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I shoot everything from short 10’s to long .410’s. I don’t shoot or load for 24 and 32, so far. I have the opportunity to buy a 24 gauge project gun, which is a bit of a mess for almost no money. The worst price. Needs a complete restock both front and rear. Metal receiver needs a bit of pitting cleaned up and then a recase job. No engraving to recut. But the barrels are perfect, other than needing a slow rust job.

It is the gauge which is stopping me. 24 gauge does not seem as interesting as 28 or a 32 to me. I just don’t want a gauge I can’t shoot or reload for. 24 factory loads are whimpy, loaded to what I see as less than factory 28 are loaded to. They are available, but all roll crimped. I’m sure I could find data for the 24 but hulls will be limited to my own nice fired, while they last. Just too limited.

I even thought about chamber sleeving it down to 28 gauge to get more out the of it. If I could chamber cast it, I’d see if a short chamber sleeve would work. Could turn a set and put them in, then rework the extractor. It has 65mm chambers and is 27.5” barrels I’m told. Am I missing how cool 24 gauges are?

Sometime in your past, you had a friend, a very good friend, that would hear you talk about a project like this, and say something like, “Dude, you really need to get laid”.

He was exactly right.

This is the kind of project that will result in $5000 in to a project that when complete will net $500. NOBODY wants or needs a 24 gauge. It isn’t cool, it is a PIA.

Get a project. Just get one that makes a bit more sense.

Best,
Ted

There isn't a gauge shotgun in our realm that another gauge doesn't do it "better". "Better" has always been the enemy of good enough. If someone wants to "specialize" in an odd gauge or shell length, it's not an effort to be practical. We quibble over the cost or difficulty of buying shells when we think nothing of spending thousands on the delivery system. It's a struggle between the left and right sides of the brain for some. If practical is the goal; we'd be doing something else as a hobby, but then we'd probably call it work. Gil

If you want a 24 ga wait around for a better one. Later Arrieta built a few more 24s. Also Ferlib built me a couple of 24s and 32s. There are 74 Beretta 686s in 24 ga,in the states that I know of but they are o/u.

John

For me, I use 28 and 20 gauge as the standards

28 is 3/4 ounce
20 is 7/8 ounce

So I load 13/16 ounce

I use Unique powder

and a modified MEC single stage reloader

Harten Crimp

https://www.ballisticproducts.com/24-gauge-hulls/products/79/

Take an aspirin and let this pass.
JR

Don'tcha just hate it when someone comes along and destroys a perfectly good fantasy with stuff like reason and common sense?

I think Jon should go for it. And I don't think the cost would be astronomical either. Jon has told us he has a stock duplicator, and enough nice blanks to last several lifetimes. So doing the work himself would result in a negligible cost for restocking. Use those nice blanks before they end up being sold as firewood in an Estate Sale!

Bone Charcoal case hardening of the action can be done for a few hundred bucks, or less. Cost for filing and polishing out some small pits on the frame is nothing but a little time and a few pieces of emory and crocus cloth. Rust bluing the barrels can be done by a do-it-yourselfer for under $20.00 in materials. This baby could be done by dove season if he gets cracking. OK... Dove Season 2024.

So that leaves the little matter of shells to reload. Jon could just have some brass shell casing produced by a company like RMC, Ballistic Products, or South American CBC. He could have a couple hundred made by CNC lathe, and still be under that $5000.00 figure in total project costs. What's the alternative???... laying on your death bed and wishing you had saved the $5000.00 to buy an extra nice casket with solid brass handles and a silk lining? And if anemic ballistics are a concern, just have the brass shells made in a 3" length, and turn that 24 gauge into a one of a kind 24 ga. 3" magnum with your own headstamp! How cool is that? If that sounds crazy, the Preacher told us how lengthening the chambers of a vintage double would actually result in greater barrel wall thickness at the end of the recut chambers, so that should not be an issue at all. This project is becoming a Win-Win No Brainer!

P.S., one of my first posts here dealt with the nutty idea of replacing lost barrels on a small XX frame Lefever by finding two sets with a blown barrel, and then separating the ribs and tubes. Then I wished to somehow jig the good tubes up and rejoin them. That never happened. But it shows that I do understand crazy ideas that make zero economic sense. I never found two blown 16 or 20 gauge barrels sets for a large cocking hook Lefever. I still wonder if it could be done. It would be even better if I had been able to find a set that wasn't blown up, and just fit them to my frame. I have found several spare Lefever orphan barrels in 10 and 12 gauge, but not in 16 or 20. The firing pin spacing is only about .004" different on several I measured, so either 16 or 20 should work. If anybody has a set to sell, let me know. I'll even pay the $12.00 fee for a successful sale to Dave, unlike those cheapskates who advertise business ventures in their taglines..

If memory serves me well this morning, the late Don Zutz reloaded for the 24ga at one point. But given that factory loads for the 24 are lighter than for the 28, the gauge just doesn't seem to make much sense. It's an answer in search of a question.

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?