Wads

[Pappy 1]

I never gave it much thought about the wads that are placed into a black powder case. I have used some size 60 and 30 mm. My questions is what does the thickness have to do with the wad. I know he thicker wad will take up more case capacity where a smaller wad you can fill the case up with more powder. Does the thicker wad protect the back of the bullet more than a thinner one.

[Lead Fred]

I use .030 thick veggie wads. 30mm is over an inch, unless yer loading shotgun.....

I have recovered lots of my wads, and have never found one burnt through yet

[Pappy 1]

I could 't remember but they are .030 and .06. I have never found a wad but I was wondering about the thickness on the wads.

[country gent]

I use napa rubber fiber wads cut .465 dia over powder and under the grease cookie then a .020 playing card wad to keep the cookie from sticking to the bullets base. Many materials have been used and tried from thin leather, veggie fiber, wax milk cartoons, wax paper, newsprint, Certain plastics, all and anything. All you can do is test with diffrent materials. I have had good results with the napa wads ( its actually a roll of gasket material you cut the wads out of).

[PTS]

Pappy1 raises a good question that I’ve wondered about too, here in my early-to-middle stages of bp shooting and that is “Does the thickness of the wad make a difference other than taking up more space?”. I’m using wads much the way S. Venturino wrote about in “Buff rifles of the Old West”.

[country gent]

The wad acts a seal protecting powder from greases and lubes on the bullet the thickness will affect powder compression in a load. I would think they also offer a more square push on the bullet by powder gasses.

[concho]

Ok , Here is what I do for knowing what size wads I use for any caliber , Example 40/65 what size bullet is used to fit to rifling , next what powder is used , and amount for best accuracy now if 50 grains of 3F is the best and there is a gap of .040 thousands when crushed with no bullet damage then you need a .040 spacer a .030 wad and a milk carten wad under bullet or over powder , I load 45/70 ,90, 50/70 ,110 , 40/90 , all using the method described , Takes a lot of work to get the best load but well worth is after it is perfected .

[CanoeRoller]

In the "early" days of Bp loading, there was a fair amount of experimenting with wads. Coffee can lids, milk cartons, cardboard, tablet backing, felt and other materials were tried by different shooters. I even tried the box from my Federal 215 primers. This produced a side effect, a red lube ring that felt like paper wasps' nest. Most shooters settled on something that seemed to work for them, and there was no real agreement that one was better, as each shooter was convinced they had the best backing.

I eventually used a packing material for large cases of continuous feed computer paper.

It was free, and uniform in thickness and density, and ended my experimentation with wads, all the characteristics you want to find in a wad.

I came to believe that the real purpose of the wad was to protect the base of the boolit, as the soft lead can be mashed chaotically when the powder ignites. The back end of a Boolit is like a rudder. A base that is not square is likely to keyhole or become a flyer,

As some shooters are after a softer recoiling load than others, a thicker wad can be a good choice.

[bigted]

so as I understand it ;

1- the wad protects the boolit base to not allow gas cutting the base for accuracy.
2- the wad protects the powder from getting contaminated with lube of any sort.
3- the wad helps to compress the powder squarely with the compression stem.
4- the wad is a separator between the lube cookie [when used] and the powder and or boolit base.

there are some that shoot without a wad of any kind. others would not be caught without a wad in their load column. these are the reasons I know about concerning the wad.

the only concern with the thickness is as to whether it is doing the job desired or would you want/need a thicker material. I have used wads from .002 inch thick to .080 inch thick. wax paper to heavy cardboard. you will have to experiment with your load to find out what is needed for optimal effectiveness for the job you want/need it to do.

as a filler then they can be had or built outta cork or felt to take up space from a lesser load of blackpowder.

[TXGunNut]

I bought a thousand .060" wads when I got started, didn't find any other thicknesses so I'm doing the best I can. I suppose when they run out I'll buy a punch and the fun will begin.

[gmsharps]

I'ved used the walters wads for a long time. Available in both 30 and 60 thousandths. The price is cheap for the work involved. I won a wad cutter when I shot in the nationals way back in 97 and use it when I am running short but a bag of 1000 wads goes for quite awhile. I've used gasket material that works pretty well.

gmsharps