MikeC, that does work very well that way. It will probably give you the tightest possible pattern for your gun. But like many things, there are trade offs. If you are only going to be shooting a very min. of times, you will not have any problems and it is the best way to go. But, if you intend to be shooting allot, the bore will get caked up in a hurry and you will either swab the bore, of use some sort of way to lube the barrel as you load. I do not use a lubed cushion for turkey hunting, as I know I will not be shooting much at all. For clay and doves though, I know I will be shooting allot and I use the mentioned lubed cushion. Using just over shot cards works real simple, I just don't want to count them out. I just reach in the bag where the over powder cards are at and send one down the bore. Simplicity is in the eyes of the beholder. One great thing about using a muzzleloading shotgun in the field is that you leave no trash. A cartridge gun, always has the hulls to contend with. Leaving hulls on the ground, is just like so much other litter. It all needs to be picked up and hauled out. But with these front stuffers, there is no litter. I love it!
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Newbie ? wads&shot
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Dave K said:
Put snowshoe hares and ptarmigan on that list if you live up here. There's no closed season and no bag limit on hares. In up years in their population cycle, it's nothing to pop over 20 in a morning if you're using dogs. And speaking of 20, that's the limit on ptarmigan. If you can get either with only 20 shots, you're a better shot than I'll ever be.
And without a lubed wad, you're either swabbing or you're in trouble.
Been using half fiber wad lubed with 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 beeswax. Wads rolled on edge in the mixture. Regular nitro card and OS wad in 14 bore fowler. Have done quite well with 10 yd. trap. 1/1/8 oz. shot equal vol. 2f. No wiping between shots. Getz barrel.
Capt. Jas.
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fitter said:
I also use this method. I roll before cutting in half.
BrownBear, I am jealous, you have rabbits. Since all the fence rows were pulled out in my area in the '70's a rabbit is a rare and endangered critter.(not to mention quail and pheasants) It is rare to see them in the fields and woods or edge of woods. Get away from the road, the best place seems to be in the junk piles that every woods has. Rabbits here, seem to live in the road ditches and die on the road.
I don't like getting my hands greasy with lube when I can avoid it so when using my fowler, I like to take along a old plastic Visine eye drops bottle that I have filled with olive oil. After loading the shot, I run a bead of olive oil around the inside of the barrel. Then when the overshot card is added, it wipes the bore with olive oil as it goes down. Keeps things clean enough so I can shoot skeet without running down a cleaning patch after every couple of shots. My technique is powder, two overpowder wads, shot, olive oil, then half an overpowder wad.
I stick my fiber wads on a pin and roll them in melted lube (equal parts beeswax, Crisco and mutton tallow). This keeps them from soaking up too much and becoming too heavy (and slowing down the load's velocity).
FFg powder, 1/8" overpowder wad, 1/2" lubed wad, shot and then the overshot card. Been doing it this way for many years. Im my Bess I used powder, wad of tow, shot and a small wad of tow and had horrible patterns.
I carry my wads & cards in a tin (Altoids or Sucrets metal box) and they're not messy at all. Also a spare nipple, dozen primers in a brass tube (made from a cut-down corked centerfire rifle case) a wad puller, nipple wrench and screwdriver (125 gr glue-on archery blunt & an allen wrench and some Dremel and drill-press work) and a pick (bent from a small paper-clip) to clean a plugged nipple. Much handy and small.
Nine in the tin with the accoutrements and another 12 in a second tin (overshot wads & overpowder cards in each, also).
Another tip is to nick the overshot card so it doesn't pop back out from the compressed air after pushing it down on the shot.
FFg powder, 1/8" overpowder wad, 1/2" lubed wad, shot and then the overshot card. Been doing it this way for many years. Im my Bess I used powder, wad of tow, shot and a small wad of tow and had horrible patterns.
I carry my wads & cards in a tin (Altoids or Sucrets metal box) and they're not messy at all. Also a spare nipple, dozen primers in a brass tube (made from a cut-down corked centerfire rifle case) a wad puller, nipple wrench and screwdriver (125 gr glue-on archery blunt & an allen wrench and some Dremel and drill-press work) and a pick (bent from a small paper-clip) to clean a plugged nipple. Much handy and small.
Nine in the tin with the accoutrements and another 12 in a second tin (overshot wads & overpowder cards in each, also).
Another tip is to nick the overshot card so it doesn't pop back out from the compressed air after pushing it down on the shot.
paulvallandigham
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OUCH! The most important part of any wad is its EDGE! Don't cut it or nick it, or you destroy its ability to do its job. ( Sealing gases behind it!)
Instead, us a " Pin" or awl to poke a hold off-center in the OS card. If you use an OP wad, the cushion wad does not need a hole. It doesn't matter if an edge gets turned on a cushion wad. In fact, you can use a smaller diameter cushion wad because it compresses when the gun fires, and pushes outward, to deliver its lube to the bore as it leaves the barrel. It does not have to be a tight fit, as you need with both the OP wads and OS cards.
You won't need a hole in the OP wad[ unless you use multiple OS cards for that purpose]) because the air behind the OP wad is pushed through the powder charge and out the vent or nipple.
I have an overbored 20 gauge fowler, and need to use 19 gauge OP wads, and OS Cards. But, I have a large quantity of 20 ga. cushion wads- both pre-lubed, and dry- that more easily slide down the barrel. I intend to use them up in the gun, ( altho it will be only 1/3 of the cushion wad per shot), and lube the dry ones as Stumpy does, and described here. :thumbsup:
Instead, us a " Pin" or awl to poke a hold off-center in the OS card. If you use an OP wad, the cushion wad does not need a hole. It doesn't matter if an edge gets turned on a cushion wad. In fact, you can use a smaller diameter cushion wad because it compresses when the gun fires, and pushes outward, to deliver its lube to the bore as it leaves the barrel. It does not have to be a tight fit, as you need with both the OP wads and OS cards.
You won't need a hole in the OP wad[ unless you use multiple OS cards for that purpose]) because the air behind the OP wad is pushed through the powder charge and out the vent or nipple.
I have an overbored 20 gauge fowler, and need to use 19 gauge OP wads, and OS Cards. But, I have a large quantity of 20 ga. cushion wads- both pre-lubed, and dry- that more easily slide down the barrel. I intend to use them up in the gun, ( altho it will be only 1/3 of the cushion wad per shot), and lube the dry ones as Stumpy does, and described here. :thumbsup:
Nope. Relax. I just nick the overshot card. When I said I stick the wads on a pin to roll them in the lube I mean just enough to hold them - maybe 1/8" into a 1/2" wad.
Before I started doing this several times I'd pulled the rammer and heard a little "pop" and found the card had hopped off the shot and was sideways in the barrel. Now I nick the edges. No gas gets past the overpowder and over shot loads. If it did it wouldn't matter anyway as the shot would be blow all over from the gasses.
The card is too thin to hold back the pressure as the other cards can until it whooshes out the nipple. Especially once the wads have sealed that end.
Before I started doing this several times I'd pulled the rammer and heard a little "pop" and found the card had hopped off the shot and was sideways in the barrel. Now I nick the edges. No gas gets past the overpowder and over shot loads. If it did it wouldn't matter anyway as the shot would be blow all over from the gasses.
The card is too thin to hold back the pressure as the other cards can until it whooshes out the nipple. Especially once the wads have sealed that end.
