Over the powder wad

[buggybuilder]

Many threads on here speak of an over the powder wad to increase accuracy.
Are these the yellow T/C fiber wads or ??

[fouronesix]

I think the "yellow" wads you're talking about are dense felt wads saturated with T/C lube and sold pre-packaged.

When loading BP, it's a good idea to understand the difference between "filler" and "wad".

Sometimes over powder wads such as the lubed felt wads help accuracy and help to keep fouling soft.

Many shooters punch their own from various materials. For solid base conicals both the dense felt wads and the hard fiber wads are commonly used.

I use various sized punches for both fiber and felt for both ML and BPCR wads. I've had good results using over powder felt wads for some PRB loads. Wasp nest material has been used for ages as an over powder wad in PRB.

A good source for dense felt is Duro-Felt. http://www.durofelt.com/products.html

Dense card stock like cereal box type material, thin fiber gasket material, sheet cork and even some poly materials are commonly punched for wads.

[johnson1942]

their are many types of over powder wads, felt, poly material. corkrubber, veg. fiber material, and they all probably work. some even make their wads out of cardboard wax coated milk cartons. i prefer the poly 60 thousands thick or the veg. fiber 60 thousands thick wads. the wad helps prevent gas leak by the bullet and i like it because it slams against the base of the bullet even though it is up against it as the powder goes off. this helps bump up the bullet. shooters put a lot of work into makeing sure the base of the bullet is perfect with no nicks or dents. with a good wad the base of bullet is not the base of the bullet, the wad is. the hot gas reflects off of the wad, not the bullets base. if the wad. is smooth flat and with out deformities, the gas will reflect off the surface of the wad perfectly. most of my bullets are cupped base or hollow base. when the wad compresses against them they bump up real quick. instantly in reality. every one has a favorite wad, thats because it works for them. i used to buy mine in bulk from buffalo arms. now i have 3 diff. wad cutters that mounts on the loading or swageing press and i cut mine out of what material i have on hand at the time. the best group i ever shot in my life was with my 45/70 at 200 yards. i was useing a milk carton wad, the group was nickle size with 5 shots. milk cartons work.

[koger]

Johnson 1942 is spot on, as usual! I have tried about everything last time at friendship, I went over to Mikes Shotgun Wads, and bought 1000 each of .40, .45 , .50 .54 wads, vegetable fiber wads. This in actuality is a type of cardboard. I take mine home, per Mikes instructions, and fire up my propane fish fryer, filled with veg. oil only, then drop them in a basket full at time for about 5 minutes, take out and drain on a large pan for a few days. I then rebag them in large Ziplock bags. These are thick, I usually cut them in half, or thirds, works in everything I have tried,from .45 Ruger Old Army, to .54 slugs in a Hawken and a .451 450grain long range rifle. His was the most economical, good performing wads that I have tried to date. By using veg oil, you wont get any tar residue, that might occur with a petroleum by product when fired with black powder. 1000 equals 2000 when split, and a bag will most likely last my lifetime.

[fouronesix]

Many threads on here speak of an over the powder wad to increase accuracy.


The reason that over powder/base wads sometimes help accuracy, as I understand it, is not because it insulates the bullet base from melting. A tight fitting, over powder wad acts as a seal to prevent high velocity gas from blowing by the edge of the base/and along the bullet shank wall thus cutting the base edge and bullet wall. An over powder wad in a BP gun serves basically the same purpose as a conventional gas check serves on a cast bullet over smokeless load. It seals the bore behind the bullet almost instantly, thereby never allowing the high velocity gas to start cutting and doing the damage.

An added bonus with the lubed wads is they can help keep fouling soft which is better for shooting shot strings without having to swab or clean between shots. May work, may not and depends on what the objective is.

Sometimes over powder wads help accuracy, especially with solid base conicals over BP. But sometimes other factors play a bigger role than a base wad in determining accuracy. Just have to shoot a lot and do some experimentation to find out.

[johnson1942]

thanks for explaining it better than i did.

[koehlerrk]

I recently purchased a bag of "Wonder Wads" - 50 cal lubed felt, to use with my Hawken after hearing good reports from guys who use them. Haven't tried them myself yet, and now I'm seeing there's lots of other options to try... It's gonna be a black powder summer. Oh darn!

[10 ga]

In the cartridge world they use what is called a "cookie". In a ML it could be an over powder or a under bullet "wad". They do wonders for softening fouling and increasing accuracy. Personally I use cotton balls saturated with deer tallow or mutton tallow. Stays pretty solid even in warm weather and really softens the fouling and protects the base of bullets or base of PRB. A little bees wax and peanut oil in the tallow helps with consistency depending on ambient temperature. 10

[dondiego]

Do you use the whole cotton ball for each loading?

[Hanshi]

I'm a prb shooter exclusively and habitually use some sort of op wad. It might be leather, felt, card stock, hornet nest, etc. or even toilet paper; all work equally well. Depending on the gun/load there's often a velocity increase and more uniform velocities from shot to shot. I can't swear they improve accuracy but they certainly don't hurt it one bit.

[johnson1942]

it is strange that you said hornets nest. in a couple of very old books from the 1800s it was mentioned that hornets nest is the very best over the powder wad in the old days. its tough and takes a powder charge and wont come apart. for you guys that live rural, find hornets nests and use the hornet paper under your bullets. nothing new, just rediscovered. thanks for bringing that back to light, it may help a lot of shooters.

[Tar Heel]

Try here, posts 13, 14 & 15.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?266572-Ever-mixed-in-Alox-in-the-lube&p=3105054&viewfull=1#post3105054

[Good Cheer]

When using a mold with a gas check base it might take an extra card to keep from cutting the side of the boolit.
The RCBS 405 grain needs extra thickness behind it in my .458 bore New Englander 'cause the pressure pushes around where the step base provides less support.
Then again, a stiffer card than what I'm using might not have that problem.