doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Skeet's Shotgun Gauge

Hi all, I've been looking for a good gauge to measure chokes, etc on my shotguns. I hear a lot of good about this gauge. Can any of you who have or used one give me your impressions on it?

Also, will this gauge measure chamber length and forcing cones?

If anyone has one for sale, I'd be very interested.

Thanks!

All the best!

Greg

The one I have, the set with two heads, is not quite large enough to measure 12 ga. chambers. It usually hits the forcing cone about 1/4" past the beginning. You can then measure where the front of the cone meets the bore and with some calculating, determine how long the cone actually is.

Greg, the Skeets gauge is a good, basic unit well worth the cost. It is certainly accurate enough for casual use. I've had mine for well over ten years and have had no complaints. It is not reliable for measuring chamber length since it cannot expand to the diameter of a chamber.

The Skeet's gage is to me very good for the price. It gives you readings that let you know exactly what the bore is from both ends, It will read at least 11 1/2" in and also let you know what your chokes are in each barrel accurately,
I have used the one Brownell's and a few others sell, the one that has the removeable heads from 10 ga. down to 28 ga. This one reads to about 16". A very nice gage but a little pricey for me. Skeet's does the same thing. The one I have has a bakelite tube with an aluminum rod that moves inside it.
It is like Jim said, the 12 ga will not expand big enough for 12 ga. chambers.

I have owned one for several years with 2 heads and agree with the comments of the others. It is useful for bore and choke measurement. If I were buying one again I would just buy 2 gauges, one for 12-16ga and one for 20-28 ga; I noticed that Brownells no longer sells the 2 head set which sold for almost the same as 2 gauges. The best gauge IMHO for chamber measurement is one of the sissors type dial gauges.

Jim

I also have the one with 2 heads. Works pretty well, I think. I've checked the readings against other gauges and it's quite accurate.

When I ordered mine about 25 years ago, I had them put on 16" TUBE, so I can measure most any barrel. I taped an inch marked tape to the tube, so know where "something is happening". By the way, the tube extension was not expensive.

Daryl, the best modification I've done to mine is to replace the Chinese dial indicator with a Starrett, which I purchased on eBay.

With all these endorsements, where may one be bought and approximate price, please?

King, I believe Brownells and Midway both carry it. Brownell's price is about $90 for a 12/16 gauge and the same for the 20/28 gauge. Or, just phone Skeets direct in Tahlequah,Oklahoma, 918-456-4749. They're good folks and do awfully fine barrel work. If you talk to them direct see if you can't get one with the two heads so you can cover all four gauges.