How long and what to soak in?

[harleysboss]

In regards to the Skychief load, how long and what sort of oil is everyone using to soak the cushion wad?

 

[rich pierce]

Olive, and they soak up fast. 5 mins is enough. I squeeze them out and it them in a tin. But I am sure any cheaper vegetable oil would do the same.

 

[riverrat43]

I also use Olive Oil. I put them in a zip lock bag or in an old Altoids tin.

 

[harleysboss]

Thanks for the info. What brand of wad? I have a bag from Muzzleloading Originals? Picked them up at a local sports store. They seem really dense and although they have changed color in the oil, I wouldn't say that they are getting soaked. I may have to order a different brand wad. I will try these first just to see. Just so I under stand the loading sequence. Powder-nitro card-shot-soaked fiber wad.?

 

[Stumpkiller]

Have you weighed a soaked vs. dry wad to see how much energy you are robbing from your load?

I roll the edges of mine in melted beeswax. Still lubes but doesn't add as much weight.

 

[harleysboss]

I have not weighed them but I will. Didn't think of that.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Thanks for the info. What brand of wad? I have a bag from Muzzleloading Originals? Picked them up at a local sports store. They seem really dense and although they have changed color in the oil, I wouldn't say that they are getting soaked. I may have to order a different brand wad. I will try these first just to see. Just so I under stand the loading sequence. Powder-nitro card-shot-soaked fiber wad.?

Loading sequence correct except it need not be a nitro card, it could be a few over shot cards.

 

[BrownBear]

...how long and what sort of oil....

Olive oil here. Put a day's supply of wads in a ziploc, slosh in a half a cup or so of oil, wallow it around for coverage, and let it sit half an hour or so before dumping the excess oil.

I oil up the small batches of wads because in my experience they start to fall apart if they sit around for weeks with too much oil on them.

Never bothered to weigh the wads, any more than I weigh shot and powder. Come to think of it, I haven't a clue how to measure energy loss from all that extra oil weight either. :wink:

 

[harleysboss]

Well I soaked some wads in veggie oil for a few hours and they seemed to be nice and saturated. Took my newly built under hammer 12ga to try and pattern. This will be my turkey gun so I went with 80 grns of 2F Goex and 1-1/4 oz #6 shot. 25 yards. Results were a nice even spread over a 12x18 sheet from an old desk top calendar. Pattern was most dense around my aim point. This is a cylinder bore gun. A local smith here in Wa.State built it for me last summer.

 

[Skychief]

Those turkeys don't stand a chance! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Good luck, Skychief