OP cards with a bare ball

[kingsax26]

As I am still new to the world of smoothbores I am always learning and asking. Recently i find myself trying to mini,ize the amount of gear I carry while hunting. normally , in my 20ga fowler I load with powder, 1/2" fiber wad with a thin section torn off the top. bare ball and the thin piece of wad to keep the ball in the barrel. this works very well. I have thought about trying just an OP card, bare ball, and anoth OP card...has anyone done this?

 

[AZbpBurner]

You've already quickly found what I've discovered to be about the most accurate ball load for a smoothbore. I've tried patched balls, OP cards with and without cushion wads and with either a 1/4" thickness of cushion wad over the ball. I've also had impressive results with a wad of TOW over powder and another over the ball. Only downside is chasing after smouldering TOW; OP card between TOW and powder didn't work nearly as well as with TOW only.

 

[kingsax26]

my fowler is very accurate with the fiber wad....and even more accuarte with a tightly patched ball. but, I am trying to stay away from the hand pain of having to beat a ball down the barrel lol. tried patching with muslin....no dice . burned right through. I too was worried about starting a forest fire. but , what did the pioneers use ....they didnt have fiber wads lol. although I have been thinking of looking for wool wads and trying them

 

[hanshi]

That way of loading the ball works very well in my gun as well.

 

[kingsax26]

which way hanshi?

 

[ptaska]

Hi Bryon, my load column (powder-OP card-1/2 fiber wad-bare ball-over shot card) works great for me. I started with a .600 ball but now use a .610. I dunk the fiber wads in melted Crisco. It's fun to watch all that stuff fly out the end of the barrel when I touch off the shot.

Thing is, it doesn't work at all well for shot. Go figure???

I, like you, don't want to cut a patch-- that just doesn't feel like something my 1790's "Ohio farmer" personna would have done. Then, again, I wouldn't have had all those great TOW supplies either.

Maybe out paths will cross someday and we can sit and discuss this over a gill of brandy. 'Till then

Yr Hmbl & Obdnt Svnt,
-Longeye

 

[kingsax26]

u buy t he plane ticket ill supply the brandy

 

[tenngun]

I shoot some prb from my smoothies but also will take a hunk of tow, picked fibers of wool or hemp or shredded cedar bark. Greased and rolled in to little balls with the ball shoved down in to the nest. It stays solid in the nest so I don't need an over wad, and the grease stops fires.

 

[spudnut]

Try a rubbed 1x2 inch piece of brown paper folded in half, one over powder one over ball.its easy to keep them on a clip of somekind on your bag strap,easy to pull if you make a mistake loading,or just want to draw the load,works good with shot too just add some tow or wasp nest for cushion

 

[AFMSgt]

Try a rubbed 1x2 inch piece of brown paper folded in half, one over powder one over ball.its easy to keep them on a clip of somekind on your bag strap,easy to pull if you make a mistake loading,or just want to draw the load,works good with shot too just add some tow or wasp nest for cushion

What's rubbed paper?

 

[kingsax26]

well I went to the range yesterday and learned something. Wadding works preety well with a bare ball. I also learned that hemp rope with beeswax lube...burn like a mofo! it was pretty neat watching my gun shoot fireballs lol. maybe ill play around with it somemore...but I ordered some more wads this am..didnt feel like burning the woods down

 

[Maven]

You may want to watch Mike Beliveau's video about smoothbore loading with RB's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8AtaQGYQDk

 

[hanshi]

which way hanshi?

Sorry, my bad.
Powder, card, lubed fiber wad/ball/another card, seated as one unit.

 

[pab1]

You may want to watch Mike Beliveau's video about smoothbore loading with RB's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8AtaQGYQDk[/quote]

Good info! Thanks! :thumbsup:

 

[spudnut]

just brown paper rubbed betweem your palms so its flexy

 

[Wes/Tex]

If you're a serious tinkerer, you'll try all the options. With or without patch, OP and OS cards and wads...try all possibilities but only change one thing at once. :wink: Some guns love the oddest combos of loading set up, there's just no way to tell. I've gotten lazy in my old age. For me it's powder, big wad of tow, ball either bare or with a slightly lubed leather patch and a small ball of tow!also have decided that with my eyes, putting the sneak om Bambi saves a lot of squinting! :haha:

 

[rosco]

I've tried a number of different ball load methods with my 20ga smooth rifle and I still prefer a well lubed patched .600 cast ball simply because the patch keeps the pure lead from scrubbing the tubing. Accuracy ain't too bad out to nearly 50 yards, either.

 

[larryp]

For me the most accurate load from my .62 trade gun is powder, lubed 1/4" felt wad, .610 ball and a thin overshot card.

 

[spudnut]

Id patch a ball in a smoothie ,but then you have to fumble with cleaning patches and liquids and jags and worms, nothing worse than a stuck ball on a woods walk and just the wooden stick in the gun . I like plain ol wasp nest or tow and lots of practise