Wads

[rrambrose]

I am going to try firing my TVM fowler for the first time with a wad rather than a patched ball. I purchased commercial wads and cards. Do I lube them before putting them down the barrel? Is the lube put along the edge of the of the wad and the card or all over?

Robert

 

[Beerd2]

Robert
Lube the wads. You need something to keep the fouling soft & make loading easier. A quick dip in melted "Crisco" works for some. I use a beeswax/olive oil mixture. Let the excess drain on some newspaper.
The cards load dry.
I assume you have the Circle Fly type of 1/2" fiber wad and over shot card.
Some shooters will bust them fiber wads in two and load powder, half a wad, bare ball, second half of wad and ram everything down. You might want to try that too.
..

 

[Rebel]

If you don't have the thick fiber wads to lube you might try using one of the thin wads with a glob of lube on top of it, then another wad on top of that to make sort of a lube cookie. The lube will get press out the sides while loading them.

 

[jim gray]

I use half a fiber wad with a light coat of bore butter smeared around the edge. I use the overpowder card as well sometimes, but not always. I don't lube the cards.

The cookie idea sounds intruguing too. Do you use overpowder cards with 'em, dip them in moose milk, or just pour shot on top of them?

 

[Rebel]

I've never used the cookie idea myself. I heard someone else here mention it once. I use half a fiber wad lubed. I use an overpowder wad then a lubed fiber wad, patched rd. ball. With shot i normally skip the lubed cushion wad and use a shot cup.

 

[jim gray]

I never tried the shot cups. I thought of trying to make my own out of dime wrappers, but when you fill them with shot they won't fit in my barrel. Maybe they'd work with a bess.

 

[roundball]

I never tried the shot cups. I thought of trying to make my own out of dime wrappers, but when you fill them with shot they won't fit in my barrel. Maybe they'd work with a bess.

I make paper shot cups for my .62cal smoothbore that work really, really well...puts eight #6's in a coke can at[url] 40yds...made[/url] it for a turkey load...just haven't got a turkey to play target yet.

And recently somebody posted an intriguing idea that I want to try this summer...and that was just to use a large patch as a shot cup.

It makes sense if you understand that the shot cup is in essence simply providing a "choke" effect to the shot charge (and protection) then flutters away immediately after muzzle exit...the choke effect is created by the thicknees of the paper around the walls of the bore providing a temporary "reduced bore size" to the shot charge itself.

So it should follow that a large 2-3" patch, maybe .018"-.020" thick, set into the muzzle, then filled with shot, then seated normally should also provide choke effect (and protection), then flare open & away upon muzzle exit like any other shot cup.

Gonna have to try that soon...

 

[Rebel]

You shooting a .20 ga.? If so, get you a 5/8" dowel and some post it notes. Wrap the post it around the dowel and stick it to itself. Then fold one end over the end of the dowel like you would a coin wrapper. Then measure the amount of shot you want to use into it. You can then take it off the dowel, unfold it, and measure the length. Then you can cut all the post its to the length while they are still on the pad. Then each one will be the right length for that shot charge. Make them up, start one in barrel, pour in shot, add overshot card, and ram it all down at once. It helps if you drill a small hole through your overpowder wad to let the air escape. I drill a 1/16" hole.

 

[musketman]

If you don't have the thick fiber wads to lube you might try using one of the thin wads with a glob of lube on top of it, then another wad on top of that to make sort of a lube cookie. The lube will get press out the sides while loading them.

 

[Rebel]

Or this if you have the fiber wads. ::

 

[Ridge]

It helps if you drill a small hole through your overpowder wad to let the air escape. I drill a 1/16" hole.

I just press the edge of my card against the edge of my barrel before I put it in the muzzle. It notches the edge of the card and serves the same purpose.

 

[jim gray]

You shooting a .20 ga.?

I'm shooting a double barrel 12. I'll have to try sanding down a 3/4" dowel until it fits loosely into the barrel.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Or wrap a 1/2" or 5/8" dowel in masking tape. :winking:

 

[jim gray]

Thanks, Stumpkiller. That sounds like it would be a little quicker.

 

[Rebel]

Or us Winchester AA wads. ::