.54 cal wads?

[TNtrapper]

Howdy all! Ive got .54 smooth rifle from ERA. Shoots .530 ball and .015 ticking patch well but my patterns of #5 shot is horrible.Dont have any wads this size on hand...so Ive been loading 70grns FFG..a wad of tow...1oz of #5s with a wad of tow on top. Im needing to get some wads...but not quite sure what guage wad to use.Any of yall out there with .54 smoothys??? Thanks a lot!!...............TN

 

[Gemoke]

You can get wads and cards from Track Of The Wolf there made by circle fly 28 ga.thats where I get mine.
cut finger

 

[roundball]

Howdy all! Ive got .54 smooth rifle from ERA. Shoots .530 ball and .015 ticking patch well but my patterns of #5 shot is horrible.Dont have any wads this size on hand...so Ive been loading 70grns FFG..a wad of tow...1oz of #5s with a wad of tow on top. Im needing to get some wads...but not quite sure what guage wad to use.Any of yall out there with .54 smoothys??? Thanks a lot!!...............TN

I have a GM .54 cal/.28ga smoothbore...I use .54cal OxYoke prelubed wonderwads as O/P wads, and Circle Fly .28ga over shot cards.

 

[TNtrapper]

Thats what I needed! Thanks a lot yall! How about loads in yer .54s............TN

 

[roundball]

Thats what I needed! Thanks a lot yall! How about loads in yer .54s............TN

The shot load I settled on is:
70grns Goex 3F
Two Oxyoke prelubed wads O/P
1+1/8oz #6's
Circle Fly .28ga O/S card
Outstanding pattern at the 25yds I tested it.

The PRB load I stopped at is:
70grns Goex 3F
One Oxyoke prelubed wad O/P
.015" prelubed plain cotton patch
Hornady .530

This GM smoothbore is very accurate at the 50yds I zeroed it in at, compared to what I expected from a smoothbore. 50/60/70grns of Goex 3F are all very accurate...but as soon as I go above that, I start getting a random flyer a few inches off from the group.

Have tried 80/90grns of 3F, and 90/100/110grns of 2F...always the occasional flyer...but as soon as I drop back to 70grns 3F it just lays them right in there without any flyers.
I tried both .010" and .015" patches, no help.
I tried two wads, then three wads, no help.

I got it just before last deer season and ran out of weekends to test it...wanted to at least try it on deer and knew at my woods distances 70grns would be plenty...so I left it zeroed at 70grns...this year I want to play with it out of curiosity to try and understand what's happening to cause the occasional flyer at higher powder charges.

No idea if these loads will be of any interest to you but they're what I've settled on.
I mainly got it for shot purposes but seeing how accurate it is with PRBs, when asked that question "if we could only keep one ML of any type what would it be", it would be this .54cal Flint smoothbore for me.

 

[Swampman]

A piece of hornet's nest above and below works nice. My buddy shoots what he calls "turds." Simply a measure of shot secured in greased brown paper to fit down the barrel.

 

[crgabel]

I used Roundball's recipe in my 28 ga and it works great.
TOW has the wonderwads as mentioned above.
Craig

 

[TNtrapper]

Speaking of powder....about whats the difference in power between 70gr. of 2F and 3F? Ive been shooting 2F in mine...but Ive heard 3F burns cleaner.Anything to this?I guess Ill step up to the 3F and try it. I know after a few shots using 70 gr.2F my .530 ball and .015 patch gets so tight I have to swab the bore.You reckon that 3f will help on this some? Thanks again yall.....TN

 

[roundball]

Speaking of powder....about whats the difference in power between 70gr. of 2F and 3F? Ive been shooting 2F in mine...but Ive heard 3F burns cleaner.Anything to this?I guess Ill step up to the 3F and try it. I know after a few shots using 70 gr.2F my .530 ball and .015 patch gets so tight I have to swab the bore.You reckon that 3f will help on this some? Thanks again yall.....TN

That's been my experience, that 3F burns cleaner...3F is also a little 'faster', more energetic.

There's an industry rule of thumb to reduce 2F load data by 10-15% when using 3F in it's place due to the difference in burn rate/pressure curve.

Therefore, if you normally use 70grns 2F, and decided to substitute 3F, you should reduce your 70grn 2F charge by roughly 10% to get the same results, POA, etc.

On a related note, don't know what kind of lube you use, but both Natural Lube 1000 and Hoppes No9 BP Plus let me shoot entire range session without wiping the bore between shots.

It minimizes fouling to begin with, and then keeps what little there is so soft that when you seat the next patched ball, the bore walls are wiped clean and the residue is pushed down on top of the powder charge.

When the next shot is taken, the old residue is expelled, then the bore is left with a single shots worth of minimal fouling...seat the next patched ball, and the cycle repeats...50th shot loads just as easy as the first, POI remains the same, etc...I hate wasting time wiping between shots and these lubes are the answer for me.