Few people realize that chamber adapters and barrel inserts are very valuable tools for use in single-shot or bolt-action firearms. What these gizmos do is they allow your firearm to shoot a lesser caliber bullet. Advantages include greatly reduced noise and recoil, spending less $ on ammo, having the ability to fire multiple calibers thru a single weapon in an ammo-scarce SHTF scenario, and being able to tone down a rifle or shotgun so that it can be used to successfully hunt small game.
While sportsmansguide.com regularly sells an inexpensive & flimsy-looking chamber adapter that allows a .308 to fire a .32 ACP, and numerous companies sell barrel inserts that allow a shotgun to fire lesser shotgun calibers, the only active & quality producer of adapters and inserts that I am aware of is MCA Sports in Anchorage, Alaska:
MCA Sports: Chamber Adapters, Inserts and Cast Bullets, Our Home Page!
I have tried calling and emailing them, and never received any response to my voice messages or email questions. However, they maintain an online presence, so I suppose they are still in business. I recommend spending some time on their website, to get an idea of what they sell.
Briefly, a chamber adapter is a bullet-shaped insert that holds a lesser caliber bullet inside it. You place a bullet in the adapter and place the adapter in the action/barrel, and when you fire, the actual bullet fires like normal, still using the gun's barrel rifling as per usual. Then you open the action, remove the adapter, extract the spent shell, insert a new bullet, replace the adapter in the action/barrel, and replay.
A barrel insert is only usable in a break-barrel weapon, but they are REALLY cool. Not only does a barrel insert allow you to fire a lesser caliber, but it contains its own rifling. Thus, while a chamber adapter is the size of a weapon's standard caliber bullet, a barrel insert is considerably larger and can vary in length, dpending on how much rifling/accuracy/power you wish to have. A barrel insert can allow you to fire a .410 shell out of a 12 gauge shotgun, or a .22 LR out of a 20 gauge shotgun, or a .22 LR out of a .223 rifle, or a .32 ACP out of a .308 rifle. There are many, many configurations available. According to Ragnar Benson, some configurations function as legal sound suppressors.
I will let you, the reader, go to the MCA Sports website and get the real dirt on these tools. Order away!
While sportsmansguide.com regularly sells an inexpensive & flimsy-looking chamber adapter that allows a .308 to fire a .32 ACP, and numerous companies sell barrel inserts that allow a shotgun to fire lesser shotgun calibers, the only active & quality producer of adapters and inserts that I am aware of is MCA Sports in Anchorage, Alaska:
MCA Sports: Chamber Adapters, Inserts and Cast Bullets, Our Home Page!
I have tried calling and emailing them, and never received any response to my voice messages or email questions. However, they maintain an online presence, so I suppose they are still in business. I recommend spending some time on their website, to get an idea of what they sell.
Briefly, a chamber adapter is a bullet-shaped insert that holds a lesser caliber bullet inside it. You place a bullet in the adapter and place the adapter in the action/barrel, and when you fire, the actual bullet fires like normal, still using the gun's barrel rifling as per usual. Then you open the action, remove the adapter, extract the spent shell, insert a new bullet, replace the adapter in the action/barrel, and replay.
A barrel insert is only usable in a break-barrel weapon, but they are REALLY cool. Not only does a barrel insert allow you to fire a lesser caliber, but it contains its own rifling. Thus, while a chamber adapter is the size of a weapon's standard caliber bullet, a barrel insert is considerably larger and can vary in length, dpending on how much rifling/accuracy/power you wish to have. A barrel insert can allow you to fire a .410 shell out of a 12 gauge shotgun, or a .22 LR out of a 20 gauge shotgun, or a .22 LR out of a .223 rifle, or a .32 ACP out of a .308 rifle. There are many, many configurations available. According to Ragnar Benson, some configurations function as legal sound suppressors.
I will let you, the reader, go to the MCA Sports website and get the real dirt on these tools. Order away!
Cool article man.
ReplyDeleteRay Banister
www.gunadapters.com