Wads for PB Boolits

[Johnw...ski]

I have or will have a few molds for plain base cast boolits that I will be trying soon. I have always used gas checks so this is new ground for me.

Are wads mandatory with PB boolits?
I see at Buffalo Arms that poly, vegetable fiber, and wool are available,
any pros or cons on which to use?
Do I just push them in the mouth of the case and seat the boolit so the wad is against the base of the boolit?
Or do I push the wad down to the powder and leave an air space between the wad and the boolit base?
These will be used in 45-70 and 38-55 cases with smokeless powder, I have been using medium to slow burning powders so the cases have been at least 75% full.

Thanks,

John

[wills]

NEVER LEAVE AN AIRSPACE between a wad and a boolit

Buffalo markets mostly to BP shooters. The wad is placed on top of the BP and the BP is compressed. Newsspaper wad goes on top of the polly,veggie,whatever wad, then the boolit is placed on top of the newspaper wad.

[44man]

DO NOT use wads for smokeless unless the powder is against the base of the boolit. Then for what purpose?
Wads are used for one primary reason with black powder, to adjust the powder charge to reach the base. The second reason is to make it easier to compress the powder so the boolit will fit to the depth and still touch the load. Black powder needs some compression, some brands more then others.
If the black powder charge is large enough to reach the boolit, no wad is needed at all.
The idea that you need one to protect the base is hogwash! Some of our most accurate loads do not use a wad. I use a disk of manila envelope on top of the powder so powder does not stick to my compression die. No other use for it.
If I reduce the charge, then wads are needed to get back up to the boolit, no air gaps allowed over .020".
You can ruin your rifle with wads.
Now a filler like dacron with smokeless is different. It is not compressed and has to reach the base of the boolit. All it does is hold the powder back near the primer.

[Leftoverdj]

Wads are optional and a last resort in my opinion. Normally, they are unneeded, but sometimes they can be used to slightly increase the velocity that PB bullets can be driven accurately. I think of wads as third rate GCs. There is a serious chance of gun damage if there is an airspace between the wad and the base of the bullet.

[w30wcf]

Johnw...ski,

I have found that LDPE wads work very well as a gas check when exceeding the velocities/pressures of plain based bullets. The correct way to use a wad with smokeless is to place the wad into the flared case mouth and then seat the bullet so that the two become one........at least until the length of the barrel has been exceeded.

w30wcf

[Johnw...ski]

Thanks w30wcf thats how I was thinking of using them.
Point taken wills.
Thanks 44man and Leftoverdj, I don't know if yours are the majority views but it's good to hear they are probably unnecessary with smokeless.

Since I am only trying to reach a 200 yard and occasionally a 300 yard paper target I don't really need to push the loads too hard. I guess I can at least start out atwithout wads. Just another variable, would rather keep it simple in my view.

John