doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 24 gauge question.

If I were young enough to start a new project, I think I would go with the original chambering. I have a 24 ga/5.6x35R Vierling cape gun and in searching for ammo or components I remember finding enough to shoot the gun. I believe brass cases are available and since they are thinner could be loaded with heavier loads than commercial paper/plastic case ammo. It is Ky John's project so he can do whatever he wants to do, but I don't think I would try to turn down 28 ga insert to fit the 24 ga chamber. I believe it would be easier to to bore or ream the chamber a little larger, then "Loc-Tite" a close-fitting tube into the chamber, which would then be chambered to 28 ga. It is a safe bet that he is a better machinist than I am, so maybe he wouldn't ruin as many inserts as I would trying to turn them thin enough to fit a 24 ga. chamber.
Mike

Slightly OT, and most of these catalog pages are probably courtesy of Dave

The H&R Model 1900 was available only in 12g on introduction, but 16g, 20g and 28g were added shortly thereafter

The Model 1905 was available in 24g



As was the Model 1908



As was the Model 1915 "Small frame"



Which about 1931 became the "Standard" No. 5; still with 24g



I don't know how long the 24g was offered

When I was in the game, you could order a 24 gauge Darne. They had tubes and actions, in the white, ready to go. Paul Bruchet himself advised me that if someone wanted to order one, to try, hard, to get him to order something else. He knew 24 gauge ammunition was pretty much non existent in North America, at the time, and told me, “People who do things like buying a gun they can’t get ammunition for will usually be more trouble than they are worth”.

Nobody ever asked. Had they, I would have tried, hard, to change their mind.

Best,
Ted

H & R continued to offer the 24-gauge in both their small frame and regular frame singles through the last H & R catalog I have, 1935.

J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co. offered some of their single barrel guns in 24-gauge --



By the 1919 J. Stevens Arms Co. catalog the 24-gauge is gone from the No. 105/107 offerings.

Remington Arms Co. offered their side-cocker singles in 24-gauge --





but got out of the break-action gun business in 1910.

I don't have a lot of Iver Johnson paper but they did offer their Champion single in 24-gauge in their 1919 catalog --



the 24-gauge is not offered in the 1931 catalog.

Well I dodge another project. Gun was cylinder in both barrels and had a loose rib. I think the chokes were factory cylinder. If I really had to buy a 24 I guess I could buy one off Holts sealed bid auction. But as others pointed out, Why? I could sleeve it down but then I already have multiple 28’s. If I left it as a 24 it would bug me to be underperforming all my 28’s. The action was nothing special and it had zero engraving to charm me. In the end as my late uncle would say it is like falling in love with a new plow when you are going notill.

Hey, Larry. Weren't you the one who liked shooting 16 gauge shotguns? Or am I thinking of someone else?

There are many things a 16 gauge is. But, it is NOT a 24 gauge. Liking a 16 gauge is far closer to rational.

Larry has had a 16 or two.

Best,
Ted

Anybody who bad mouths a 16 fails to give them a fair shake. You hear the 28 called a perfect gauge because it is a square load. In reality it is the 16 which fills that bill. For upland shooting the 16 takes a back seat to nobody. A Ithaca 37 in 16 is a sweet shooting and easy to carry gun.

The real problem is that the gauges are too close to each other, that they can not help but all do the things the next gauge larger or smaller do as well or almost as well. A lightly loaded 12 can do what a 16 or 20 can do with a 3/4 or 7/8 ounce load. A 20 loaded with 1 ounce can do just about as well as a 12 or 16 can do with 1 ounce. A 16 can step up into 12 territory or down to 20 gauge territory. That was my problem with the 24. I could dumb down a 20 or just shoot a normal 28 and outperform a 24. Due to lack of demand, the 24 was never developed using the more modern and capable powders. It has become the who care gauge. Cute and odd but is that enough? A new plow, in times, needing no plows.

I have found success with Fiocchi's #6s(20 grammes) and indeed you can(or could) source new hulls.

Serbus,

Raimey
rse