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Joined: 09 Dec 2022 Posts: 6 Location: Westport, Wa

Being a Model 24 (love the look of the 'round action') and 37 fan, I will toss out there that the ejection is completely by spring, not mechanical like other shotguns. The springs lose tension, they do not eject reliably, and new springs are very hard to come by. I have had 24's in 12, 16 and 20. They all do it.
I started carrying a 'quick release' brass weight on a belt loop I would drop down the barrel to dislodge the stuck ones. I was using plastic shells, usually high brass. I got pretty fast at it, but occasionally I would just use my Model 24 16 SXS (my main gun for a lot of years) as a single shot until the stuck shell would pop out on it's own (eventually) if there were a lot of birds dropping in.
Polishing the chamber can sometimes help, and for sure, keeping it clean helps, but even a few shots can dirty the chamber enough to make them stick if the ejector spring is weak.

Joined: 31 May 2013 Posts: 77 Location: Aurora, Colorado

Thanks a bunch guys!
Good info presented here!
GWP Again,your experience with these hulls almost match to a "T" what I have experienced!

Joined: 09 Dec 2022 Posts: 6 Location: Westport, Wa

I spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out a way to convert the spring ejector into a mechanical one on the Model 24's, but decided it would be difficult at best, and not worth the effort. I eventually sold them all off except for one 20 ga, which will eventually go down the road as well.
My main 16 ga Model 24's chambers were carefully measured, both were the same, and polished. The L barrel was nearly always the one that would hang up and I could feel a difference in pressure between the sides when I pushed the ejector in by hand.
I feel your pain! Best of luck!

Joined: 31 May 2013 Posts: 77 Location: Aurora, Colorado

Well did a little tinkering with those brass cases!
putz463 had recommended using a Sharpie to cover the case and then check in the chamber to see what the chamber fit was on the case! Well at the very end of the case mouth
on a small part of it was showing chatter marks. So I cut a 1/4 " of the case mouth! Bingo! Problem solved. Shells eject most of the time where about 3/4 of the case length is protruding out of the chamber where you can just pluck it out! Which is just peachy as far as I am concerned! Keeps brass from being popped out where it can sometimes get damaged.
So now getting ready to do some reloading! Found a 1 ounce load using WIN 209 primer,1ounce of shot and SP 16 wad with 22 grains of Longshot. And of course use a overshot card.
I understand that using these RMC cases that pressure is usually somewhat higher than a plastic hull.
So thought I would cut powder charge back to 20 grains to compensate for pressure reduction.
Just wanted to see if any of you had any reservations about this load in a 2 1/2 case!

Member Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2349 Location: West MI

Glad you found a working solution.

Is the 1oz/LS recipe you found designed for a brassy or a plastic hull? Does it call out stacked cards or plastic wad w/crush section?

Aside; do these require resizing each time or do they work by fire forming to a specific gun' chambers with no resizing? RE; a thought occurred regarding your situation when reloading some of my 357max shells used in a Thompson Center single shot. I don't resize the lower ~2/3 of the case (fire form) and only resize the neck to same depth as the bullet insertion. Thinking along the same lines, if you had a Supersizer set to very tight tolerance you could just squeeze the "neck" of those brass hulls (not unlike a pipe swager) a little tighter than the rest of the hull gaining some clearance at the end of the chamber where we now know the interference is happening.

BirdSwatter, -- On the pressure issue with a thicker-walled brass case: The pressure/stress transmitted to the barrel depends a lot (inversely so) on the stiffness of the case (hull, if you will). That is to say, a brass case, being much, much stiffer than a plastic or paper case, will resist a greater share of pressure inside the case, reducing the pressure/stress the barrel experiences -- with a load of the same internal pressure. For this reason, for instance, I plan to use brass in my thin-walled damascus-barrelled hammer double. This will help reduce the stress on the barrel for a load of particular external ballistics (i.e. shot charge and muzzle velocity), -- at least for the first 65mm or so (case and chamber length).

The upshot of this is that you probably do not have to be concerned about greater pressure inside that thick-walled RMC brass case for a given load. It is, in fact, due to the stiffness of the case, and probably has little effect on the barrel.

I cannot say any of this is unimpeachable fact, as I don't have the data required to say so. However, in rifles, it seems well known the stiffness of the case material does have an effect on the stress in the barrel, and considering all the dimensions and the lower pressures in shotshells, it seems logical to conclude the effect would be at least as great in shotshells. Anyway, personally, that's what I think. Others are free, of course, to shoot holes in this thought at their leisure.

Best Regards,

Joined: 31 May 2013 Posts: 77 Location: Aurora, Colorado

putz463,
The RMC cases will conform to chamber dimensions and will not need to be resized!
The load I am planning on using is a plastic hull load with a cushion plastic wad(SP16).
With the RMC cases, you are suppose to be able to load published loads in these cases.

Joined: 31 May 2013 Posts: 77 Location: Aurora, Colorado

MaxiumSmoke,
Thanks for the detail information on pressure in brass cases! Probably will now just reduce the powder by 1 grain ,and use it at 21 grains!