Felt wads under patch and ball?

[Gamechaser]

Just curious to see if anyone out there has tried this combination. I have tried it and it works exceptionally well in my 38 caliber. Just your thoughts

 

[Troyfairweather]

I do it on a brass frame 51 36 cal cal and ball I have, I use pyrodex and try to keep the charge light. The bottom of the chambers on the gun have a small ledge so the space from a wad helps compress the powder.

 

[DuncNZ]

I have done this for many years with my .54 Uberti Hawken as tests showed this rifle was more accurate when I did this .Other rifles it didn't seem to make much difference . Also I use a wad under patched ball on my smooth bores . It is up to the shooter to find which load and loading regime suites which firearm . You are doing the right thing .

 

[SciAggie]

This works quite well with my .72 caliber English sporting rifle. My 45 caliber TC Hawken shoots well with just a patched RB.

 

[Notchy Bob]

I've started using a wool felt wad saturated with patch lube between the powder and the patched ball. I don't see much difference in accuracy, but it prevents blown and smouldering patches (which were a problem before), and it allows a lot more shots without wiping the bore.

I have sort of a double boiler system that allows me to melt my preferred bullet lube in its tin. Once it's melted, I drop in wads or patches one at a time. They soak up lube like a sponge almost immediately. I lift them out with tweezers and lay 'em on a clean cookie sheet to cool. Once the have cooled, I put them in a tin of their own. Excess lube on the cookie sheet can be scraped off with a spatula and put back in the lube tin.

I've stopped buying pre-lubed patches. For me, a tallow and beeswax mix, or just tallow, does everything I need it to do, and I honestly believe it keeps better than the commercial Wonderful Lubes and Bullet Butters. I think these commercial lubes start to break down after some time has elapsed. The pre-lubed patches then seem weakened, and fouling appears to accumulate more quickly. If you get dry patches and wads and apply the lubricant yourself, you can do small batches with no difficulty, just enough for a day's shooting. This works well for me.

Getting back to the original question, I would agree that an over powder wad is a good practice. Walter Cline described using a felt wad in loading at least one of his rifles in The Muzzle-Loading Rifle, Then and Now, so it is not a new idea. It may not be necessary for every rifle, but it is something simple you can try, and it is a logical intervention if you are getting burnt or blown patches.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[Grimord]

I have found that if your gun tends to shred patches, or has a rough bore, a lubed felt wad over the powder seems to help with accuracy. I use a wad over the powder on my heavy hunting loads. It protects the powder from lube contamination, and it protects the patch & ball on its way out of the barrel.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Just curious to see if anyone out there has tried this combination. I have tried it and it works exceptionally well in my 38 caliber. Just your thoughts

Sure if it works for you, why not. You never know until you try.
I've seen it done as well as using grits or cream of wheat or cornmeal, as a buffer/wad.... oh and I've seen old wasp nest used too. I use wasp nest from time to time myself.

LD

 

[satwel]

I noticed that one of the better shooters at the matches I attend uses a felt wad between powder and patched ball so I decided to try it. I've used a felt wad in three of my rifles, a percussion .45, a .50 flintlock and a .54 flintlock Jaeger that I recently built. So far, I have not seen any difference in accuracy or group size. I will continue to experiment with the felt wads until my supply runs out, but based on my experience to this point, I don't think I'll buy any more.

 

[dave951]

I have tried a cork wad between the powder and ball. So far, it looks promising.

 

[Freedom]

Heavy skirting leather works even better than felt, for wads.

 

[longcruise]

I have sort of a double boiler system that allows me to melt my preferred bullet lube in its tin. Once it's melted, I drop in wads or patches one at a time. They soak up lube like a sponge almost immediately. I lift them out with tweezers and lay 'em on a clean cookie sheet to cool. Once the have cooled, I put them in a tin of their own. Excess lube on the cookie sheet can be scraped off with a spatula and put back in the lube tin.

Seems simply delicious

I've never tried it. When I've had problems with damaged patches and accuracy I've always approached it as a barrel condition problem and have always solved it that way. But I'm certainly not going to challenge the value of a wad under the ball for accuracy and maybe I'll try it with a few guns and see for myself.

 

[hanshi]

I can't tell much difference but then I don't shoot that well anymore. It does appear to increase velocity a small amount.

 

[new2bp]

Lubed felt wad under naked ball in my 1858, which from what I understand is "standard".

Have a punch but haven't gotten material yet to make some wads for my .54, want to try them with both ball and maxis.

 

[Gamechaser]

My 38 doesnt shred patches or burn them. It has a whitworth style riflings. The board is an excellent shape but I just figured I would try it to see if I could make it more accurate. It does seem to improve accuracy and velocity on that rifle anyway

 

[Widows Son]

My patch lube is a moose milk variant, so I put a felt wad over the powder to keep it dry. I can’t say it has any other virtues in my particular rifle.

By all means give it a try! It will certainly not do any harm.

 

[colimr]

I may have missed it or I am just uninformed but, When you refer to a " wad " are you talking say in a 50 cal a peice of material the size of the bore (.50") or a peice of unlubed dry patch balled up and placed over the powder "BEFORE" the lubed patch and ball are pushed down the barrel ?I have read about tow , wasp nest or corn meal being used but I assumed that was in a shotgun barrel not a rifled barrel. Please enlighten me it sounds like it would help in reducing fouling by keeping the powder from getting wet by lube and wiping the barrel when fired

 

[Gamechaser]

Yes I am referring to a lubricated felt wad underneath the lubricated patch and ball. I am talking about using them in a rifle. I am not having problems burning pathes or blow by, just curious if anyone has tried it. I have and the gun seems to perform better for me anyway.

 

[colimr]

I guess the term " WAD " is what is confusing me. Is the wad a peice smaller than the patch but bigger than the barrel or a patch size peice just wadded up not size specific ?

 

[Gamechaser]

Smaller than the patch. The size of the board

 

[Gamechaser]

Baore