Need help FAST re: maxi-hunter bullets

[Throckmorton]

Just went to the Hodgdon site and they said you had to use a felt wad under the bullet.this was in the Pyro pellets section.
What if we use loose Pyro? We wanted to shoot a dozen today just for fun but don't have felt wads and can't get them beforre we leave.:(
what say you? can we shooot 'em anyway or are we gonna lead up the barrel something horrible.??
Thanks!!!
It's a .50 cal t/c Hwken percussion btw.

[BS2]

A WAD or card under the bullet helps to keep the gasses from cutting the base of the bullet. That is where accuracy is lost. You can cut them out of heavy card stock, like the backing of writing tablets, or matt used for picture framing. A little big won't hurt a thing.

Wad info:

I shoot Hornady 410s with a MMP SUB-BASE, I also shoot a 370 Grain Maxi with
a card wad under the bullet!

My groups wint from 3-4" at 100yds down to 1 1/2 and smaller just by using
the sub-base and the card wad under the bullets. My loads are Goex, 90FFF to
115FF, out of my .50 cal. with a 1 in 30 twist.


Some of the WAD links that I have found

http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/browse.cfm/4,4964.html
http://www.sagebrushproducts.com/ShootingProducts.htm
http://www.circlefly.com/
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/categories/tableList.aspx?catID=2&subID=37&styleID=118

Some of the more expensive " Veggie" wads are made from:

Vegetable fiber gasket material engineered to resist high heat & compression
and water resistant.

Or you can make your own with some heavy card stock and a Gasget [Arch]
punch.

[kenjuudo]

I run about half a case of Pyrodex RS a year behind pure lead conicals, I've never shoved a wad down the bore in my life.

jim

[versifier]

Throckmorton, You shouldn't have problems with lead building up, assuming you're lubing them. The main issue is one of accuracy. BS2 is right on target about the bullet bases being deformed, but it might or might not matter. How accurate do you need? If it was for a match, it would make a lot of difference, but you are talking about using a bullet specifically designed for its performance on deer-sized game, not for how small a group it can produce on paper. For hunting or informal shooting, it really shouldn't make much difference: "Minute of deer", as they say. The groups may open up, possibly quite a bit, but in all likelihood will still pass the "pieplate" test. I don't use the damned things (wads) for hunting loads, though I do play with them on the range occasionally, like when someone at the club asks about them and wants to see what happens. Those are cardboard or matboard, as BS2 suggested, but cardboard is a lot easier to work (trace the base with a pencil and use scissors) than matboard without the special freehand cutters that framers use (and I worked in the trade for almost twenty years - single ply rag barrier paper is fine, but expensive unless you have access to scrap, or even heavy weight watercolor paper will do a good job). If I'm really concerned about accuracy, I'd be shooting a patched round ball or a sabot anyway, not a maxi-ball or a maxi-hunter. Group sizes are irrelevent to a dead deer, no?

[Throckmorton]

next time out we'll try both ways and see what the rifle does with each.
for today we just shot w/out them,and accuracy was 'minute of pie plate' at least.we're new to it all so lerning as we go.
It sure is fun!! :D

[versifier]

Isn't it though? The lighter projectiles, as you probably already know, are a lot easier on the shoulder, too. You can cast your own .44 cal bullets out of pure lead for your .50 and shoot them with TC sabots that you can buy w/o bullets. They may have to be sized (mine do for my .54) but the Lee sizers are inexpensive and do the job easily. Some think liquid alox is messy, but not in comparison to bp lubes!

[Throckmorton]

but what a HOOT TO SHOOT!!
A few of 'me anyway.
and man oh man what they do to a milk jug full o' water.:)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/Throckmorton/pics%20for%20sharing%20online/MilkjuginfullSPLAT.jpg

and this was ''just" 70 gr. Pyro RS and a 350 maxi hunter.We'll work our way up to the 'big boys'.
Or not.:)