Wads

[Guy La Pourque]

Hey fellas - a couple questions about 'over-the-powder wads' here. (Despite the admonishment from my moral and intellectual superiors, I am running the Holy Black in my Uberti 1876 repro chambered for the archaic .45-75. My conscience demands it! )

A. Is there a consensus on whether they should be lubed or dry? I have to put in an order with the boys at Track of the Wolf...which ones should I buy for this black powder cartridge nonsense?

B. Is it possible to put too much lube down the bore?

C. I know with my muzzle loader that cut patches are a Bad Thing. I have recovered a few wads from my first BPC's and almost none of them are whole - they are getting torn up during their trip down the bore. Is this a big deal or common?

Hope y'all had a great Christmas!

[Don McDowell]

Shooting a grease groove bullet, all the wad that is really necessary is a .030 thick fiber wad (gasket material) Lots of folks get by well with wads punched from cereal boxes etc. Some even use nothing more than wax paper.
Yes it's possible to put to much lube down a bore.
The critical part is simply using a bullet designed for blackpowder cartridge and using a good blackpowder cartridge lube.

['74 sharps]

The .060" thickness vegetable fiber work well for me in pistols and rifles and run around $20 per 1000. You can buy direct from the maker, John Walters @ 405.799.0376

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Thin wads can and will give you fined bullets. Accuracy will be affected at the longer
Ranges.

KW
The Lunger

[M71]

Just wondering: Okay, I was in too big of a hurry and ordered up a 1000 ct. bag of Circle Fly .460 1/8" Nitro Cards. I am loading for a 45-70 with the 530 gr Postell. The throat is plenty ample in my 34" barreled Rolling Block so no need to seat the bullet too deep. However are there any obvious drawbacks using that thick of a wad besides taking up valuable case space? I'll drop tube and compress perhaps the 1/8" I'm loosing with the wad. I have experience with the thin Poly Wads, however I wanted to try the "Veggie" variety. Looking at these they just look unnecessarily thick. I can easily send them back for another product. Should I just try them and see how they work? Thank you for your thoughtful responses.

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Give em a try make sure you brass necks are............clean!

KW

[Jeff Houck]

Thin wads can and will give you fined bullets. Accuracy will be affected at the longer
Ranges.

KW
The Lunger

How does having a wad that is to thin allow the bullet to be finned?
Jeff houck

[johnson1942]

buy the proffesional wad cutter from buffalo arms that fits on you loading press. start cutting wads from diff. materials and find out what works for you. i use the .60 thousands thicks fiber wad material but that doesnt mean other material dont work. the neighbors son uses 1/8 inch thick corkrubber gasket material obtained from the local auto store and get less than a minute of angle groups at 100 yards with his italian 45/70. ive even tried plastic one gallon ice cream pails as they are about .30 thousands thick and they work real well. its the cutter i got from buffalo arms. i made a 3/4 inch group at 200 yards once and it was with wads cut from a milk carton. the load was 56 grains of 2f goex dropped tubed in a milk carton wad and a 550 grain pope style bullet. come to think of it i should try to do that load again. all in all if you a mind to get the cutter that fits your loading press and have at it. ive even made wads out of 3 thousands thick brass shim stock and they worked real well also. the possibilities are almost endless with a good wad cutter.

[M71]

Jeff, Perhaps uneven pressure on the bullet base and escaping gas because the very thin wad may not be rigid enough...Just a guess.
Kenny, I split those thick wads in half with a razor blade. My bag of 1000 is now 2000. I loaded some today, the first four were 66 gr. of Goex FFG and then I increased the charge to 68 grains. I also used Federal Match Primers and also loaded some with Fed. Lg. Rifle Magnum primers. I will document any variations in velocity and accuracy.

[oldracer]

The note about trying all types to see what works is spot on. I tried different materials and different thickness and finally settled on milk carton topped with a newspaper wad. Only took me six months to get my best setup.

[johnson1942]

guy la pourque, just out of curiosity guy la pour que, the guy that(what?) dont get it monsieur?

[MRGoodwin]

Anybody ever try leather wads? Thin veg tanned leather seems like it would do the trick!

[BrentD]

MrGoodwin, I have not tried that but I sure want to hear about it, esp in long range muzzleloaders.

[MRGoodwin]

I am going to try a few thin leather wads lubed with pure neatsfoot oil. The neatsfoot oil is used in leatherworking to keep leather supple. I will place a couple newsprint wads over the leather.

[enfield]

I haven't tried any wads or lube cookies with mine ( it will be interesting to hear how they work ) but I have to say a good lube and blow tube sure keeps the fouling from effecting your shots without having to wipe the bore. I will usually blow tube about 4 times after each shot and only run a patch down the bore after about 25 shots or when I go home.

[MRGoodwin]

What are you using for a blow tube? Just curious if there is a technique that works better than others.

[sharps4590]

Understanding this is a bit older thread, Guy, as you see there are many opinions and practices. All of which work, evidently to the satisfaction of the users which proves that there is more than one right way. I've used florist boxes, that flowers come in, for.....goodness....25 years? They usually mic about .020. I can't argue with my results. For 45 cal. a 7/16 arch punch is just about perfect and will provide you with all the wads you can use. I've also used tablet backing, cereal boxes and probably a few other things I've forgotten. I don't remember that any one was significantly better than the other....but one never knows until they try.

Reference a grease/lube cookie I have had to incorporate one with only one cartridge. It is a very old and probably very little known in the US cartridge of 9.3 caliber. It is basically the 9.3 X 72R shortened to 62mm. After very few shots upon wiping the bore it was apparent the bullet simply was not carrying enough lube. Reducing the powder charge to allow room for a cookie and sandwiching the cookie between two .020 wads and that rifle became the most accurate old German rifle I have. It doesn't hurt that the bore is pristine which is a bit uncommon for a rifle from the 1870's/1880's.

[enfield]

I just use a piece of the clear plastic water tubing from the hardware store, I use a 45-70 case with the base drilled out to hold the tubing about 7/16" dia. on the outside.