You never mention but is this truly a rifle or a Paradox type? I am asking for a couple of reasons. One is that, as mentioned, Collath made a number of proprietary chamberings. I once owned the highest grade Collath I have ever seen. It was much older than yours appears and much more ornate and intricately designed, such as longitudinal reinforcing ribs machined into the back third of the Damascus barrels and gold wire inlays over the entire rear of the barrels and action. I bought it for very little because the barrels were 14 gauge and appeared to have chambers bored out to 12 gauge. I found out later that it was a propriety Collath chambering, similar to the Egyption Martini.
The other reason I asked is that it is possible that if the barrels are truly rifled it may be simply chambered in .577 Snyder. It was relatively common for a while to have doubles made in this caliber and I have seen a few for sale in the last year. It is very easy to confuse the two without careful measurement. I would certainly consider this before thinking of an odd 24 gauge paradox type gun. Almost everyone who shoots the Snyder uses 24 ga brass cases, and often they will chamber as is in a worn Snyder chamber. The first thing I would try is a 24 ga brass case and then a Snyder cartridge. For simplicity you may want to start loading with a properly sized lead ball. If the barrel is the proper diameter a Snyder bullet can be used. Regulation may be tough but load development should amount to just looking up some recommended Snyder handloads no matter what the actual chamber since for all practical purposes they are the same.
I have an early commercial Snyder with a tight spec barrel and it will not accept a 24 ga case, but most will. If the 24ga case will chamber, simply fireform a few to the chambers, trim them based on the obvious neck position and load a few up. Measure the fireformed case to determine the actual ID.
Last edited by AGS; 01/12/25 02:24 PM.
