wadding

[toot]

has any one ever used HORNETS NEST for wadding over the powder then put down a bare ball and HORNETS NEST over the ball? works great. the old timers used it because it will not burn and set the woods on fire. it is water proof, has to be or the rain would destroy to nest. use the paper part only not the inner comb. works with bird shot and buck shot also.does not seem to blow the pattern. PS. get it in the winter months when they the HORNETS are not home!

 

[Ron LaClair]

Yes, I've used it and I agree it works great. It will compress into a tight wad and I like the fact that it was used back when.

 

[Grenadier1758]

has any one ever used HORNETS NEST for wadding over the powder then put down a bare ball and HORNETS NEST over the ball? works great. the old timers used it because it will not burn and set the woods on fire. it is water proof, has to be or the rain would destroy to nest. use the paper part only not the inner comb. works with bird shot and buck shot also.does not seem to blow the pattern. PS. get it in the winter months when they the HORNETS are not home!

The hornets may not be home but the larva are. When the nest warms up, the larva hatch. Keep your nest in the freezer.

Take care out there!

 

[Leadball loader]

I use the nest cells also. They are basically the same as the outer paper. No grubs in occupancy.

 

[George]

...I like the fact that it was used back when.

To the board...

I've been hearing that asserting for several decades but have never found a single instance of it in the old literature. If anyone has one I'd sure like to have it.

Spence

 

[jon math]

I’ve seen it in print in Sam Fadala’s books. It is something he claims to use, where he got the original idea I don’t recall if he mentions the source.
I have read in Mark Twain’s book the use of paper from a dime store type paperback being used for wadding in a BP shotgun. That will start a fire pretty often I'd imagine. Now the story it was written in was pure fiction, but I have always wonder if that was from Clements’s own experiences or research.

 

[tenngun]

Two English poems about bird hunting written a century apart mention old felt saddle stuffing.

 

[jon math]

I have used sheep’s fleece as wadding for a long time. It does not support embers, which is good but I have found that I really need to put a lot between the powder and shot and pack it in tight to form a cushioned wad effect to get any kind of a usable pattern.

 

[Grumpa]

I can't quote a source, but have read several accounts of hornets' nest material being found in old hunting bags from back then.

Of course the original owner wasn't around to say what he used it for. :idunno:

Richard/Grumpa

 

[tenngun]

Well I will say something I hate.
I think short starters are older then we like to credit them, and point to an old starter in the museum of the fur trade as an example.
However, we don’t know how old it is. While I would bet hornets nest was used in the old days it’s presence in a bag only proves they the last person to have loaded the bag used it.
We have a two edged sword. On the one hand most of life didn’t get written down then, so absence of it in the record doesn’t prove anything, but,
We know that people go along doing the same old thing for years until some one says ”˜ hay here’s an idea’ and the world changes. Left and right shoes comes to mind as an example.

 

[nhmoose]

Hornets nest is softer than con-cobs but then again they didn't talk or write it down either so we just be guessing as so many% of the time we are.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Well I will say something I hate.
I think short starters are older then we like to credit them, and point to an old starter in the museum of the fur trade as an example.
However, we don’t know how old it is. While I would bet hornets nest was used in the old days it’s presence in a bag only proves they the last person to have loaded the bag used it.
We have a two edged sword. On the one hand most of life didn’t get written down then, so absence of it in the record doesn’t prove anything, but,
We know that people go along doing the same old thing for years until some one says ”˜ hay here’s an idea’ and the world changes. Left and right shoes comes to mind as an example.

Which part of the shoe do you use tenngun.

B :haha: :hatsoff:

 

[tenngun]

:haha:

 

[DickS]

I've tried hornet's nest as wadding in shotguns. It works. Is it in any way better than newspaper or other improvised wadding? I don't know.
Wadding like this is convenient if correctly sized wads, or a wad cutter, aren't available.
Might make for an interesting Saturday afternoon to conduct some experiments.