Corn meal - At our last muzzle loading trap shoot one said he was using corn meal instead of cushion wads. It seemed to work.

[blackeagle]

I’ve never tried it for a shotgun, but years ago a friend told me you could use it in the cylinders of a revolver. I have yet to try that either.

 

[rp77469]

I’ve never tried it for a shotgun, but years ago a friend told me you could use it in the cylinders of a revolver. I have yet to try that either.

Years ago I used to use 15g 3F and 20g corn meal in my ROA. Since I am the World Champeen Worst Pistol Shot, I quit messing with it and reverted to 30-35g 3F. I shoot just as well with it, makes reloading easier, I like the recoil, and the first shot or two silences everybody else at the commercial pistol range for a few seconds as they try to figure out whose gun just blew up.

 

[Coinneach]

Steel cut oats of course should be used, not the rolled or instant.

Oh, to lament the wasting the loss of food.

Our artificers never added oats to our wrapped cartridges.

Gad sir you're a Philistine no less, doncha know that only that only stone ground Oats are acceptable in Muzzle loading Flintlocks of the period ?

 

[SlidePicker]

I've been doing this with sawdust between two punched cardboard disks to seal the gas and keep the shot from settling into the sawdust. It works well. I punch wads from the cardboard separating layers of cans in Fancy Feast cat food boxes. It's tough, though thin. They hold up well in firing. They're supported against the pressure by the compressed sawdust and don't need to be thick and rigid like the "nitro cards." I use the same measure for powder, sawdust, and shot. I like to assemble the load near the muzzle with a short starter stick, then ram it all down together. No problems with air pressure building between wads.

 

[Britsmoothy]

I've been doing this with sawdust between two punched cardboard disks to seal the gas and keep the shot from settling into the sawdust. It works well. I punch wads from the cardboard separating layers of cans in Fancy Feast cat food boxes. It's tough, though thin. They hold up well in firing. They're supported against the pressure by the compressed sawdust and don't need to be thick and rigid like the "nitro cards." I use the same measure for powder, sawdust, and shot. I like to assemble the load near the muzzle with a short starter stick, then ram it all down together. No problems with air pressure building between wads.

How'd it pattern?
Thanks.

 

[SlidePicker]

I'm one of those guys who's never fired a shotgun at a 30" circle 40 yards away. I know the very good reasons to do so, but it's never logistically convenient. All I can say is that the pattern density on cardboard boxes and drink bottles at 25 yards would be quite satisfactory for small game and bird hunting. It's as good as I've seen with 12 gauge cylinder bore unmentionables to my eyes.

 

[smoothshooter]

How will that cornmeal work walking for a couple hours shifting your gun around before firing a shot? Seems to me the corn meal will filter into the powder resulting in poor ignition.

It will not move if the load is tamped down well.

 

[3Setters]

Never got out to try cornmeal this weekend. Doing full bathroom remodel and boss woman felt it would be better use of my time to get water running to the new vanity instead of playing with guns. Maybe next weekend.

 

[cynthialee]

I sometimes use cornmeal in my smoothie when loading shot. Powder, card, cornmeal, shot, 2 cards.
Works real good.
Now some insist Cream of Wheat is better, haven't tried it as there is none in the cupboards. But I always got cornmeal.

 

[Surfinator58]

Yankee from Boston we use maypo or wheatina even in reduced smokeless loads this has been a stndby for years

 

[pab1]

This thread got me to try corn meal in my .62 cal smoothbore flintlock Renegade today.

All shots are at 15 yards. In the areas I hunt this is the typical shot distance for small game/grouse. With a cylinder bore gun I wouldn't try taking a shot too much beyond that distance.

In the target pics below I'll note whether its a Card/Cushion Load or a Corn Meal Load. I've been using 70gr of FFF Goex in this gun. I tried a lower powder charge today on most targets using 65gr of FFF Goex. All shots used 1oz of #6 lead shot. I only counted the pellets inside an 8" circle on all of the targets.
Card/Cushion Load: This load consists of a 1/8" nitro card over the powder, a lubed cushion wad, shot (usually in a Post-It shot cup), topped with a 1/16" card.
Corn Meal Load: This load consists of a 4.3cc scoop of corn meal over the powder, shot (usually in a Post-It shot cup), topped with a 1/16" card.

The first pic shows 1 oz of loose shot with both loads. With 88 pellets in the 8" circle the corn meal load (L) definitely performed better. With loose shot it seems the cushion wad with the card/cushion load creates a hole in the pattern, only putting 21 pellets in the circle. This gun definitely performs better with a paper shot cup.

There wasn't much difference between the corn meal load (L) and the card/cushion load using Post-It shot cups. 102 pellets in the circle for the corn meal load, 108 for the card/cushion load.

Bumping the powder charge up to 70gr FFF Goex (R) put a few more pellets in the circle with the corn meal load. Not a significant difference between the two charges.

With the exception of using loose shot, I really didn't see a difference between the corn meal load and the card/cushion load. I might try using a larger scoop of corn meal later to see if that makes a difference.

I had one target that the paper shot cup failed to open on. I need to tap the shot cup a few times with the ramrod to prevent this. I've had this happen one other time. Both times it was the first shot of the day and I didn't tap the shot cup. I guess technically that put all 225 pellets (average for 1oz of #6 shot) in the 8" circle...

 

[3Setters]

How close to a square load was your cornmeal drop?

 

[pab1]

How close to a square load was your cornmeal drop?

The 4.3cc scoop is a bit under an ounce. As I mentioned I'm going to try using more corn meal to see if it makes a difference.

 

[shaman]

When I first got on this august forum this winter, one of the questions I had was whether anyone had heard of this:

https://www.traditionalmuzzleloader.com/index.php/muffin-mix-turkey-loads
It's one of the methods I hope to investigate.

 

[SlidePicker]

When I first got on this august forum this winter, one of the questions I had was whether anyone had heard of this:

https://www.traditionalmuzzleloader.com/index.php/muffin-mix-turkey-loads
It's one of the methods I hope to investigate.

I've thought a lot about, but not tried, various granular organic substances as a shot buffer. Also, as I have for several years used a thin card overpowder wad and a cushion of sawdust under round ball loads in unmentionables and more recently in my fowler, I've thought of using this principle for a double ball load with .60" balls in a larger bore. That's a 1 1/2 ounce shot charge, heavy but less than the .69 cali er Minié balls used in Vivil War rifled muskets. (About 735 grains for those.) I'd use 1 "square load" volume of sawdust (or cornmeal, muffin mix, whatever) between the overpowder card, another between the two balls, and another over the balls just to prevent the top card from interacting with the balls at exit. I know from others' experience that loading a ball directly on top of another causes drastic flattening. I also know that if empty space is between them it will act as a dangerous obstruction, likely bursting the barrel. My thinking is that a load of compressible buffer material that will pack very firmly under pressure between the balls will not allow a collision between the balls, but as the rear ball starts to move forward it will steadily compress the buffer between the balls until the front one is moving at the same speed. Assuming enough buffer between the balls to prevent them from contacting when the buffer is maximally compressed, I will be very surprised if that doesn't work well. I'm not quite ready to hold it and shoot it for the first time, or to risk my prized fowler by "proof testing" it with such a load. I've found that whenever I have what I think is a brilliant, original idea, many others have done it long before me. (As in this thread.) Do y'all know of anyone using two balls with a cushion between them? Links, anyone? I've looked, but have only found one ball stacked on another and two patched rifle balks stacked together.

 

[SlidePicker]

I've thought a lot about, but not tried, various granular organic substances as a shot buffer. Also, as I have for several years used a thin card overpowder wad and a cushion of sawdust under round ball loads in unmentionables and more recently in my fowler, I've thought of using this principle for a double ball load with .60" balls in a larger bore. That's a 1 1/2 ounce shot charge, heavy but less than the .69 cali er Minié balls used in Vivil War rifled muskets. (About 735 grains for those.) I'd use 1 "square load" volume of sawdust (or cornmeal, muffin mix, whatever) between the overpowder card, another between the two balls, and another over the balls just to prevent the top card from interacting with the balls at exit. I know from others' experience that loading a ball directly on top of another causes drastic flattening. I also know that if empty space is between them it will act as a dangerous obstruction, likely bursting the barrel. My thinking is that a load of compressible buffer material that will pack very firmly under pressure between the balls will not allow a collision between the balls, but as the rear ball starts to move forward it will steadily compress the buffer between the balls until the front one is moving at the same speed. Assuming enough buffer between the balls to prevent them from contacting when the buffer is maximally compressed, I will be very surprised if that doesn't work well. I'm not quite ready to hold it and shoot it for the first time, or to risk my prized fowler by "proof testing" it with such a load. I've found that whenever I have what I think is a brilliant, original idea, many others have done it long before me. (As in this thread.) Do y'all know of anyone using two balls with a cushion between them? Links, anyone? I've looked, but have only found one ball stacked on another and two patched rifle balks stacked together.

Eh. I wish I could edit typos like "Vivil War." Y'all know what I mean.

 

[SmokepoleSam]

You can edit a post for 15 min or 1/2hr, I don't remember how much. After you post, the word "edit" shows for the 15/30 minutes you can do it. Since you are an mlf supporter you have a longer time to edit.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Folk have been shooting double balls for hundreds of years from muzzloaders. Don't worry about it.

 

[Kev308]

So…. Does anyone use a card between powder amd cornmeal/grits/maypoe/oatmeal, cushion? Is there a card between shot and cornmeal/etc. ??
Thanks for the help
Kevin

 

[PathfinderNC]

I have used grits in black powder cartridges and prefer them over corn meal.

How did the grits compare with cornmeal? (I tried Quaker Oats and they seemed to do a good job too). I’ve lots to learn about smoothbore shooting.