magnum slug feel like a 2 3/4" light bird load.
Where can you buy a Government Reducer??
The larger the barrel bore and the smaller the reducer gauge, the worse the shot pattern and shorter the effective range.
Am I the only person who still has a 16 gauge?
They were 20 ga to .410.
They worked, the .410 shell patterns were more open than the 20 ga shell patterns.
I used a plastic dowel to push the .410 shells out of the Skeeters. Slow to use and a pain in the neck.
The .410 shot cup in the 20 ga barrel did not seal so I got blow by with lower velocity. Longer leads were the name of the game.
I used them for a month or so, then put them on the shelf. That was years ago.
A pair of Briley full length tubes are the way to go if you are serious about using only one shotgun for your skeet or sporting clay shooting.