C24 Clips Explained: Sizes, Gauge and What Fits What

A C24 clip is a C-shaped steel ring with a 24mm crown, made from wire around 1.8mm thick, commonly listed as 16 gauge. It closes to about 4.7mm internal diameter. They come collated into strips and sold in boxes of 10,000.

The important part, and the part that saves you money: C24 is an open industry size, not a brand's own fitting. Any C24 clip fits any C24 gun. You're not locked into buying clips from whoever sold you the tool, and you never will be.

That's rarer than it sounds in farm gear, so it's worth knowing.

What the code actually means

C24 breaks into two parts.

The C is the shape. The ring is a C, open at the bottom, and the gun or the pliers squeeze the two ends together around whatever you're joining. That's why they get called C rings, C clips and hog rings, all for the same thing. Hog ring is the old name from when they went in pigs' noses. Nobody uses them for that any more and the name stuck.

The 24 is the crown width in millimetres, measured across the open ring before it closes. So a C24 sits at 24mm across and the smaller sizes in the family sit at their own number.

You'll also see the odd listing quote it in imperial, and this is where people come unstuck. An inch is 25.4mm, so a 24mm crown is about 0.945 of an inch. Three quarters of an inch is 19.05mm, which is a different ring altogether. A "3/4 inch crown C ring" is not a C24. That size is usually a 7C or a 7E, used for cages, traps and upholstery, and it won't close a C24 fencing job. Check the millimetre figure and ignore the imperial rounding.

The dimensions, and where suppliers disagree

Here's the bit nobody tells you. C24 listings do not all say the same thing.

Dimension	What you'll see quoted	Our read
Crown width	23.7mm, 23.9mm or 24mm	All the same clip. Manufacturing tolerance and where they measure from.
Wire diameter	1.6mm to 1.8mm	This one is real. Different makers use different wire.
Gauge	15 gauge or 16 gauge	Follows the wire diameter above. Gauge is a trade label, not a precise spec.
Closed internal diameter	around 4.7mm	Consistent across the sellers we've checked.
Ring height	around 12mm	Rarely listed, occasionally matters on heavy mesh.
Box quantity	10,000	Near universal.

Why gauge and wire diameter wobble. Wire gauge numbering isn't one system. There's Standard Wire Gauge, there's American Wire Gauge, and there's whatever the factory's own chart says. A clip listed as 15 gauge by one supplier and 16 gauge by another can measure identically with a set of verniers. So don't buy on the gauge number. Buy on the millimetre figure if it's published, and if it isn't, ask.

Does the 0.2mm matter? On most fencing, no. A 1.6mm clip and a 1.8mm clip both close fine and both hold hinged joint to a steel picket. The thicker wire gives you a bit more in the ring against corrosion over a long life, which is the same argument as going stainless. On light netting the thinner wire can actually be the better choice, because it deforms more easily around a fine wire.

What fits what

The short version. If the gun says C24, buy C24 clips. If it says something else, buy that.

Common C24 tools you'll see listed in Australia:

• Pneumatic C24 air ring guns
• C24M manual pliers
• BM24 guns
• Cordless C24 ring guns, including the cordless clip gun kit we sell

All of them take the same collated C24 strip.

What changes between guns is not the clip, it's the collation. Clips come glued or wired into a strip so they feed through the magazine, and the strip length has to suit the magazine. Most C24 fencing strips are made to a common length and drop straight in. If you've bought a box that won't seat, it's almost always a collation issue rather than a clip size issue, and the supplier will swap it.

One thing to check on a new gun. The jaw closure setting. A lot of C24 guns let you adjust how far the jaws travel, so the ring clamps the wire without crushing it or leaving it loose. Set it with the clip and the wire you're actually using, on a scrap bit of mesh, before you start the run. Ten minutes at the start saves you walking back along a kilometre of fence.

Which clips do NOT fit

Worth knowing so you don't waste an order.

Smaller C rings. The lighter C rings in the family are made for cages, bird aviaries, mattress springs and upholstery. They're a smaller crown on thinner wire. They'll fall straight through a C24 magazine or jam it. If you're doing aviary or light netting work, buy the smaller tool and the smaller ring. A C24 gun is the wrong tool and we'll tell you that rather than sell you one.

