Wads in a rifle

[crockett]

Does anyone use wads in a rifle? These would go over the powder and below a PRB. I have been told accuracy is improved and the wad pushes away fouling making it easier to reload and eliminating swabbing the barrel. Thought I'd ask before buying a bunch of wads.

 

[Norskie]

Crockett: Wonder Wads. They're great. I put'em behind my conicals to keep my lube from migrating onto the charge while I'm out hunting.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I used Circle Fly (I think?) vegetable wads behind solid base conicals (back when I experimented with such things in my wild youth) on the suggestion of a blackpowder cartridge shooter and they did help the accuracy.

They certainly couldn't hoit a round ball.

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

Yep... I use them between the powder charge and the patched round ball. Seems to help accuracy, and adds some extra lube. I recommend the practice. Also, if you have a problem with patches burning through, this will fix it.

 

[mike alexandre]

For .451 I use a thin card wad cut from a beer mat. Powder first,card then wipe barrel with ballistol then bullet. Works well.

 

[roundball]

Does anyone use wads in a rifle? These would go over the powder and below a PRB. I have been told accuracy is improved and the wad pushes away fouling making it easier to reload and eliminating swabbing the barrel. Thought I'd ask before buying a bunch of wads.

I use them for every high power hunting load I shoot, both PRB & conical...more NL1000 lube in the bore, better gas sealing, increased velocity, serve as a firewall so there's no patch failure, increased accuracy, etc...fortunately they're not needed for light target loads as they're a little pricey

 

[montcalm]

Wads are great.I use them with my hunting loads to help lube the bore and as extra protection for the patch.I've also found that they make reloading my 32 cal.flintlock alot easier.I can shoot it numerus times without having to wipe the bore between shots.

 

[Wehrmacht]

You have six replies below all telling you the same thing,so you can believe it for sure!

Wads DO help as stated.You'll find almost all serious chunkgun shooters using Wonder Wads over the powder then a PRB. I use them for this as well as hunting,and it pays off.

I've got a couple of new .40cals that I am presently working up loads for,and I can't get .40cal Wonder Wads. I bought a bag of 500 Circle Fly 410 shotgun fiber cushion wads to experiment with,and these work great in a .40cal because they are actually .410cal which is what a 410 shotgun is :winking:. I heat a 25% beeswax/75% bear oil combination and soak the cushion wads in this while it's in liquid form until the wads stop bubbling then remove and let cool down. The 25%/75% mix solidifies at room temperature so you aren't left with a bunch of greasy fiber wads.These things work great.Lubes the bore just right for a PRB,and doesn't affect the powder as far as I can tell.Accuracy definately IS improved,and I swear you could use most of the patches over again!

 

[roundball]

I've got a couple of new .40cals that I am presently working up loads for,and I can't get .40cal Wonder Wads.

FYI, you can probably just use .45cal wads in the .40.

I intentionally use the next larger caliber size wads in all my rifles...my belief is that an even tighter fitting wad will make an even tighter seal.

ie:
.62cal wads in my .58
.58cal wads in my .54
.54cal wads in my .50
.50cal wads in my .45

When I pick them up off the ground, the edges look like mini gears where the heat and pressure have compressed them out into the grooves of the rifling...really helps keep the bore scrubbed clean, very minimal fouling, etc.

 

[brayhaven]

For those who are short on bear oil, I lube fiber wads with 10% mineral oil/90% parafin. melt & apply. Also, have you folks noticed a decrease in recoil using fiber wads behing the ball Vs without? I sure do.
GS

 

[jdixon]

I like Roundballs idea of using the next size up, will have to give that one a try. With PRB's - I have one rifle that prefers a wad, really makes a difference in accuracy, another that a wad seems to make no difference at all, so I don't use one. Like everything else with BP shooting, each gun is different.

 

[roundball]

No science mind you, just my personal deduction/speculation.
Caliber sized wads appear to be cut so they simply slide in on the lands...a next caliber size wad will be snug of course and sometimes you have to squeeze it into the muzzle carefully to be sure it stays flat.

The seating action may flatten the wad on the powder OK by itself but I don't like to assume that it will, so I always start them flat at the muzzle...(if it ain't broke I ain't gonna fix it, etc)

 

[revehuntsman]

DIfference made -- without wad, couldn't get a decent pattern in the black; with overpowder wad, shot the center out of the bull at 50 yards with three shots. 54 cal Lyman Gp with 80 gr. FF.

 

[Swamp Buck]

Besides increases in accuracy and velocity, the wad also helps in testing out patch thickness/ball diameter combinations. The recovered patch is in good condition and can be examined as to how well it "rode" down the barrel when fired.

If someone has been experiancing cut or burned through patches, the use of a wad will help identify what the problem is and point you in the right direction to solve the problem.