AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Black Powder Shooting => Topic started by: Banjoman on February 06, 2020, 05:19:08 AM
-
My search for a flintlock longarm has led me to a 62 caliber fusil de chasse which I plan to use squirrel hunting. I have used natural materials such as grass and wasp nest for wads in my tower pistol with adequate results. I'd like to hear what natural materials some of you have used for wads in smooth bore long guns and how did it work. My goal is a period correct shot load.
-
I naturally get all my shotgun wads from Trackofthewolf.
-
Well naturally!
-
I have used tow over the powder and leaves over shot. Managed to kill the three squirrels I shot at that day. Never did pattern that combination. Two of the squirrels were less than 20 yards away, but one was about 30 yards up a hickory tree.
-
That's kinda what I'm thinking since I have some tow. Are there any books out that address topics like this?
-
Just a thought. If green leaves are used as wadding over powder then shot, do you think the water in the leaves would be forced out upon firing and help keep the barrel clean?
-
I wouldn't think so, Lynn, but with such "loose" loads, it would not make any difference. Even when using
thin overshot cards between powder and shot and overshot, there is no appreciable buildup impinging on loading.
I have done this, shooting up to 20 shots out of my 20 bore, using only thin B wads, 2 over powder and 1 over the shot
and had no difficulty loading all 20 shots.
-
Daryl,
Green ivy leaves work V well for wadding over powder, but not for leaving loaded overnight, or the green leaves dampen the powder.
They were all we used when duck and wood-pigeon shooting over laid fields of grain before harvest. No chance of fires.
The leaves are rolled up into a ball and stuffed down and produce similar results to proper wads. The ducks were just as dead.
As I've said before, this was told me by an old gunsmith about 50years ago and has worked this long for me.
Lynne,
To me, the barrel seemed to stay clean enough when using green leaves. Never recall a problem, not like when a stiff card wad was used. Or cork. Cork (dry) can get real hard to ram home.
Banjoman,
"An Essay On Shooting" (1793 I Think) has a list of good wadding, and some that were worthless. Moss thet hangs from trees works V well. Paper also good, rolled up and rammed home, but some fire risk in dry weather.
An old mate back home , (Very good gun resteroer too) when a young bloke, had an Old neighbour who liked his partridge shooting.
Over there, turnip fields are a favourite spot for holding partridges.
When he set out, he'd pull a smaller turnip (swede) and cut a slice a good quarter of an inch thick. After the powder was poured home, he'd lay the slice of turnip overt he muzzle, and whack it with his palm, and drive a plug of turnip into the bore. He never used anything else when shooting in turnip fields.
(Bit like a "Spud -gun"!)
-
That's interesting. Thanks!
-
I should have said, that in the 18th C there was something of a dearth of patent wadding. This latter showed up in the 19th century.
Before that, a wad punch was supplied when a gun was bought, and a sheet of pasteboard.
Gunmakers kept sheets of pasteboard in stock for customers.
The fact that we now judge "organic and free" stuff for wads as something a little odd, does not detract from the fact that "odd stuff" was the most common in the 18th C and earlier. (packing from and old saddle was good)
By the 19th C decent and good wadding could be purchased from gunmakers.
Some of the best was anointed around the edges with a mercury ointment which loaded easily all day, removed leading completely, and likely added flavour to your sandwiches at lunch -time!
-
Thanks for the replies. This has been a very interesting thread. I have 2 smoothbores to develop shot loads for and have much info to experiment with......Lynn
-
Same here.
-
Some have found that if un-choked, light weight wads between powder and shot works best. Some use the thin overshot cards only, 1 to 3 between shot and powder.
-
Daryl,
In Hawker's day, wads no thicker than 1/3 the diameter of the bore were touted as best.
-
Well, whatever works best. Back in the day, "they" also thought a gun constricted in the middle of the bore and more open at both ends, shot harder as well. (1860)
Perhaps it did, simply due to the choke in the middle of the barrel, restricting wad flight as a modern choke performs, or due to the enlarging of the bore, the pressure
was completely bled off so no muzzle blast to send the wads through the shot column.
-
Watch out, those wounded squirrels bite!! Have a nice stick / club handy. I learned the hard way.
