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

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?

Please respond to one of your many open threads.

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

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

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.