Carrying Skychief wads

French Colonial said:

For those who use the Skychief system how do you carry the oil-soaked wads in the field?

I am using a small plastic container with all the wads rolling around in the bottom with some extra olive oil, to say that it is messy to load is a given. But the plastic container is a pain as well.

Any suggestions on a better way to carry them? Maybe even something a little HC?

Brockennock posted this some time back....@Brokennock
I soaked a few the other night and it didn't seem to take long before they weren't obviously absorbing more oil. I am now wondering if I got impatient and pulled them too soon.
I would soak them again, but, as part of a test to aid in transporting them, I quickly gave them a thin coat of melted beeswax that I had already melted for another project. Hoping to seal in the oil, without them being so sloppy wet that I need a special container for them.

Did the beeswax coating work?

I think I need to carry a small towel as well to wipe my hands off!

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Brokennock said:

Yes. The thin wax coating works well for transport. They are still messy to load, nothing is going to stop that. I generally have a bit of rag folded over my belt or hanging from my shot pouch for wiping my hands or the pan, I wrap it around the muzzle when placing the lubed cushion wads in the muzzle.

I just carry them in my divided tin. I use a few cleaning patches to line that section in case of some leakage, and then I don't worry about it, muzzleloading is a messy activity anyway, why make a fuss.

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French Colonial said:

Pictures of your tin?

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Brokennock said:

This is the only pic I have handy. It doesn't show the Skychief cushion wads....
View attachment 365308
When I'm turkey hunting the large side, with the faux-tow, has a few soaked cushion wads.

Tin contents get swapped out depending on what I'm hunting. Not sure what I'd been doing here as I usually only use nitro-cards for the Skychief load. Probably experimenting with different loads at the range.
Usually the two small sections have thin cards (lots of them as I use those the most and they are prone to being dropped) in one, and dry felt wads in the other. Large section alternates between lubed felt wads, lubed cushion wads, and lubed faux-tow balls. Lately though I've been keeping my faux-tow in a small leather bag attached to my shot pouch strap, small enough to tuck into the bag while hunting/trekking but attached so I can let go of it after removing what I need and let it hang while I load. I'm thinking of trying the Skychief wads in that.

Tins are available from SpecialtyBottle online. Hinged like this or round with a slip on top. I added the scrap wood dividers, obviously.

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