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styrofoam wads

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flintlockmdj

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Have any of you ever tried punching wads from styrofoam meat trays? I am thinking of a load of powder, over powder card to keep hot gasses from melting the styrofoam wads, shot, and over shot card. Am I completely off base with this?
 
In all honesty , NO. they don't rot fast enough so you would be littering. They aren't HC ,Why bother when there's so many natural options. They probably would melt and gum up your bore.There's so many other options.dont do it :nono:
 
I think even if you could keep them from melting they would not be strong enough to make a good wad. As said above if they melt it will be a mess in your bore. And I fea they would stink to high heaven. I am always running wad stuff down my bore but stick with natural non-oil based wadding.
 
spudnut said:
They probably would melt and gum up your bore.There's so many other options.dont do it :nono:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I agree with this.

Did you ever burn household trash that had one of those trays? It drips and gums up everything and clumps it into a solidified mess when it cools. :youcrazy:
 
If you were looking for the worst possible thing to put in your bore for wadding, Styrofoam would right up there near the top of the list. The stuff melts easily and will make one heck of a mess in your bore. Duro-Felt is not all that expensive and it makes an excellent wad for your gun. If you don't want to spend any money, look for egg cartons made from pressed paper pulp. Each carton will give you a few wads. Tell your neighbors and friends to save them for you.

But, if you want the best, buy several sheets of Duro-Felt, pre-lube it by spreading lube on it like buttering toast and put it in the microwave for a few seconds until the lube is melted into the felt. Then use your punch to cut out the best and cheapest high quality pre-lubed wads you can get.
 
I can't quite remember but, I seem to recall reading something about the possibility of styrofoam detonating under heat and pressure.and not being recomended for modern cartridge guns either.
 
I recall i tried it in a pedersoli 10GA bout 15 years ago. NEVER did get all the debris stuff out and it appeared to score the chrome lined barrel. DONT DO IT. Dont recall what exactly I used but it MELTED
 
I've never heard of Styrofoam detonating under any conditions. It does melt and it will burn but I have serious doubts about it detonating. Styrofoam is a polymer and is very stable. Styrene monomer is another thing all together. If not properly stabilized it will polymerize on its own. This is an exothermic reaction meaning that it gives off heat. The more heat, the faster the reaction goes. Given a large enough quantity, it can reach the KB (Ka-Boom) point. There have been instances of improperly stabilized styrene monomer being shipped in rail tank cars and auto polymerizing and creating a lot of heat and pressure inside the tank car to the point that it did explode and burn. But that was a large quantity of styrene monomer contained inside a tank car not a piece of Styrofoam.
 
Ya, like I said couldn,t quite remember. we all agree styrofoam = BAD. I even found some really nice looking patch material once (right thickness and weave)it looked like cotton but when I fired the first round, the recovered patch showed signs of melting. I tossed the whole lot.
 
This comes up every once in a while and universally the stuff has caused some baked-in problems that little short of a drill bit or reamer could correct.
 
If you could load styro foam wads and shoot them directly into the Ozone layer thereby increasing global warming id be all for it. ITS -10 HERE its FREAKIN MARCH ENOUGH ALREADY :surrender:
 
I'd think another kitchen trash thing that would work better than Styrofoam for wads would be the waxed cardboard milk cartons that quarts and half gallons come in.
 
The front and back of old 3 ring binders contain a thick cardboard. just slit the plastic and slide it out.
A wheat thins box makes nice overshot cards
I like Brittsmoothys drink coaster idea I'm definetely going to try that if it ever quits f___ng snowing.
 
colorado clyde said:
The front and back of old 3 ring binders contain a thick cardboard. just slit the plastic and slide it out.
A wheat thins box makes nice overshot cards
I like Brittsmoothys drink coaster idea I'm definetely going to try that if it ever quits f___ng snowing.

The only trouble is it is costly collecting them :haha:
 
You just ain't talented in stealing them! We use the old, "Hey, Look, it's Elvis" then snatch and run trick! :wink: :haha: :doh:
 
I just charm the lady behind the bar. She is usually relived when she finds out I just want the beer coaster. :wink:
 
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