OKT Farms subcaliber adapters
They say necessity is the mother of invention, and George and Wendy Tatum might just agree with that statement – they know from experience.
About a year ago, the couple opened a machine shop on their Oxford farm, featuring subcaliber multicaliber adapters designed by George to allow the .303, .30-06, .308 and the 8 mm Lebel to use pistol rounds and maintain accuracy. The team of Tatums have turned that invention into success, with a wide range of customers finding varying uses for the product.
Chamber adapters use the rifling in a firearm to stabilize the bullet, making them excellent tools for target practice, downing small game and eliminating unnecessary meat destruction.
The idea spawned from an unlikely source: coyotes. Specifically, a few too many unwanted visits from them.
“We had a coyote problem here,” said Wendy. “If you have the long-range rifles like .303s and .30-06s, you can’t really use them in any kind of enclosed area. My husband has a .303, and the neighbors were pretty close. You want to be able to take out the coyotes with precision, but without affecting anyone’s home.”
The coyotes were a constant threat to the farm’s livestock, as well as the Tatums themselves and their neighbors. The bullets from a .303 travel too far to fire safely upon the intruders, though. An engineer, George got to work, making the first of what became several different subcaliber multicaliber adapters.
For the coyotes, it did the trick. But George explored a little more with the idea.
“Many folks who do military reenactments couldn’t get 9 mm blanks last year or blank adapters, so we made blank adapters,” Wendy said. “Someone else contacted us about a .30-06 with a kick. So, he made an adapter from an 8 mm Lebel to a 9 mm blank.”
Thus, the machine shop at OKT Farms, LLC was born, the product displayed on the OKT Farms website and selling via PayPal.
“It’s become something we do together. He makes the product, and I do all the shipping and customer service,” Wendy said. “It’s interesting how we ended up. Both of us like farming, he likes the garden stuff and I like the animals. We were both tired of having his garden and my animals eaten up, and here we are.”
Said George, “We’re working toward expanding our gunline. Right now, we’re taking it nice and slow.”
It was never intended to be the business it became, only a shared hobby. But more and more people learned of the product and its many potential uses.
There are the small game hunters who have found that hunting game with a .327 federal magnum round out of their .303 helps out plenty because the bullet, while still supersonic, doesn’t damage the animal’s pelt.
There are also .303 aficionados that simply have a hard time getting ammo for it. With the adapter, one can always find ammo.
Then there are the veterans who collect old war guns and find their shoulders wearing down due to the kick from each shot. That group requested the Blackout rounds, which out of a .303 feels more like shooting a .32 as far as the kick goes.
It’s also a great way to teach marksmanship. With a .32, one can shoot all day long and do so accurately with the cost of ammunition significantly reduced.
“It doesn’t change the weapon at all. You can always load up a 30-06 behind an adapter, but teaching kids or folks new to shooting and being able to do it on a real weapon really makes the process a lot better,” George said.
Finally, others have found great use at the indoor range.
“One had the idea to bring his H&R Magnums and shoot them in his .303,” George said. “They didn’t have a problem with it so long as it’s a pistol round. So, here he is at the pistol club, shooting at 75 feet. Of course, no one could beat him. You just can’t beat the accuracy of a .303.”
Those interested in learning more can reach the Tatums at 919-691-4333 or https://tatumoktfarm.wixsite.com/my-site-1.