Larger rings. Anything above 24mm won't seat in a C24 jaw.

Uncollated loose rings. Loose hog rings in a tub are made for pliers. They don't feed through a magazine. Make sure you're buying a collated strip if you've got a gun.

Aluminium rings. Some upholstery and netting work uses aluminium. They're softer, they close at a different pressure and they've got no business on a stock fence.

Stainless, galvanised or Galfan

The clip size is only half the order. The coating is the other half, and it's the one that decides whether your fence is still standing properly in fifteen years or whether you're back out there with a new box.

Short version. Galvanised for most inland country. Stainless anywhere near the coast, in high rainfall, around dairy or effluent. Galfan sits in between on both price and protection.

The rule we'd give at the counter is match the clip to the mesh. If you've paid up for Galfan mesh, don't hang it on the cheapest galvanised clip, because the clip goes first and you've wasted the upgrade.

Full breakdown in stainless vs galvanised fencing clips.

How many boxes do you need?

C24 comes in boxes of 10,000 and the sum for how far that goes is simple.

Clips per kilometre = line wires clipped x posts per kilometre.

Worked example on the most common Australian farm fence. 7/90/30 hinged joint on 4 metre pickets, every wire clipped, plus a plain top wire clipped every metre.

1. Posts per km: 1000 ÷ 4 = 250
2. Mesh to post: 7 x 250 = 1,750
3. Top wire: 1000 ÷ 1 = 1,000
4. Total: 1,750 + 1,000 = 2,750 clips per km
5. Box coverage: 10,000 ÷ 2,750 = 3.6km per box

So a box of 10,000 C24 does roughly three and a half kilometres of that fence. Exclusion fencing with an apron will go through a box in well under two. There's a longer version of this with more fence types in how many clips per kilometre of fence, and the clip calculator will do it for you.

Storing them

Clips don't go off, so ordering a spare box is never wasted money. Two things do ruin them.

Damp. Galvanised clips in a strip will surface rust in a damp shed, and once the strip swells the collation goes soft and they feed badly. Keep the box off the concrete floor and closed.

Getting dropped. A strip that's been bent will jam the magazine every time. Bin bent strips rather than fighting them. At 10,000 to a box you can afford to lose a few.

Buying tips from the counter

Buy the box, not the handful. Clips are cheap per unit and expensive per trip to town.

Order clips with the gun. Clips aren't in the kit. A gun sitting in the shed waiting on clips is a wasted week.

Keep a part box in the ute. For repairs. You'll use it more than you expect.

Don't mix coatings on one fence. If you start galvanised, finish galvanised. Mixed metals in contact in wet country is how you get one of them eating the other.

Buy on wire diameter, not on the gauge number. Covered above, and it's the single most common source of confusion in this whole product category.

FAQ

Are all C24 clips the same?

The size is. C24 means a 24mm crown and it's an industry standard, so any C24 clip fits any C24 gun. What differs between boxes is the wire diameter (roughly 1.6mm to 1.8mm), the coating, and the collation quality. The coating is the one that matters for how long the fence lasts.

What gauge is a C24 clip?

Usually listed as 16 gauge, sometimes 15. Gauge numbering isn't consistent between systems, so treat it as a rough label. The wire measures around 1.8mm on the heavier C24 clips.

Will C24 clips fit my old pneumatic gun?

If the gun is a C24, yes. Check the collated strip length suits your magazine, because that's the only thing that ever causes a fit problem. Send us a photo of the gun and the magazine if you're not sure.

What's the difference between a hog ring and a C clip?

Nothing. Same fastener, different names. You'll also see them called C rings and fence rings. If the listing says C24, you're in the right place whatever it's called.

Can I use C24 clips on chicken wire or bird netting?

Usually the wrong tool for it. Light netting wants a smaller ring and a lighter gun, because a 24mm ring on fine wire tends to sit loose or pull through. Tell us what you're joining and we'll point you at the right size, even if we don't stock it.

How many C24 clips come in a box?

10,000, collated into strips. That covers roughly 3 to 4km of standard hinged joint fence, or under 2km of exclusion fencing with an apron.

If you're picking a gun to go with them, the range is in fencing clip guns, and there's a practical walk-through of the job itself in clipping hinged joint mesh.