doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Why the popularity skips with some sub-gauges?

Why historically did the 24 gauge never catch on in the U.S while the 20 and 28 balooned? And why the big jump down to the .410 when the 32 seemed to be so logical and available?

28 bloomed???
I missed that one.

Why so many gauges period?

While I am a lover and shooter of 28 gauge guns, it would have died off long ago if not for skeet shooting events. The 24 and 32 gauges were probably too close to the others to maintain popularity.

So many? The question should be why so few.

Grab your copy of Cartridges of the World off your shelf. Mine's upstairs at the moment but if my memory is corect, there is maybe 4-5 pages of different shotgun gauges (including the obsolete ones) and 350+ pages of different rifle/pistol calibers.

Balooned was my typo, it was supposed to say ballooned, but bloomed was never meant.

Why don't all women have the same color hair and eyes and boobs and....?

In 1810 France used two systems. One similar to the British system but based on a different pound, to determine gauge and a bore system based on the kilogram. The bore system was abandoned in 1868. Some time later, the English proof house decided that guns smaller than 10.6 mm (approximately .410") would be tested differently from larger ones. Pietro Fiocchi deemed that the .410, officially 12 mm in France, became the divider between serious guns and play guns.

In the 1870s a Wilkes .410 was proved by London Proof House. During much of the 19th century various English authorities declared the .410 unfit for serious game shooting.

In 1914, CIP standardized 12, 14, 16, 20, 24, and 28 gauges. In the 20s and 30s, 14 gauge disappeared and 32 reappeared. Sometime in the 20s, perhaps spearheaded by a German or Swiss wanting a logical progression CIP used the 36 designation. Later CIP reverted to using the correct .410 designation. In 1961 CIP made .410 the official designation. In 1969 CIP added 36 in parentheses. For many years, manufacturers in Italy and other countries labeled 2" and 2 ½" .410s 36 gauge and 3" .410s 36 magnum. Thus hundreds of arms and ammunition manufacturers have historic and other reasons such as marketing and sales for using two or all three designations.

In the USA, the 44 shot aka 44XL based on 44-40 brass was very common. The .410 was first chambered by Stevens as a single shot in 1915. In the early 1920's Parker produced a .410 sxs.

Pete

Pete .410 works out to 67 gauge. 36 gauge would have a diameter of .505

Best,

Mike

Mike,

Thanks... my typo.

Pete

If you look at the British Proof house charts which gave gauge dias from 1-50 inclusive & then from .450" down to .300" in .010" increments, a .410" dia is a 67.49 gauge. This size can also be found marked on pre 1912 German guns (Smooth or Rifled) which would take a .410" plug gage but not a .420" one.
The 36 gauge is normally listed "Rounded Up" to .506".
12mm is .472" which would fall around mid point of the chamber of a 2½" .410, it's certainly not the bore. 36 gauge is just a little under rim dia. Certainly not much rhyme or reason for such terminology, but both terms have certainly been used.

Thanks Miller!

I calculated the diameters by setting (12 x .729 x .729 x .729) equal to (36 x D x D x D) where "D" is diameter of 36 gauge.

Best,

Mike