-
I've mentioned this artifact before and took it to the Cumberland Show last year. in 2005 an English trade gun (Carolina gun, signed Williams) was recovered from the Suwannee River in FL. It was loaded with a ball and the wadding was either palmetto or palm tree fiber from the trunk of the tree. I don't know what was used over the ball, but that's what was between the powder and ball. James Levy
-
Thanks Levy! That's interesting. Since I pour balls and shot from scrap lead and use flint found on the farm, I thought it would be cool to use wads 'off the land' and not something store bought. I have tried several things and am looking for new/old ideas. I also make my own accoutrements such as possibles bags, measures, ram rods, tools, knives, ball bags, horns, etc. I haven't made a gun yet, maybe later. Store bought items may be convenient, but I think handmade items are much more interesting.
-
Daryl,
The boring was called "Friction and relief".
It is roughly as you describe, but in very small measures.
A sporting gun could be made slightly larger at the breech to help retard the charge until it built up pressure, then a longish length of parallel bore, then, opened up a little for a few inches at the muzzle a few thousandths.
The opened up muzzle slightly reduced pressure, to prevent blowing patterns.
Hawker in his book measures duck gun bores and patterns them on paper as well as penetration tests.
He chose duck guns, as the larger bores were easier to measure, but also includes a few favourite small guns of his own.
A game -gun could also be made a little Tighter at the chamber end to retard the charge as well.
-
I'll confess, I have not patterned my muzzleloading smoothbores, but I have experimented with natural wadding. You read a lot about tow (flax or hemp fiber) being used for this purpose. I've tried it; it works. I will say that tow is also used as tinder. Much of the tow (nearly always flax fiber) offered by vendors and sutlers has been treated with a fire retardant, whether they know it or not. Obviously, this would make lousy tinder, and may be the reason some folks have difficulty getting a fire going with flint and steel. On the other hand, tow treated with a fire retardant sounds like a pretty good idea for wadding in your firelock, especially if the woods are dry where you hunt.
Dr. Levy reported an archaeological find in his post above; a musket was wadded with palmetto fiber. I had heard this before, and I have tried it (I live in Florida and palmetto is a very common plant). The fiber is much like coconut fiber, which should not be surprising. It works very well for wadding, and makes excellent tinder. I made a gadget years ago, which is basically a foot-long rod of 5/16" steel with a 2" right angle hook bent in one end and a handle of antler on the other. The hook is somewhat flattened on the end. I made it for hunting arrows lost under grass or leaves, but I was amazed at how useful it is: back-scratcher, fire-poker, lightweight "pickeroon," and also palmetto fiber gatherer. It works great. If you want to gather palmetto fiber, you need to go into a palmetto thicket. Be prepared to come face to face with ticks, scorpions, "black widders," and various species of snakes.
Spanish moss, whether green (gray and fuzzy) or dead (black and fibrous; looks like pubic hair... we're all adults here), serves well as wadding. The "black moss" is also excellent tinder.
My dad, who was from Alabama, told me hornet's nest was the preferred wadding in his area. Dad was born on a subsistence farm in 1907. Muzzleloaders were in general use in that area until well after World War I. I know wasp nest works, because I have tried it, but Dad specifically said hornet's nest. There is a difference. Wasp nest is soft and compressible, while hornet nest is tough and leathery.
I have used leather wads. I first read about this in Muzzle Blasts many years ago. A 5/8" arch punch, as used for leatherwork, cuts perfect wads for a 20 gauge muzzleloader. This is a good way to use up scraps of leather which are too small for anything else.
George Emmons was a late 19th century military officer and amateur ethnographer. He wrote monographs on the Tlingit and Tahltan people of the Pacific Northwest. He reported both of these groups used shredded bark as wadding in their trade muskets. I'm guessing this was inner bark of the cedar. Meanwhile, George Bent wrote that the Southern Cheyenne people used shredded willow bark for wadding. I have used shredded (actually pounded, with a wooden hand maul) inner bark of the local southern red cedar for wadding and for tinder. It works very well for both.
I guess all of that is more than two cents worth. Maybe worth a nickel...
