doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Reloading the 24 ga.

For the rare few who might be reloading for the 24 gauge, I'd like to hear from you on your loads, tools, etc.

I have just converted a MEC600 to load 24's. As you can imagine, it is a combination of 28 and 20 gauge parts, with some special machining on some parts -- resize ring, shell rim holder, wad guide, crimp starter and crimp die. The trick part of course, is the crimp die, as it must have a certain internal taper to close and round the crimp edge, and the crimp closing plunger must also be of the right size. All of the other modified parts are easy to alter on a lathe, but not the crimp die. I had a special reamer with the proper taper made to bore out a 28 gauge die. It also takes another simple reamer to expand the recess inside the die for the crimp closing plunger, and then you need to turn down a crimp closing plunger from a 20 gauge or larger to suit. Now that I have the tools to make the modifications, it seems a waste not to make more parts if there are people out there that need them. PM me if you need help. I am not trying to get into the manufacturing business, but I would like to recoup the cost of the tool.

I might make a roll crimper later. Ballistic Products says you can use a 28 or 20 roll crimper, but they do a lousy job and the case is ruined for future use. Even if you had the right sized roll crimper, you can't get as many reloads out of a roll-crimped hull anyway. The only reason I'm interested in a roll crimper for the 24 is to maximize the use of case capacity for 1 oz loads in the Fiocchi 65 mm case, which is the only case I can get right now. Admittedly a 1 oz load doesn't make a ton of sense in a 24 (neither does a 24 for that matter), but it is proportionally (by the square of bore diameter) the same as a 1.125 oz 20 (same shot column length -- similar internal ballistics). So there! I bet there are a number of people who think 1.125 is cool in the 20.

Right now I'm using data and components from Ballistic Products, but I am also prone to extrapolate 28 and 20 data (E-Gads!!) to get what I think I want. (I have a strong modern gun -- Beretta 686 Special) I'd like some decent 7/8 and possibly 1 oz loads, though 1 oz is stretching it a bit (not nearly as big a stretch as 1 oz in the 28!).

Wads are a small problem. Circle Fly can source conventional card and filler wads, but the Gualandi plastic wad columns from Ballistic products seem suited mostly to 11/16 oz loads. I do a little X-Acto knife surgery to use the cup seal part of the wad, and also can save the shot cup -- fill in the middle with fibre wads to suit. By all means, buy a 24 if you want to screw around. If you don't want yours, sell it to me. Guess I just never met a shell I didn't want to shoot or reload.

Love to hear from other 24 gaugers. Should we start a 24 Gauge Society? Nah -- might be pretty lonely.

Best Regards,
Tony Lowe

Nothing to it, huh? Just kidding, Tony. Sounds like you did a very good job with a complicated project. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Only question I have is why not use a load between 3/4 and 7/8 oz.? Such as 13/16 oz. 3/4 being standard for the 28 and 7/8 oz. standard for the 20.

You could get brass hulls from a place like Rocky Mountain and load w/o crimp. Just put in OS card, and maybe use waterglass to seal. Not sure where to get data for brass hulls, but they are probably more voluminous than Fiocchi hulls, so data might transfer safely.

http://www.rockymountaincartridge.com/page7.html shows 24 gauge brass cases at 10 for $39.50. These would probably last long if no crimping is done to them. That lets you place the OS card wherever it wants to be, instead of filling to get a crimp.

A look at the loading instructions shows the typical primer that we use for shot shells. It is probably 209 size.

Just so no one comes up with a 3" 24 gauge load. These guys might just make the cases for it.

Sounds like a very satisfying project. Well done!

Have you talked with Fiocchi? They sell the loads and may give you a hand.
Best,
John

What kind of 24ga.?
I have a Spanish 32ga. I use it for quail sometimes.

Thanks for the information. I bought a German pre- war 24 guage with hammers several months ago. It is wonderful to shoot but have not gotten around to re-load, yet. Will copy this information tomorrow.
jas

Thanks for the comments guys. Jim, 13/16 does make some sense, but actually the 3/4 oz load in the 28 is balistically more similar to the 1 oz load in the 20, not the 7/8 oz load. The 24 gage 7/8 oz load is almost perfectly proportioned to the 1 oz 20. But we are kind of splitting hairs with these small gauges.

Mr. Hall, I have thought about those brass hulls available out there. The modern ones do generally need bigger wads as the walls are so thin. I could get bigger wads from Circle Fly. I load the 16 gauge brass shells from MagTech and from Hammer Double in AZ http://www.hammerdouble.com. They recommend 14 gauge card wads and fillers, and 13 gauge overshot wads, and that's what I use. I have 5000 old Federal 16 gauge shot cups (that's right, the shot cup only, remember those?) and I'll use them if I want to protect the shot a little better. Anyway, Hammer Double sells the same brass as as MagTech, but MagTech's use large pistol primers and Hammer Double modifies the case for 209 primers. This is a bigger deal than you might think, as they insert a plastic base wad similar to the ones found in Fiocchi Reiffenhauser cases, so the powder sits no lower than the hot end of the primer -- helps ignition I guess. I have done a crude side by side test (no pun intended) of both these brass cases, with fast and slow smokeless powders (Red Dot and HS-6), and couldn't tell much difference. Pretty non-quantitative test, so it isn't worth much, but the loads sounded good and broke targets. Maybe I'll get quantitative later. I modified the deprime punch and reprime station of a MEC 600 to handle the large pistol primers.....more lathe work. Anyway, you're right that brass cases in 24 gauge would be practical and maybe even economical in the long run. They are only about 2 3/8 inches long, so they don't have a lot more capacity than a 2 9/16 in Fiocchi (65 mm).

John -- I have not talked to Fiocchi, but I shoot their shells. Their 24's are all 65 mm, same as the new primed empties available from BPI. BPI also sells these factory loaded Fiocchi 24's, of course. I don't like them much. They shoot OK, but puff out a pile of smoke. They use a sort of spreader wad and pattern kinda loose, and they only have an 11/16 oz load. They really lead up my barrels. I probably won't buy any more now.

Best Regards,
Tony Lowe

I have an Italian Breda 24 hammergun that I got late last fall and shot a couple of roosters with the #5 shot shells that Grafs had on special. I agree that the crimping is a problem. Tried some roll crimping but does not work right. Was going to try to modify a roller from ballistic products. I do use the magtech brass hulls for my 28 ga mostly black powderwith duco cement to seal the overshot card. I am going to try the duco cement on some of the plastic hulls to see if that will work with nitro. I would be interested in a roll crimper tool.
Dwight