paper mache wad for roundball load

[William Yanda]

Gents:
I woke up in the middle of the night recently, thinking about how to center the ball in roundball loads.
Two very different approaches:
The first was to use 3 buckshot under the ball, probably with filler.
The second was to use paper mache to make a wad with a depression. In my cogitations I was using tubes cut from 12 Ga. shells, set in holes drilled in a 2X4 and paper mache made using-don't tell mlw-the paper shredder. I tried a search with no results.
Any thoughts? Am I reinventing the wheel?
Thanks
Bill

[longbow]

I've thought of the same thing myself but did not pursue it because it is more than a bit labour intensive. Donut wads would be easier in my opinion.

I just wound up using balls that fit the bore or shotcup well... or patched balls (0.662") up to good fit with and that worked well for me.

No reason paper mache wouldn't work though if you want to try it.

The Corbin swaging site also mentions that cornstarch forms a plastic like material when compressed under typical swaging pressures so can be used to make sabots and such. That sounded like a something to pursue if a guy had a swaging press ~ which I don't.

A significant benefit of using your paper mache idea or donut wads is that an choke friendly ball can be used and shot in anything from cylinder bore to at least ball size choke.

Most don't seem to worry about that much but I am always concerned that a bore diameter solid ball or slug load may at some point find itself in a choked gun.

Longbow

[heathydee]

I use a 20 gauge over-powder cup cut off a plastic wad . I use a new winchester wad but a used one would probably work just as well . Cut it off . Upside down inside a 12 gauge shot cup . Centres and cushions the round ball brilliantly .

[Janoosh]

I remember a product from awhile back...Collet Cup Sabot. Their first product was a paper mache sabot for shotgun shells.

[hatcreek]

Here's my 2 cents... A while back I purchased some cs12 competition special from BPI, they were not what i excepted so I put them away , any who I just started to load the .69 round ball and did not have any brush wads nor donut wads, so looking around for some gas checks, I found the forgotten wad, here's what I did, I cut the gas check off the wad and set the ball in the gas check upside down, and set the check on a 12s3 wad, or take the cs12 wad cut the petals off and set the check and ball a top, I hope my pictures make sense, as of yet I have not shot any of these rounds, hope it helps... HC

[heathydee]

Attachment 100532
Here is my version .

[William Yanda]

I'm using Federal shells I got from a member here. Where are you getting your load data?
Bill

[hatcreek]

I'm using load data for a 1 1/8 oz shot load, from lymans 5th, and Hodgdon...... HC