You can try using only OS card(wads), 4 on top of the powder, and two over the shot(start with 3/4 oz. and try 7/8 & 1 oz. shot loads)then use 2 OS cards
on top of shot. Then, Use a greased Cleaning patch on your jag to lube the barrel in front of the load and those OS cards. This lets the Shot slide over the steel bore, rather than scraping or rubbing off lead, which leaves flats on the sides of the shot next to the bore. You don't want the lead deposits, because they are difficult to clean out, and they continue to build, destroying the patterns you get the more shots fired. You don't want the " flats" if you can avoid them, because they cause the affected shot to slow down quickly, and drop out of the pattern, usually within the first 20 yards. With smaller bore shotguns, as much as half the shot can be lost from your pattern this way.
Use an awl, or nail, or large pin, to poke an off-center hole in the OS cards. This lets air in between the cards so that they separate, and fall to the ground quickly. JUst load them in the barrel so that the holes are NOT aligned with each other. The 4 over the powder can go in with the holes at 3, 6, 9,& 12 o'clock, and the 2 over the shot can go at 6 & 12 o'clock. Use two os cards over the shot to insure the load cannot move. This is a common precaution for DB shotguns, and its not an expensive habit to get into when shooting fowlers, either.
The other advantage of using only OS cards comes to guns that may be choked at the muzzle, a the OS cards are only .10" thick, and can be bent in your finger and thumb to fit through the choke sideways, and then easily turned below the choke and run down the barrel flat. Turning the card sideways protects that important edge of the card, which seals the bore from the gases pushing on the load of shot.
If your fowler is cyinder bored, as mine is, you can still easily load the cards down the muzzle by bending them just a bit to start in the muzzle without turning the edge. Again that practice protects that edge on the card.
If you prefer to lube the barrel behind the shot, then take Jim Rackham's suggestion to use a small ball of lube between the 3rd and 4th cards. You will have to make up your lube so it has enough beeswax to allow you to ball it up, and either take the balls to the field in a separate container, or take a towel with you to wipe your hands on when you finish making that ball, but it will lube the barrel to soften the powder residue of each shot. It does not do much for the lead deposits that will be laid down in front of the lubing, nor will it help reduce or rid the shot load of flat sided pellets. But, Like lubing a cushion wad of any kind behind the shot, its traditional. :thumbsup:
