felt wad and lube

[ian45662]

Do you guys lube your felt wads? If so what do you use and how do you apply the lube?

 

[Spikebuck]

Yes I do...even if "pre-lubed." I have used Wonder Lube and ToW's Mink Oil. I put a small quantity of them into a zip lock bag, put in a dab of the lube, and squish it around working the wads and lube together. I like the wads well-lubed. If hunting, I just put a thin overshot card down first to keep the lube off the powder.

 

[ian45662]

I guess cushion wads would be a better term

 

[BrownBear]

Yup. I just put a day's supply in a ziploc, dump in a little olive oil and slosh them around. Let them sit in the bag overnight, then pour off the excess and lay them out to dry for a bit before dropping them into the pocket of my shooting bag. Hard fouling on repeat shots is a non-issue.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

Some folks have found that lube-saturated cushion wads, especially the 1/2" fiber wads, can negatively affect the patterns. Note that this is for the wads, lube, lubing technique, and loads as THEY do it - other folks note no problem. Anyway, if this happens to you and squeezing out the excess does not remedy the pattern problems, try just lubing the edges. With a solid lube, you can you can smear some on with a finger or knife/spatula, or you can melt a thin pool and roll the wad through it quickly. Some folks will stick a wad or three on a long hat pin to give them a more convenient handle. You can apply a liquid lube the same way - pour a thin layer in a saucer and roll the wads through that.

Good luck, and please let us know what works for you.

Regards,
Joel

p.s. I found that even splitting the fiber wads in half, the Crisco-saturated 1/4" cushions could negatively affect my patterns, especially in cold weather.

 

[ian45662]

That is very interesting. I would think that a cushion wad that was not lubed would make things really hard to load after a few shots

 

[Spikebuck]

Some folks have found that lube-saturated cushion wads, especially the 1/2" fiber wads, can negatively affect the patterns. p.s. I found that even splitting the fiber wads in half...could negatively affect my patterns,

Same here, which is why I now only use felt wads. I know they work for some, but haven't for me.

 

[ian45662]

so then felt wads like what they use for revolvers may be best suited?

 

[rwiliff]

I like to daub a bit of beeswax/olive oil lube right onto the inside edge of the muzzle, then follow up with a dry cushion wad. It works pretty well for me.

Warmest Regards,
Robert

 

[roundball]

so then felt wads like what they use for revolvers may be best suited?

IMO, no...seems to be a lot of peculiarities / differences in the world of smoothbores that can come into play so have to be careful about over-simplifying our conclusions.
Different barrel lengths, different load configurations, different velocities all enter into whether or not a particular wad type or size or configuration is best for a particular situation.

I've experienced situations in 32" and 38" 20ga barrels where I got slightly tighter patterns by using only half of a 1/2" cushion wad, or 2 of the 1/8" wool wads (like you're referring to).
But I've also found that dropping the powder charge 10grns lets a full size 1/2" cushion wad do fine as well.
Conversely, a full 1/2" lubed cushion wad in my 42" 28ga Rice barrel does much better with a couple different load combinations I've tried so far, than a couple of 1/8" wool wads.

Not an authority on smoothbores but I've at least convinced myself that to find out what gives the beast results in a smoothbore is to run a variety of tests at the range...and it only takes 2-3 shots to know if a particular combination is working or not.
And making / using target labels makes analysis much easier.

 

[majg1234]

agree with RB here.I've got 6 smooth bores and all of them require different loadings to work well.Just go make lots of smoke keep records and enjoy

 

[frogwalking]

My 20 gauge flinter, 46 inch bbl. no choke, shoots rather well using a home cut felt (cloth) wad soaked in old zip patch lube (waxy), over powder, then one over powder heavy card wad, then the shot and overshot wad. No fiber wad. The lubed felt wad keeps fouling manageable, and does not affect the pattern. The long barrel patterns pretty decent with no choke. I tried the fiber wads and they screwed up the pattern. Your results may vary.