doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 24 Gauge?

There is one currently on sale on gunbroker:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=248820339

Kirby at Vintage Doubles has a hammergun in 24 gauge:

http://www.vintagedoubles.com/inventory.php?sort=1&process=fullview&gunID=1727

Best,

Mike

I've seen a few Darne French double barrel guns chambered for the 24 gauge. The thing that turned me off was the lack of affordable ammunition (Fiocci was the only maker I knew of).

Beautiful guns for woodcock but certainly an oddity. I have enough troubles getting non-toxic loads for vintage 12 bores that are manufacturer loaded. (in my socialist state you can't use hand-load non-tox, only factory non-tox)

In my state we have to use non-toxic on state lands for dove and woodcock will surely be next. Then private land non-tox requirements.

In the grand scheme of things, the noose is tightening on us legislatively and that is probably why I was curious to own a 24 gauge but was hesitant to jump in with two feet.

That Bayard on Gunbroker is virtually identical to mine; same condition but I can't quite see the engraving, mine has a setter dog on the lock plates. I only paid �70 so looks like I got a bargin there. I have also some MGM French made 24 bore ammo but have no idea if it is still made there. There was only one chamber length but two types of cartridge; some with a normal thin rim and some with a thick rim. I have both types of cartridge in my collection. A thin rim gun will not close on a thick rimmed cartridge and a thick rimmed gun won't fire the normal round unless pointed straight up as the firing pin won't always reach. If you are offered a 24 bore it's worth checking what type it is. If thick rimmed you can always turn an insert to solder into the chamber so that it accepts the normal stuff but it is something to watch out for. Lagopus.....

This one's been hanging around Cabela's Scarborough for a year or so.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Belgian-Eclair-Leige-24-GA/1129437.uts?Ntk=GunLibrary&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26Ntk%3DGunLibrary%26Ntt%3D24&Ntt=24

It appears to have the added oddness of beng a fold-er.

Rookhawk, I don't think a requirement to shoot nontox on state lands for doves necessarily means woodcock are next. There is a certain potential threat where woodcock are concerned, because the feds can regulate since they're migratory. But here in WI, where we also have to use nontox on state lands for doves, the natural resources board suggested nontox for EVERYTHING on state lands by 2015. Handily voted down by those who attended the DNR's spring meetings. Of course that's not binding, but people with a functioning brain realize that dove hunting and woodcock hunting are pretty much polar opposites. For the former, you've got a lot of people clustered around the same field, depositing a fair amount of shot. For the latter, you've got people being very secretive about where they find their birds, and as a result extremely low levels of lead shot accumulation. Not that logic always prevails, but woodcock hunting and dove hunting are about as far apart as they can get. Virtually the only common factor is that both birds are migratory.

Shorter than What????

I had a drilling some years ago in 24ga. I don't remember what the rifle caliber was. I traded it back to the guy I bought it from and it got blown up by the next owner. It was old and pretty loose.
Seems to me it was a Belgian gun.

Maybe than a 3" .410? They're notoriously "stringy", and we're talking about the same standard shot charge. I'd likely put money on the 24 stringing less . . . for whatever that's worth.

I have a fairly good idea what it's worth. At .410 ranges, your bird will probably fly about two inches while the back of the .410 shot string catches up with the front. The bird will probably fly about one and seven eighths inches while the rear of the 24 gauge shot string catches the front pellets.