Gamechaser
40 Cal
Bore, stupid electronics
Felt wads under patch and ball?
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Gamechaser
40 Cal
Fat fingers, small buttons
Gamechaser
40 Cal
Thats why i wont take my 32 to the club,other guys give funny looks when you pull the round ball from the pouch with tweezers!
Old Hawkeye
50 Cal.
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No one has mentioned it yet, but I've had better luck with wool or felt wads if they are a size larger than the caliber. 54 in a 50, 58 in a 54, etc. Lubed or not doesn't seem to matter. YMMV!
Gamechaser
40 Cal
I'd like to try that, don't have a punch and cant fond very many sizes locally
The wads under discussion here are bore-diameter disks of felt or possibly vegetable fiber, I suppose. The wad is loaded over the powder charge and under the patched ball. I believe most people lubricate the wad. I do.
However, if you don't have wads, you can ball up a lubricated patch to go over the powder and under the patched round ball. This will have pretty much the same effect as a wad. There are also a couple of threads on this forum right now discussing the use of cornmeal or cream of wheat over the powder, which also serves a similar purpose.
Best regards,
Notchy Bob
Gamechaser
40 Cal
Never thought of any of those ideas before. But the thought of using serial over my powder and under my patch ball combo doesn't interest me. I don't want to be hungry while I'm on the Range
Gamechaser
40 Cal
I have heard they use cornmeal for a cushion in muzzleloading shotguns but I have never tried it
ohio ramrod
75 Cal.
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I use a leather over powder wad. I cut my own .025 over bore size. It prevents patch burning, or lube wetting the powder when hunting with mini's
ohio ramrod
75 Cal.
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Corn meal was used a lot in the past to "seal" the load for hunting or storage of a loaded rifle. Myself, I would not store a loaded rifle, but ?I know several who did.
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My default when starting load development is to use an oversized, unlubricated wad or card. In .50’s I use a .54” wad, in 45’s a .50” wad and so forth. I also use vegetable fiber cards at times and they aren’t as radically oversized. If I am struggling to find an accurate combination I may remove the card or wad from the load chain as a last resort. The lack of card or wad has never improved accuracy in my experience. I have also used a golf ball sized piece of raw wool or wadded up extra patch under a patched ball and been pleased with those results Don’t be afraid to experiment!
I have a 54 cal with a badly pitted barrel. The use of cream of wheat over the powder before loading the patched ball does improve accuracy in my rifle. Easily shoots 2 inch groups at 50 yds when loaded that way.
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Harbor freight sells hole punch sets for cheap ($15.00) enough sizes to cover most calibers with left overs/Ed
I’m curious about shotgun shell buffer between powder and lubed patch?
They’re pretty good I have a set.
In an earlier thread I spoke of my .54 Kibler shredding my patches. I’ve tried buffing with hundreds of strokes with Scotchbrite. Even after firing 300-400 rounds my patches are shredded. Especially in one side. Lately I’ve tried a bit of grits or corn meal over the powder. My accuracy is about the same but the patches look great after being shot.
I may try a felt wad instead of corn meal.
Do y’all have problems getting the wad to go down straight without tipping in its side or bunching up?
I hate adding extra steps to my loading process but if I must I will.
For all practical purposes, shotgun shell buffer, corn meal, cream of wheat, grits, ground oats will provide the same results. The big benefit is that when a buffer is used, the nut behind the butt plate is tightened a bit more and performance on target may be improved.
Any sort of buffer between the powder and the ball or bullet can be considered a wad be it a disk of material or some form of granulated buffer. There is some belief that the lubricated wads help to keep fouling soft and helping to maintain accuracy for longer shooting sessions. There are any number of exotic means of loading with a wad. In this application, exotic means that not a lot of shooters use that method, and they will tell miraculous stories of how on target accuracy is improved.
Some will use the unlubricated disc as is, or lightly wipe the edges on some grease to lubricate the grooves and remove some fouling from the grooves as the wad is loaded. Load development and recording of the results over several visits to the range to confirm results will be needed to establish conclusive proof.
In all applications, a wad will not harm accuracy and may improve accuracy. Use of a wad will add a step or two to the loading procedure.
I’ve been using tow between the charge and patch and ball. I seat the tow over the powder charge then add a smidge of lube at the muzzle, then seat the lubed patch and ball. No change in accuracy just a barrel that seems to never foul up. Each loading is as easy as the first.
The tow takes up the excess lube preventing the powder from being contaminated with lube; I use a pea size amount of lube
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