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

Hi all;I Am going to have a 24 Gauge double in my possesion at some point in the future and need loading data for it.I have Fiochi and Cheddite hulls on hand but no data.Anything that anybody has would be appreciated.The shotgun is a Ithaca Classic
Double kit that CSMC cleared out a few years ago.I picked up a 28 Gauge & soon found that the barrels were pretty heavy so it is going to get bored to 24 Gauge - Not heavy enough to go to 20 Gauge. Thanks

Ballistic Products in MN has data for Fiochi.

I got some data from Ballistic Products in the US Mail yesterday
(4-7-2008) after 3 calls to them. At least I have something to start with now.

Not sure if you could use the data on brass hulls, but Rocky Mountain Cartridge has them. http://www.rockymountaincartridge.com/page7.html
With overshot cards glued in with water glass or duco, and no crimp,they should have good longevity. Based on the load instructions, the picture shows a shot shell primer.
I think MagTech makes them, too.
As they do not have a base wad or wall taper, they would have more internal volume than plastic or paper. That might allow use of the Fiocchi data safely. BPI may have answers, and they sell MagTech brass, but do not list it in 28 gauge.

Fiocchi makes the only loaded shells available in the US. They come 2 1/2", 11/16 oz of 5,6 or 8. They use traditional nitro cards and felt or plastic brush wads. 24s are roll crimped. The lead is soft and you have to scrub your barrels. Recoil is very mild. It seems to be tuned down for older garden guns. The factory load is only 11/16. It makes the gun shoot like a low performance 3" .410.
Traditionally the load is 13/16 oz. With a modern wad you can load up to 13/16. This puts the gun into 20 gauge territory. 13/16 of #8 1/2 is virtually the same pellet count as a 12 gauge with 1 1/8 of #7 ½. At typical sporting clays/skeet shots, a 24 ga with 13/16 of 8 1/2s shoots right up there with the 12s.
Ballistic Products has all the supplies. They have a modern a Gullardi (Italian) wad that is great. It has wad petals and leaves the bores much cleaner than the factory loads. The wad also has a gas ring around the base of the wad that gives good sealing to stop powder migration.
There are 3 hulls to choose from; Fiocchi, Cheddite and solid brass (Magtech). Expect only 2-3 reloads from Fiocchi hulls. I have a friend who loads the Cheddite and likes them a little better than the Fiocchis. I use the factory ammo for Skeet just to get the hulls emptied.
My smokeless loads were created by extrapolating between a 20 gauge 7/8 oz and 28 gauge 3/4 loads to decide how much powder to use. I use Dupont PB because it operates at very gentle pressures over a wide range of loads in many gauges. It is a denser powder that performs well in small cases.
My standard load is Dupont PB.

14.7 grs PB (mec 23 bushing), CCI 209 primer, Gullardi wad, 13/16 shot, card over.

I converted a 28 gauge MEC 600jr reloader to handle 24 ga. I used a Dremel moto-tool to open up the 28 ga sizing ring to resize the 24. Open up a 3/4 oz shot bar with the Dremel to 13/16 oz. Those 2 steps take awhile as you grind a little, check the results and grind some more. The primer station is fine. Get a 20 gauge wad guide. I broke some of the petals out of the wad guide so it would go down into the smaller hull. Remove the last 2 stations since you’ll be roll crimping.
You will need a 20 gauge roll crimper. It will handle the 24 just fine. My reloads had a slight “mushroom” top. They still went in the chamber OK. Ballistic Products has card-over wads for closure. I am still in the hunt for a real Lyman 24 gauge roll crimper.

I have fired thousands of rounds of 24 through 2 different 24s using this setup.

They have worked for me. I won 2 24 gauge Vintage Cup championships with 2 different guns using this loads.

My disclaimer: I make no claim as to the safety of these loads or the suitability in your guns.


Good luck,
Joe

Maybe my answer is simplistic and ignorant, but why don’t you just overbore your 28 gauge barrels to 24 gauge, leave the chambers alone and shoot it as an overbored 28 gauge. It seems that with modern plastic wads, the increased bore diameter shouldn’t really make that much of a difference. I have a 10 gauge that I shoot 12 gauge shells through using Gaugemates and it works great, the plastic wads don’t seem to be bothered by the increased bore diameter and seal just fine.
Steve

Rockdoc,

I know of a Poli Anson Extra 2 barrel set in 24 and 32 gauges. Poli built the gun on a 20 gauge frame because of the firing pin hole spacing.
The 32 gauge barrels are widely spaced to line up the primers with the firing pin holes.
I guess if you had a 28 gauge that was originally based on a 20 gauge frame (and there are a lot of them), then over boring a 28 to 24 should work fine.
Another friend had Kirk Merrington work on his 24 chambers to correct a headspace problem. Kirk has the chamber reamers and should be able to do the conversion.

Joe

I had my 24 ga chamberlined to 28 ga and it works fantastic

I have a case of 24 gauge of Fiocchi (36 boxes) that was recieved
about a month ago and they have a 6 segment crimp and 13/16 ounce
of 7 1/2 shot. These are not american made,but Italian instead.They have a brush wad and the shot mic's between 7 1/2 and 8. I have not tried them yet as the barrels are'nt ready yet.The price was right imho @ 6.50 per case or 7.50 per box plus shipping (35.00) from California to Indiana.The supplier also has 32 gauge at the same price.This is the contact info:

ACCARDI IMPORTER
Ph: 707.888.8179
Fx: 707.446.7123
accardi_importers@sbcglobal.net