Notchy Bob
-
I'll confess, I have not patterned my muzzleloading smoothbores, but I have experimented with natural wadding. You read a lot about tow (flax or hemp fiber) being used for this purpose. I've tried it; it works. I will say that tow is also used as tinder. Much of the tow (nearly always flax fiber) offered by vendors and sutlers has been treated with a fire retardant, whether they know it or not. Obviously, this would make lousy tinder, and may be the reason some folks have difficulty getting a fire going with flint and steel. On the other hand, tow treated with a fire retardant sounds like a pretty good idea for wadding in your firelock, especially if the woods are dry where you hunt.
Dr. Levy reported an archaeological find in his post above; a musket was wadded with palmetto fiber. I had heard this before, and I have tried it (I live in Florida and palmetto is a very common plant). The fiber is much like coconut fiber, which should not be surprising. It works very well for wadding, and makes excellent tinder. I made a gadget years ago, which is basically a foot-long rod of 5/16" steel with a 2" right angle hook bent in one end and a handle of antler on the other. The hook is somewhat flattened on the end. I made it for hunting arrows lost under grass or leaves, but I was amazed at how useful it is: back-scratcher, fire-poker, lightweight "pickeroon," and also palmetto fiber gatherer. It works great. If you want to gather palmetto fiber, you need to go into a palmetto thicket. Be prepared to come face to face with ticks, scorpions, "black widders," and various species of snakes.
Spanish moss, whether green (gray and fuzzy) or dead (black and fibrous; looks like pubic hair... we're all adults here), serves well as wadding. The "black moss" is also excellent tinder.
My dad, who was from Alabama, told me hornet's nest was the preferred wadding in his area. Dad was born on a subsistence farm in 1907. Muzzleloaders were in general use in that area until well after World War I. I know wasp nest works, because I have tried it, but Dad specifically said hornet's nest. There is a difference. Wasp nest is soft and compressible, while hornet nest is tough and leathery.
I have used leather wads. I first read about this in Muzzle Blasts many years ago. A 5/8" arch punch, as used for leatherwork, cuts perfect wads for a 20 gauge muzzleloader. This is a good way to use up scraps of leather which are too small for anything else.
George Emmons was a late 19th century military officer and amateur ethnographer. He wrote monographs on the Tlingit and Tahltan people of the Pacific Northwest. He reported both of these groups used shredded bark as wadding in their trade muskets. I'm guessing this was inner bark of the cedar. Meanwhile, George Bent wrote that the Southern Cheyenne people used shredded willow bark for wadding. I have used shredded (actually pounded, with a wooden hand maul) inner bark of the local southern red cedar for wadding and for tinder. It works very well for both.
I guess all of that is more than two cents worth. Maybe worth a nickel...
Notchy Bob
Awesome info Bob. Thank you.
Mike
-
Yes, definitely.
-
Just a thought. If green leaves are used as wadding over powder then shot, do you think the water in the leaves would be forced out upon firing and help keep the barrel clean?
Or dampen fouling from the previous shot and ring the bore. Water and powder fouling left for any time is not a good mix.
Dan
-
Dan,
What Are you talking about?
How many use spit as a lube and manage to not ring the bore?? Green leaves have very little water in them. Sufficient to not be a fire problem, and that's what we used them for.
Best,
Richard.
-
We don't use water based or spit lubes for hunting, though. A load with water based lube is never in the bore longer than a few minutes.
Guys that do, rust their tubes.
-
I would hate to depend on hornets nest now days i hardly ever see any around here any more.
-
I unloaded an old percussion double that appeared to have been underwater for a long time. It had Spanish moss in it for wadding.
Bob
-
Daryl,
Very true, but I only mentioned "spit lube" as water was mentioned.
It would be a hard task to wring water out of ivy leaves....
Re the leaves, I was told and passed on the fact that any other tough leathery leaves will do. These leaves are not succulent types.
I have also made the point whenever this topic arises, to not leave the gun loaded overnight.
Using leaves was the only real safe way, when shooting over harvest fields that can be bone dry.
Shifty,
I could send you some hornets if you like. We seem up to the eyes in them I the summer!
Bob,
Spanish moss Does work well.
