.12 Ga. to .32-20 WCF

AJ

AJ

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I have had this on a shelf in my gun room for a while. Got it at a local gun show out of a junk box. It is an adapter for turning a .12 ga. into a .32-20 rifle. Has anyone ever tried one?

It reads THE ELTERICH RIFLED BULLET SHELL / E.& CO. PAT. APR. 23, 1901 / 12 GAUGE CAL. 32 CART. 32-20 WINCH.
 

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Mine is much newer, say 1980's and aluminum, it is chambered 38 special to 12 gauge. I actually has about one inch of rifling. I have never fired it.

Browning was marketing adapters for shotguns in the early 2000's for 12 gauge to 20, 28 or 410 3", sold in pairs. I shot Sporting Clays with a guy using 12 to 20 gauge. I patterned nicely.

I own a pair of Savage "Four Tenners" about 10 or 12 inches long and are for 20 to 410 2.5" the patterns suck out of my Saur 26" SxS, but are fair out of my Savage 24C in 20" 20/22rf.

Ivan

Since most 22rf is .222 or .221" diameter I never bothered with the 223 Rem. to 22 rf adapters. However I stay on the lookout for 30-30 to 32 SWL or a 30-30 to 32-20!
 
Saw a modernized version advertised years ago. The adapters I saw had about an 18-inch barrel attached with an adjustable cylinder-shaped support near the end to center it in the shotgun barrel. IIRC they were offered in 12 and 20 gauge. Never saw them in use.
 
erikpolcrack said:
Saw a modernized version advertised years ago. The adapters I saw had about an 18-inch barrel attached with an adjustable cylinder-shaped support near the end to center it in the shotgun barrel. IIRC they were offered in 12 and 20 gauge. Never saw them in use.
Click to expand...

Briley offers sever quality levels of full-length adapters. The lower end used to run $800 a set. Most commonly seen in 28 gauge to 410 for Beretta's & Rugar's Because they didn't market a 410. Briley also custom fits adapters for shotguns with "Weak" barrels (beautiful but poor internal condition Damascus barrels) with or without screw in chokes. This keeps family heirlooms on the firing line. These are offered from 10 gauge down, in one-gauge steps. For example, of 10 to 12, 12 to 16, 16 to 20 and so on. They also offer 24 to 28 and 32 to 410 2 1/2 inch. They will pretty much make any gauge you wish! (12 to 410, but why?)

Ivan
 
I forgot one other chamber adapter I have. A 22lr for in a M-16 or AR-15, this one was from the National Guard, at 50 yards best I could do was 6". I keep looking for a 22 lr upper in stead.

Ivan
 
I use to have a Marble adapter than allowed you to fire 32acp in a 30/30.
Marble use to make them in several cartridges. The 30 cal rifles all fired 32acp. It was all cartridge, your barrel was actually used.
 
Hard pass without a rifled barrel.

I have a Ruskie Baikal 12 ga. SxS that I have occasionally thought about getting a cartridge adapter in 45-70 or a hunting cartridge such 38-55 runs the full length of the barrel.

The 32-20 is my favorite cartridge but I think it is poor choice due to the weight of shotgun ratio.
 
Similar devices have been available for a long time. I have seen several of those shotgun to rifle caliber adaptors, and I believe there are individuals who will custom make whatever you want. I consider them to have very limited utility. I also remember those Marble adaptors that would allow using .32 Auto cartridges in .30 rifles. I believe they are just as limited in their utility. May be OK for finishing shots on wounded game, but that is about all. Back in the old days, there were factory-loaded low power finish-off loads available for some of the original lever action calibers like .30-30 and .303 Savage. They normally used lead bullets. Idea was to not destroy so much meat.

Regarding those Briley-type tubes allowing the use of, say, 20 gauge shells in a 12 gauge O/U shotgun for Skeet, I have seen many Skeet shooters use them. And they are practical, albeit expensive. Some shooters had three sets (20, 28, and .410) so they could shoot the same 12 gauge shotgun in all four stages. My Skeet shooting was limited to 12 and 20 only, and I had a Citori in each gauge. It makes life too complicated to shoot all four gauges, especially if you reload.
 
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I have 12 gauge adapters by Lothar Walther 12g/.22 l.r. and 12g/.38 Special that I have tested. The accuracy was better than expected and the POI was pretty much right on.






They come in all different calibers.


 
It reads THE ELTERICH RIFLED BULLET SHELL / E.& CO. PAT. APR. 23 said:
These were actually made by STevens A&T Co.
They came in 3 different models.
One was for repeating shotguns.
#2 was for SxS w/an extractor.
These both were chamber length only.

The #3 had an extra inch (?) of 'bbl' out the front end.
Though you could spec order longer lengths.
10,12,16 gauges.
The #1 and #2 in 32S&W only
#3 in a variety inclu the 32-20,,10ga #3 in 38Spec.
Some cals in smoothbore.

The slots on the sides of the brass hull were supposed to flex outward when fired and center the hull in the chamber for some accuracy. Likely part of the Patent.

Marbles made a lot of rifle cartridge adaptors.
I have (somewhere) a couple of the Hoffer-Thompson .22short practice cart for the 1903 Springfield rifle especially adapted for them.
They must have been a real pain to work with, loading and reloading. Plus BP powder ammo trying to keep them clean and rust free.
Neat idea though.
Click to expand...
 
I've got a .32 chamber adapter for .303 Brit. Working on putting a DP'd Brit #4 Enfield back in operation w/o a new barrel. Mine is one of the few I've seen where the only DP action was roughly drilling sideways through the chamber. No barrel plug or bolt wielding. Still working on getting the chamber smoothed up enough w/o buying a finishing reamer. May have to bite the bullet and spring for one, though.
 
I collect these interesting oddities. I carry one when either hunting with my 30/06 or 308 Win. Both adapters chambered in 32 ACP. When sighted with high powered hunting loads, these little adapters hit about 2" low and 1 1/2" low at 25 yards. Plenty good enough to pop a grouse or rabbit while in elk camp. I cronographed several loads of 32 ACP out of these adaptors. Most all loads chronograph in excess of 1,200 fps from a rifle barrel. I bought several for shotgun to handgun caliber from Lane Short, with smooth bore. All bullets fired keyholed at 25 yards, totally worthless. Yet rifle versions shoot close to point of aim and group @1 1/2" at 25 yards. Have several 3" long shotgun adapters that go from a large gauge to a smaller gauge, 12 gauge to 20 gauge etc. Most shoot very open pattern at 25 yards but worthwhile to have. My 12 gauge to 22 long rifle is a rifled adapter and shoots quite well at 25 yards. Always carry it with a handful of cartridges.
 
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