OP wad material

[kokomokid]

I shoot a .030 LDPE wad behind a greaser bullet and have never had a problem but would like to know if anyone has had problems with LDPE on a dry clean barrel following paper? If you use plastic , what thickness? Also got my Brooks mould and he got it round and size I ordered.

[Lead pot]

I like plastic ice cream bucket wads

[country gent]

Im using napa ruber fiber gasket material for wads now. I used to use milk cartons. I cut my own with a hammer and wad punch. Ive never tried the ldpe plastic wads but may in the future.

[dave roelle]

Excellent choice Leadpot-----------------thats the same polyethylene resin we molded millions of 12 Ga. steel shotshell wads from---------------Soltex T5200 was the resin if i remember correctly.

Many polyethylene's will fracture when cold and exposed to shotshell pressures (much the same a BPCR pressures).

Dave

[Lead pot]

Dave I never found plastic in my bores using it.
But they do create a hazard!! it makes a belt get to short eating what was in that bucket.

[dave roelle]

D*$( thats whats causing the belt shrinkage ----i was blaming humidity

I'm going to try a few "ice cream" wads-----buttered pecan be ok ?

Dave

[Lead pot]

Yeh!! that or swiss chocolate black cherry LOL

[dave roelle]

OMG----------i have one i'lll get the other and compare groups

[kokomokid]

Thanks everyone. Dave are you going to shoot paper patch at the state shoot?

[BrentD]

FWIW, last year, I started using LDPE wads (0.06") from BACO for the first time. They are working really well for me although a bit harder to get in the case. I also use them in my LR muzzleloader where they seem to do quite a bit better than fiber wads. While I don't really like using plastic, I will say that I have never had a better season of shooting than I did last year, so I believe they work very well indeed.

[dave roelle]

Hi kokomokid--------------thats was the plan, last match wasn't a good showing shooting PP----soooooooooooo i loaded up the GG load i have confidence in-----last match might have just been one of those days i'm not sure---------i'm going to work on the PP load a bit more next week, if confidence returns then PP it is, we'll see

I'll see you at the shoot in a couple of weeks we can compare notes !!!!

Hi Brent----------i thought i remembered some poly-wad users had case stretching issues, even some separations-----------there are many polyethylene resins----lots of variations there in density, additive packages and such-----i think i'll order a couple thicknesses of LDPE from a say MSC and see what happens.-------------a thinner wad may not grip the case as hard but may gas cut ---HDPE might be another option for a bit harder material, certainly a lot of things to play with

Have a nice sunday folks

[BrentD]

I don't know if poly stretches brass any more than anything else, but I did measure before/after and that did not happen to me. That may have had something to do with my chamber I suppose, but, in any event, it worked for me.

Is this match you are going to shoot with PPBs, is it a silhouette match? If it is, more power to ya. I haven't seen anyone shoot paper patches at a silhouette match other than myself in years.

good luck!

[kokomokid]

I have been shooting LDPE from buffalo arms for over two years on grease groove and have not stretched any cases but I am anal about cleaning inside of cases. I have not seen anyone shoot PPB since Brent at Raton last year but we are maybe going to (creedmoor) if we can develop a cleaning regiment.

[Gunlaker]

I use 0.060" poly wads from Buffalo Arms in my .45-70 PP rifle and have no stretching. I have had a little bit of stretching in my .45-90 PP rifle, but I think I have that solved now. I don't think it was the wads, but necks that weren't quite clean enough.

Chris.

[dave roelle]

Hi Brent:

I had planned to shoot the match (Texas State Championship Silhouette Match) With PP Brooks Money bullets---i just haven't shot enough to have confidence yet------been shooting PP at club matches for a few months now, learning wiping protocols that work and such-----------using your bore pig idea i have a wiping routing that fits the 12 minute time allotment---the load is cutting paper well i just haven't spent enough time tweaking the fine points yet-----soon i hope.

No matter how well the load can work i'm not a great shot----but i have fun

I don't remember where i read about the stretching issure---it seemed counter intuitive in that Polyethylene is some slippery stuff and shouldn't "grab" case walls----i bet it had more to do with dirty cases than the wad material ----

Paper Patch shooting is fun and a challenge-----------i do think wad column compressibility has a bunch more to do with performance than wads do with Grease Groove bullets, but thats just a gut feeling.

Thanks for the encouragement !!!!!

See ya at the match kokomokid

Thanks for the feedback gunlaker---polywads will get tested soon

Dave

[Lead pot]

I been mostly shooting the .44-100 Rem and the .45-2.4 and last year I started using a wad cut from the Ice cream buckets more then in the past just for comparison between other wad materials I use and I see an improvement in the .44 using a wad cut for the .45.
The ice cream wads run .032" thick and are soft enough that they will seat in the tight necked .44's I shoot and signs are showing that the verticals are staying less then 2" at 200 yards.
I think putting that wad right on top of the powder softens it so it seals the bore quicker to get a consistent gas seal that the hard wads let pass.
Even with the .45 wad in the tight .44 case neck I see no signs of excessive stretching but this could be from the lube wads I seat over the plastic wad lessening the friction against the case wall.

The only problem is, I cant empty the gallon buckets fast enough to keep my supplied with wads as much as I shoot

[BrentD]

Dave,
If you shoot paper patch at a silhouette match, you will be in very rare company. I have only seen maybe 3-4 try is and none have done it in the last several years that I'm aware of. I am the only guy using them at Raton these days. For all the interest on the net and all the guys that wipe now instead of blow tubing, I sure expect to see more shooters using them in that game.

At long range, there is copious amounts of time, so many more folks use them there, still not nearly as many as one would think given how many folks on the net like to talk about them.

Kurt,
I think we all agree that the plastic give a better fit and that is probably more important with bore diameter bullets than it is with groove diameter bullets. The benefit that I see is really subtle however - in the cartridge guns. The muzzleloader made it a lot more obvious. However, I have heard that LDPE is not legal at international muzzleloading matches. Not sure how true that is, but so it has been claimed by someone that should know.

[kokomokid]

Blue Bell recalled all their ice cream yesterday so somewhere lies a lot of LDPE . Brent are you useing one 60 wad without anything else?

[BrentD]

Yes, that is correct.

Crisis in Blue Bell Hollow this morning - BB is an Iowa company this could be a huge state-wide tragedy