AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: walt53 on June 13, 2018, 04:45:08 AM
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hi gents , i'm wondering what you guys use or what works best between powder and shot. thanks in advance walt.
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Assume we're discussing shotguns...I use Circle Fly wads I buy from Track of the Wolf.
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I use 2, .125" over powder wads OR a ball of tow.
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so i'm assuming more cushion is better and gives better patterns.
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I do not use cushion wads, they tend to blow holes through the patterns. 2 overpowder and 2 overshot cards only.
Mark
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so i'm assuming more cushion is better and gives better patterns.
Not necessarily. You have to go to the pattern board and find out what your gun likes, they're all different.
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Does anybody else use paper wasp nest? Too late in the summer to collect them now, as they are occupied, but come fall they are very plentiful on the undersides of the roofs of all our farm buildings. The smaller ones are the perfect size to just ball up and stuff down your bore whole. Seemed to throw good patterns out of my 16 after I played with shot size/powder combination.
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Circle- Fly Wads from Track. As my 20 has a choke, I use over-powder 1/8" hard card, then 1/2" fibre cushion, then shot, then thin "B" overshot wad. This
loading makes nice even Modified patterns with my IMP Cyl. choking.
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so i'm assuming more cushion is better and gives better patterns.
The OP wads are hard card wads. I do not use fiber wads because they do not give me the best patterns. There is a fundamental difference between a modern shotgun and a ML shotgun, and that is there is no forcing cone. The forcing cone squeezes the shot column distorting more of the shot than you would get from a ML bore.
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In a muzzleloading gun without a choke, oft times the cushion wad will attempt to plow through the shot column after it leaves the bore, thus making the gun shoot wide patterns a large, or several large holes in it. ie: not even.
As Mike noted, you can adjust shot and powder charges and at some point, will find a combination that will shoot very well, using a standard wad column. Taylor also did this with his Manton which is not choked.
Modern guns benefit from plastic wads, which prevent much scrubbing of the shot in the bore- however if used in BP loads, can coat the bore with melted plastic. That is not something you want.
If you want to use plastic wads, these will help tighten patterns, however put a tight hard card wad between the powder and the plastic, then an overshot card over the shot. You must experiment to see what works
in YOUR gun. some guys use rolled post-it note pad paper as a shot column sleeve, while others have good results from using bank coin wrappers as shot concentrators.
In the 1800's devices were available for concentrating shot for longer range shooting. These had different colour wrappers for different ranges. Some guys have noted, that at close range, their
shot containers shot like slugs, however they did not attempt to use them past 25 yards, where they might have worked perfectly, as with the shot containers made for muzzleloaders, many years ago.
Now, as far as I know, these 'shot containers' were not made in the USA, however they were quite likely imported and most certainly were used here by visiting sportsman, ie: Englishmen as accounts of their use is a part of US History, as re-counted in Firearms of the American West.
Here is one such:
(https://preview.ibb.co/g4dEqJ/Ely_Ctg.jpg) (https://ibb.co/i76dHy)
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As you see Walt, around here there is no such thing as a simple answer to most questions.
Everything hinges on purpose, period, modern/original (equipment/products/desirability), and personal experiences, and the final decision is often made by your gun in cases of loading and performance. Welcome and have fun sorting out the answers that best fit your "question".
Oh and be plenty careful about making assumptions. Oh yeah--those right there can really complicate things. ;) Cheers!