20 Gauge Plastic Wads?

[PathfinderNC]

I will be building both a .62 caliber Fusil de Chasse and a .62 caliber flintlock dragoon pistol soon and have a sack of #7 shot all ready for some fun.
I can go the traditional method of using fiber wads certainly, but I may want to try the 20 Gauge plastic Claybuster wads. (There are various sizes available- 3/4", 7/8", and
1- 1/8"
Anyone try these with their smoothbores?

 

[Ivery Keys]

Black powder burns hotter than the unsmokey version, plastic wads may melt and coat your bores with a stringy plastic substance...(yup, tried to improve patterns with cupped wads, but what a mess at clean up time!)
Regards,
Ivery

 

[William Lincoln]

I have not, but at the range I saw them tested by others. They offer a little better
pattern , is what we saw. I did not see any melting complained about-- but these
were light loads shooting at bird targets.

 

[PathfinderNC]

I am wondering if the 20 gauge wads will actually fit the .62’s?

 

[oldwood]

Used plastic shot sleeves in 10 ga. , 12 ga. , W/O problems. Copper plated shot was OK , too. All use was for hunting , only. Not trap shooting.

 

[FishDFly]

Interesting, can talk about plastic shot gun wads, but some consider Damascus knives taboo.

 

[3Setters]

I'm assuming the wads will slide down the barrels easily. Will you be using an over powder wad to get a good gas seal? I have 3/4, 7/8, and 1 ounce wads if you want a few to try out.

 

[PathfinderNC]

I'm assuming the wads will slide down the barrels easily. Will you be using an over powder wad to get a good gas seal? I have 3/4, 7/8, and 1 ounce wads if you want a few to try out.

Hi 3Setters- I think because of gas leak I will need an over powder wad for a good seal (and also shield the plastic from the flame), then another wad on thop of the load, which I could use folded brown paper.
Very generous of you for offering! Are the wads you have 20 gauge?

 

[3Setters]

Yup, all 20 gauge wads. I was given a few bags of the 1 ounce wads and never used them.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Yup, all 20 gauge wads. I was given a few bags of the 1 ounce wads and never used them.

I will send you a message

 

[ohio ramrod]

I have used plastic wads in the past with no problems as long as you use a felt or leather wad between them and the powder. But I haven't bothered with them since I went to paper shot cartridges over twenty years ago.

 

[jlatz]

With plastic wads there will be some bore scrape. Cleaning can be a chore.

 

[toot]

OK, if plastic shot cups melt and adhere to the bore from shooting them, why doesn't the same happen when shot out of canventional shot guns? just courious.

 

[oldwood]

When I quit competition trap shooting w/ unmentionables in 1975 ,I had a wheel barrow of leftover plastic shotgun wads. Got a 12 Ga. SXS M/L , and set out to learn all the ground rules to make the B/P SXS perform like a ctg. shotgun. First lesson learned........The thinner the plastic skirts on the wads are , the better the patterns obtained. Since I was like 12 yrs. old, and times in the coal fields were bad , we had to reload all our hunting , and trap shooting ammo. Bushels of shells. That became my job , with a dad working three jobs so we didn't loose our house. We hunted geese w/our 12 GA. guns and I tried Geo. Leonard Herter's World Famous long distance , shot shell wads w/ only 2 connected slits in the skirt. I tried these in my new m/l SXS @ 25 yrds. , I was sure I could have hunted deer w/those because the wads key holed at that distance and the bb's remained in the wad. In the end ,again ,i think due to the lower pressures of black powder ,the thinest plastic wads worked best w/ the best patterns. This subject could have pages of info written into it , but I covered the thinest plastic wad results , and the thickest plastic wad results. Hope someone can decipher my poor attempt at explaining this conundrum..................oldwood

 

[Stony Broke]

I have loaded plastic wads many years ago, using lighter loads....I even used some for trap shooting. I was always worried about the plastic sitting atop black powder, so I would always use something between them. I have used thick paper wads, but I also think I would be more inclined to use leather now if I were to do it again.

 

[ZUG]

To reduce plastic fouling try rubbing a BP lube on the plastic wads a friend of mine also puts a bit into the bottom. I never had much of a plastic build-up when I did this.

 

[griffiga]

They work as long as you like spending an hour scrubbing black powder residue mixed with melted plastic out of your bore. Trust me, I learned the hard way

 

[sheriff john]

Used plastic wads when using steel shot. Also used them for at other times for no particular reason other than when loading by volume, shot and powder charges are equal so separate powder measure wasn't needed. Tho' I have no factual basis, I've always thought steel shot needs something to protect the bore. Don't know for sure, it is a poor substitute for lead. That I do know.

 

[Jeff Marshall]

I have a couple of 12 gauge percussion doubles; on another black powder forum
I asked about using plastic wads.
I got such a wide variety of answers that my question remained pretty much unanswered. It seems that you pretty much have to try it yourself and come to your own conclusions.
One fella said that if plastic is deposited on the inside of the barrel that aerosol
brake/carburator (sp?) cleaner makes plastic fouling easy to remove.

 

[PathfinderNC]

A good question was raised above - do modern shotguns leave plastic residue in the barrel and if not, why would Black Powder do so?