Commercial manganin gauges were calibrated in a series of plane shock wave experiments. The calibration curve obtained is linear in the 0–1.5‐GPa range and curves for higher stresses (1.5–18.1 GPa). The linear portion is attributed to the elastic behavior of the gauge. This was confirmed by experiments which included rarefactions from free surfaces. The onset of hysteresis was found to be at 1.5 GPa. The experiments demonstrated that the gauge’s response does not depend on the target material in which the gauge is embedded. Also the thickness of the insulating layer which surrounds the gauge does not have any influence on its relative resistance changes.