How tight should RB in Wad be? 20ga and .575

[John in WI]

I finally got in my BPI Commander wads for 20ga. They seem to fit a .575 ball much better than my other wad. The ball fits into the Commander without bulging it or separating the petals.

I have a section of sawn off 20ga barrel, and I was not able to push the ball/wad in with my thumb, but a few gentle taps with a rubberized pliers handle and it popped in. If I look from the muzzle end, I can see a faint ring of light around the ball. It looks centered.

I pushed the ball back out with a wooden dowel (and a couple taps). The wad has scuff marks on it from the friction, but it looks to be in good shape. Nothing cut or smashed.

I'm sorry I don't have any measurements--but is that about the right tightness?

[megasupermagnum]

Please respond to one of your many open threads.

[kanaloa]

If it doesn't bulge the case, and holds the ball firmly it should be good to go.

[GregLaROCHE]

If the ball is going to be inside the petals of a wad it could be too tight. If not, you should be ok.

[centershot]

John, are you shooting a smoothbore or a rifled barrel? In my rifled 12 gauge I found that nothing good happened until the wad/ball combo was .010" over the bore ID (.739"). At that point it shot 5 rounds into a jagged 2" hole at 50 yards. I've never fired that load in a smoothbore. The fit in your 20 gauge is what I would call "loose", but if you're using a smoothbore, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it. You may want to snug the fit of the ball with a paper shim around the circumference and adding a nitro card or two under the ball is a good idea. Without the card(s) the wad may get a little twisted when subjected to 10K pounds of pressure. Experiment with different thicknesses of paper wrap. Also, the Commander wad can be utilized to make a non-discarding sabot.