I have been reading up on some loading and curious as to why some people use a over the powder wad and then a cushion wad under the shot? It seems to me the cushion wad would eliminate a need for the thin over powder wad. Am I missing something? I will be shooting a smoothbore for the first time soon. I was thinking of buying the "Ox Yoke" "Wonder Shotgun Wads" for over powder and then just using a thin unlubed card over the top of the shot. Is that pretty standard? Thanks for any input.
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Smoothbore Loading
- Thread starter kmeyer
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cushion wad is porous like a sponge (sorta). Powder flame would burn right through it and/or around it.
Over powder wad is like a 1/8" heavy card (board) and acts better as a firewall against burning through, stays together better, and seals better too.
In shot loads, not everyone uses the cushion wad. Some cut the 1/2 into 2 pcs. and only use half. Most that do use the cushion lube the outside edges (or soak completely) in a anti foul / lube type mix to keep fouling soft.
Some have better luck oneway or anouther (opinions seem to vary). About everyone uses the over powder wad to keep the power behind the shot to get the best velocity and patern.
Over powder wad is like a 1/8" heavy card (board) and acts better as a firewall against burning through, stays together better, and seals better too.
In shot loads, not everyone uses the cushion wad. Some cut the 1/2 into 2 pcs. and only use half. Most that do use the cushion lube the outside edges (or soak completely) in a anti foul / lube type mix to keep fouling soft.
Some have better luck oneway or anouther (opinions seem to vary). About everyone uses the over powder wad to keep the power behind the shot to get the best velocity and patern.
Some of us lube the wad and the overpowder card/wad keeps the oils out of the powder.
A .125" over powder wad is the only wad you really need and I'd recomend two of them. The cushion or filler wad is only for lubrication and not necessary for good shot patterns.
I know that some people use the wonderwads as an overpowder but felt seems rather flimsy for such use. If you must use wonderwads I'd sure advise at least one hard card overpowder first, then the felt as a lube wad. You can split the hard card .125" wads edgewise as an overshot wad.
Best of all, You can get 1000 Circle-Fly card wads for less than the cost of 100 wonderwads.
Good shootin-
I know that some people use the wonderwads as an overpowder but felt seems rather flimsy for such use. If you must use wonderwads I'd sure advise at least one hard card overpowder first, then the felt as a lube wad. You can split the hard card .125" wads edgewise as an overshot wad.
Best of all, You can get 1000 Circle-Fly card wads for less than the cost of 100 wonderwads.
Good shootin-
its interesting reading the posts.. the double nitro card load is the standard vm starr method and he won a contest blasting 400 crows in one season or somesuch with it.. theover powder card/ wad and lube is what i use and its seems to work best for me..i use tc yhellow lube in the tube, a large glob evenly between the card and 1/2 inch fiber wad in cylender bore gun.. dont know why, but as the temp gets cold the fouling gets rock hard below zero and blows patterns for me.. could be the size (diameter) of the cards and thier hardness or somesuch.. i used to use powder/nitro card and shot/overshot card for quick load for swatting ducks and it would ruin patterns for some time after.. so i guess it depends on your other things your doing out there, type of gun, weather, kind of powder etc etc.. my best recomendation is to get some 30 inch paper and pattern until you get the hang of what your doing.. a couple years later with many many patterns, and after a thousand or two clay pidgeons you may start to get the idea of what your gun wants, and what it will take to tackel a pheasant or duck with some regularity.. dave.
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