doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Gaugemates and hunting.

Instead of buying a 20 gauge Model 12 whose price was in the stratosphere of course, I decided to convert my 16 gauge Nitro Special that weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces, NICE!!!!!, into a 20 gauge with a set of Gaugemates.

http://gaugemate.com/

Has anyone used these for hunting, upland, or waterfowl? And if you have, are they easy to use in the field? I bought one set should I buy another in case I lose, you never know and there is always Murphy's law, these while hunting?

Another reason is I'm planning to go to Africa for birds and I know if I plan ahead the PH can get some 16 gauge but if he can�t I can always just use my Gaugemates and shoot 20 gauge ammo that the PH always has.

Is this a good plan?

Couldn't you have just used or loaded 3/4 ounce 16ga loads to achieve the same end?

If you reload, Gaugemates ruin your hulls.

They make sense in some circumstances, for instance a person who does not reload can shoot much less expensive ammunition in a 10ga.

I've used 10-12 gauge gaugemates and was very impressed. Since my go-to guns these days are both 16's I'll be closely following this thread. Even if I didn't use them much, it would be nice to be able to use 20 gauge shells in an emergency, such as being way out in the boonies and not being able to find 16's.
Gaugemates make alot of sense to me. It would make even more sense to me to be able to buy 16 gauge ammo without paying a premium price (heavy sigh). And yes, I've begun reloading, but that's not the point, fair pricing is the point.
Steve

I have used 10/12,28/12 and 20/12 and they all work great. I am astonished at the nice patterns even with the 28/12
HOWEVER, I HAVE FOUND THAT IN OLDER GUNS WITH SHORTER CHAMBERS THAT THE SHORT TYPE GAUGEMATES ARE VERY HARD TO REMOVE AS IT IS HARD TO CATCH THE LIP ON THE FRONT .

I use 12/20 Chambermates and love them. It allows me have a great shell (Win AA or Rem STS) and low recoil without having to buying RST ammo at $10-12 box. I don't reload.

If the Gaugemate Gold with the full length split, I could see it ruining shells for reloading, but the Silvers have no split and I don't see how it could ruin shells.

My experience with the Silvers 12 to 20 in patterning is it usually enlarges the pattern by 1-2" at 20 yds.

Might be a little slow reloading in the field, but some cut enough of the lip off of the Gaugemate Silver so the extractor can lift the shell only.

The silver GaugeMates also are split full length. I recently bought a set of the silver GM's to use 12 ga. shells in my 10 ga. hammer Daly. I ground off enough lip to allow the extraction of the hull without having to remove the entire unit each time. Works great, but it's not for an ejector gun.
JR

Here's a photo of some modified silver 10-12 gaugemates. HomelessjOe came up with the modification and it works great! The slice down the side is factory and it's not nearly so wide when fited in the chamber. I stretched the split a little so it would fit tighter in the chamber.
Steve

When you jump two gauges, I don't believe there is a split. There is technically two gauge jumps between the 16 and 20. Whether they are split, I don't know. I know there is no split with the 12 to 20.

The 16ga to 20ga have a split. I tried them. The 16ga chamber was so tight, that once I fired the gun, it was impossible to remove the shell. I ended up using a rod to push the shell and gaugemate out together, yes I had ground down the lip.... So much for old German 16ga guns....

Pete