24 gauge Reloads vs. Clay Pigeons

Picked up a 24ga roll crimper a while back and finally got around to loading up a few target rounds. Fiocchi hulls with 3/4 oz of shot @ 1200FPS are soft to shoot. The 24 ga. is an oddball for sure and doesn't have much reason to exist aside from just being different and a historical relic. In theory, it could combine the best of the 20 and 28 gauges into one bore. But there are virtually no ammo (or gun) options and the 28 is better in just about every way.

[@theshotgunscientists]

Finally someone else is doing 24 and 32 gauge content.

[@pc8649]

They are interesting little gauges for sure. I'll make one of my 32ga SxS soon. Keep up the good work!

[@Official_cervantes]

Nice gun man these are really cool video man keep the work up 🆙

[@duckodb_4389]

Awhile back I tried shooting a round of trap with my Siace SxS with those awful federal 11/16 shells and I think I hit 5/25. So about a month ago I bought 4 boxes off RSTs website and they’re 3/4 oz at 1100 fps and tried them for trap and hit 15/25. So then I was bored a couple Saturdays ago and took the RST hulls and loaded them with 15.5 grains of Longshot, using the ballistic products sporting 24ga wads with 13/16 oz 7 1/2 shot, roll crimped and hit 19/25 and 20/25 in the two rounds I shot. I was surprised it did that good, my SxS has 28” barrels left IM and right LM and every shot was from the left barrel. This was actual trap shooting at my gun club. You might try that load out and see how your gun likes it. Seemed logical since most 20ga target loads are 7/8 oz and 28ga are 3/4oz that the in between 24ga shoot the in between 13/16 oz load and so far its worked good. The only trouble is it takes like an hour and a half to load one box of 25 having to weigh everything out by hand. Typically if your shooting reloads out of the same gun that originally shot them before they dont need resized so thats a plus and I just use my 28ga MEC jr with the resize ring off to deprime and reprime them. My O/U with 26” barrels and modified and improved cylinder chokes is completely worthless for trap but it does ok for playing around with the little manual throwers.

[@pc8649]

That's how I use my MEC presses too for the 24/32. If you have a load you have settled on, no reason why you can't use it to drop the powder and shot as well. Just might have to remove the shell plate on the 28ga MEC. I was thinking before 13/16 oz would be a cool load in the 24, but no such thing as a 13/16 oz charge bar :D Why is your O/U worthless for trap? IC/MOD doesn't seem that much different from LM/IM.

[@duckodb_4389]

@@pc8649 idk I assume the wider chokes coupled with the shorter barrels makes them spread out to quick to reach out that far consistently. My O/U 24 and 32 are identical Fausti made American Arms Silver IIs and I had one in 20 gauge too and ive tried all 3 of them and can’t hit crap with them. That 20 gauge I traded in on a new Dickinson Estate 20/28 combo SxS awhile back and ive mostly been shooting it as 20 gauge lately.

[@pc8649]

@@duckodb_4389 I bet the shorter barrels more than anything. Hard to shoot trap with short barrels, but I've never shot much trap. I have a new 32 gauge project underway. It will have 28" barrels with LM/IM chokes. I also have a 32ga press from Italy on the way that should be here next week. I am working up a 5/8oz load that I hope will deliver the goods.

[@duckodb_4389]

@@pc8649 I loaded some 5/8 and with the ballistic products wads as I recall I had to cut part of the middle of the wad out to bring it down low enough for the shot to fit. I loaded some last weekend 9/16 that fits good without cutting the wad but I think I rolled a few too tight and the hull actually blew in half and the top end went out the barrel. Is that a GAEP reloader you ordered? I wouldn’t mind getting one for 24 but I can’t make much sense of their website.

[@pc8649]

What powder are you using for the 5/8oz? I’ve been working with Universal and yes I had to cut the wad down. I would think Longshot would be a great option too because of how much denser it is but I haven’t experimented with it much yet. So strange that the 32ga wads are really made to fit 2.75” cases which of course doesn’t exist. No, I ordered it from OMV. Not a full press, just one set up to work on my drill press with a set of 3 crimping dies. I am curious to see how well it works with a small bore like the 32 because small cases are usually hard to consistently get good fold crimps with. I bet it would be real nice though for the 24. I almost bought the 24 dies, but I wanted to see how it works first with the 32 before I dumped more money into it. The OMV site is real easy to navigate and the shipping wasn’t too bad. It’s nice because once you specify your destination it automatically removes all the VAT fees from the price.