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Scolari
PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:02 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 07 Jul 2004
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Location: Sothern Illinois

A few months ago there was a topic on gauge reducers. I mentioned then that I bought a set of I think gauge mates. The ones with the slit down the length of the gauge reducer. I had bad luck with them. The 20 ga shells were hard to estract. I threw them away.
I recently purchased the ones Browning makes"little skeeters". I tried them last weekend. Bad luck again. I fired two 7/8 os shells through them. I had a hard time opening my Browning Citori after fireing them. Then I couldn't get the shells out of the gauge reducers. I pushed very forcefully with a dowell rod, no luck. There still stuck in the reducers. I guess I'll throw those away too.
I can't believe that it's just me having problems. I've seen articles about using them. But then again, you can't believe anything you read anymore. I guess they can never say anything bad about a paying advertising customers product.
Anyone else have trouble with the reducers?
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k28ga
PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:39 am  Reply with quote
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Location: Arnold, Mo.

i have seen the briley short tube gauge reducers used at my club, and the people using them say they work as well as the long tubes. i guess briley may be the answer to gauge reduction. my personal taste lies in adding another shotgun to the arsenal, so whne i feel the need for another gauge that is all the reason i need to invest in another shotgun.

karl
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brdhnt
PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:32 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 19 Aug 2005
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Location: Concordia, Kansas

Scolari,

I have been using a set of Chambermates from Seminole gunworks for over a year and a half. I have them in 20, 28 and 410. They work very well,
but are VERY shell sensitive. They recommend using Winchester AA or Remington STS shells. When I have used new AA or STS shells or reloads on those cases, I have had zero problems with positive ejection and extraction. When I have used ANY other case, I have about one out of three shells hang up. Since I have lots of AA empties in all three gauges, I just reload them and use them with zero problems.

I had a ball shooting dove out of a Ruger Gold label with the 28 gauge inserts and 3/4 ounce of 7 1/2's.

Try the chambermates. They are expensive but worth it. I loaned them out at a 4H match and one of the 20 gauge extractors got bent. I sent it back to Seminole and in five days, I had a new set of 20 gauge tubes.

I know several folks who have tried the 'Little Skeeters' and have switched to Chambermates.

Good Shooting

TB
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Last edited by brdhnt on Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Scolari
PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:03 am  Reply with quote
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That may be the case. I used Nobel 7/8 oz 20 gauge. If I ever get the stuck cases out, I'll try Win AA.
You are right about just using the right shell for the right gun. Having to use a certain shell isn't very versitile.
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kgb
PostPosted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 3:52 pm  Reply with quote
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I've got 28 and 20 Lil' Skeeters for 16ga and only fired the 28ga using AA Skeet rounds. They worked just fine at sporting clays in my Citori, on each station I fired one pair of the 10 shots using the inserts. They ejected fine, the empties poked out with a finger, but a few of the brass bases looked slightly concave. The target puller said they sounded weak, but I had a friend shoot them while I stood off to the side and they sounded good. Just in comparison to the reloads I used in 16ga they're different. Definitely reduced the recoil below that of the 7/8oz reloads, broke targets just fine.

I'll have to try some field loads in the 20's, beyond the gee-whiz factor one of the reasons I got these is as backup since I can always find 20ga shells. Just gotta try them in my SxS to make sure they work there as well as in the Citori.

The Citori lever did not go quite as far left as with 16ga shells. The gun closed well enough to work, just not as much.

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Bore, n. Shotgun enthusiast's synonym for "gauge" ; everybody else's synonym for "shotgun enthusiast." - Ed Zern
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harduck
PostPosted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 6:36 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 25 Jul 2005
Posts: 14

I think I'm going to limit my 20 and 28 gauge little skeeters to emergency hunting use - i.e. when 16 gauge ammo isn't avialable at the local WalMart. Doesn't sound like they work real well on skeet or sporting clays.
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Tulsey
PostPosted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:02 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 18 Jan 2005
Posts: 56
Location: tulsa

I have a pair of Little Skeeters 20-28 I bought to use up some old 28 ga shells. They worked, but were not really great. I sent them back once and the company replaced them. They recommend factory only target loads. They would work for a round of skeet, but you would need to have two pairs so you could take a rod and unload between stations. Sorry to hear you had problems with the other brand. I was thinking of trying some of them. I never had a problem with the old Savage 410ers when I used them in a 20 or 16 ga double. I too thnk if they worked how nice it would be to have something for that no shells available time. I suspect the Little Skeeters really need to have shells with brass heads so they will return closer to original dimensions than the steel head hulls.
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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 5:04 am  Reply with quote
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Exactomundo, brass heads do spring back to a smaller diameter after firing. This is most likely the root of the extraction problem. Steel heads tend to remain larger after firing. Plus, brass has more lubricity and slips out easier. This expansion factor is also the root cause of why some shells are hard to insert into the shell plate on a reloading press. I just addressed that problem earlier in the week for one of the guys new to reloading and offered a solution of resizing the shells as a separate step before attempting to operate his progressive press.

most 16 gauge ammo comes with a brass washed steel head. Most promo loads in any gauge do too. That Is why we who reload 16 ga. ammo must sometimes perform an extra operation or two before we can run a large lot of reloads through our presses.

It is just one of the things we have to put up with as 16 gauge fans. We who reload for 16 ga do so in order to enjoy the full advantages of the gauge, like 3/4 oz. and 7/8 oz loads or specialty loads like spreaders tailored to our individual guns. However, I still think the benefit of owning and shooting a good 16 ga. is well worth the trouble.
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hoashooter
PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 10:17 pm  Reply with quote
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I bought a set of these.Was dissapointed with patterns.My scores dropped 3-7 birds per round-I usually run 23-25's. However I will credit Seminole with their no questions asked policy-my $ was returned no problem.I realize several major shoots have been won with these ,BUT,in MY gun it didn't work. They are a good company that will back the product-that is rare today.I can not badmouth them but to every rule there is an exception.I would like to hear of other real experiences with them . Question Question
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rayb
PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:41 am  Reply with quote
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Joined: 27 Jun 2005
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i have a set of the kind that are slit the whole length, they are about the length of a loaded round.

Mine are 16 gage reduced to 20 ga

I'm cheap, & use whatever 20 gaga ammo is on sale at Academy (chain store), Walmart, or Gander Mountain. All brands i've tried so far work ok. This has included Winchester, Federal and Remington promotional loads

But remember, i'm cheap and only buy what's on sale. I don't buy the $12 per box stuff.

Also remember that i'm only going down 1 gage size. a reducer of the same type that reduces from 16 to 28 or 410 would obviously have more material and be less flexible, with perhaps more problems.

Since i've never seen any promotional 28 gage or 410 bore ammo for sale, i probably won't ever try that. I only have avvess to one 20 gage, maybe some day in the interest of "science" i will try 20 reduced to 28 gage.

I've never checked to see what kind of material is used for the case heads, as discussed above they are probably steel in these promotional / cheap loads.

I use them in a Winchester Model 24 16 Gage, have NEVER HAD ONE STICK OR FAIL TO EXTRACT, nor have i had any problems removing the expended hull from the reducer.

I have not tried them in pump guns, nor do i intend to.

Your results, obviously, may vary.

rayb

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