Best,
R.
-
I’ve burned green ivy when cleaning up yard trimmings. It has some resins or oils in it or maybe a waxy coating. I’d not worry about rusting. These are good discussions because from studying and working on quite a few original barrels, most are pretty bad inside especially at the breech. I think that’s due to shooting, and reloading and leaving it loaded until it’s shot again. Maybe days later. It does shock me to find old rifles that essentially cannot be loaded because of their condition, with the powder chamber eroded so that no rifling is present.
But, I digress. I think many folks today trend toward one of two camps. One is attracted to the very best possible practice, sort of “best English gentleman” style. The other camp is more “country” or even “frontier”. Understandably, their preferences will be confusing at best to those approaching things from the other end of the spectrum.
-
Dan,
What Are you talking about?
How many use spit as a lube and manage to not ring the bore?? Green leaves have very little water in them. Sufficient to not be a fire problem, and that's what we used them for.
Best,
Richard.
Does not take much water. BP fouling is only really active when its damp or wet. Either from high humidity or contact with liquid water.
If you use spit patches a lot and/or leave the gun loaded for a time after it was fired as when hunting you run a very real risk of ringing the bore. If you have shot spit patches a lot have you ever pulled the breech and looked? I have BTDT. Because in loading a ring of wet fouling is pushed down in front of the patched projectile. Yeah I shot a lot of spit patches when I was a kid. I stopped after my 58 started needing a larger ball to get any accuracy and I pulled the breech and looked.
If you are going to hunt with the thing it needs to be loaded to give the best PATTERN/accuracy in order to be ethical. Why people insist on playing games of this sort when hunting is beyond me.
Part of this game it to learn what it was like back in the day, experimental archeology if you will. So experimentation is part of the game. I don't do shotguns and I sure will not use wadding with water in it if the gun is to be loaded for more than 30 seconds. I have killed far more grouse and pheasant with a pistol, ML or otherwise, than with a shotgun. Cause I never packed a shotgun around (its not even a good club if you are trapping) and very seldom went bird hunting. In the high country guiding elk hunters a shotgun is just excess baggage. And yes I have guided hunters carrying a FL rifle. Shotguns are too inefficient unless shooting birds on the ground in a flock. Which is the only way that makes any sense economically and I am sure that this was done a lot then and is now by subsistence hunters.
When reading old writing etc one must also remember that there have always at least 3 levels of firearms ownership. In Colonial times and long after a man was required to have a firearm and a supply of powder and balls for it for militia use. Most of these people had no other use for the thing and only used it if forced to. "Gun owners". All they needed was the cheapest thing they could find to meet the requirement. One of the Outfitters I used to guide for came to the mountains once with a rifle with a bore completely plugged with a grease like RIG. Had not a friend of mine and another "Rifleman" type not given the rifle a look the "gun owner" might well have blown his head off had he reason to shoot the rifle. He was a "gun owner". "Shooters". They actually use the thing, perhaps for hunting or shooting a Fox around the hen house. Or during game drives where the farmers killed everything that was not a domesticated animal to protect crops. But they did not put any time or effort into making sure things are just like they need to be and most thought of the firearm as a tool and it got treated as such. Perhaps even kept in the barn. Then we have "Riflemen". They understand the firearm and how to the get the most out of it. So when we read old writings we have to filter them. Why would they use grass for wadding? Didn't have or could not afford anything else? Or just a gun owner who did not much care? AND you will even find things written by someone who is well respected, like Ned Roberts, that are pretty questionable based on trying to do it today. Shooting picket bullets for example I am not the only one who thought ???? after some experimentation. It just not possible to get accuracy (better than paper plate sized groups at 25-30 yards) without a guide starter and these are both heavy and easily damaged so I can't see people using them in the field. Or the line that Brockway fed him on working up powder charges for slug guns, makes no sense at all, and based on some of my experiments with a RB rifle, cannot be duplicated. Roberts was a Rifleman type but some of the stuff just makes no sense. So when reading some old writing we need to be careful about taking it at face value. Unless we can verify it though our own experiments or there is some logic to it such as field expedient or financial reason.
Dan
-
Can you tell how much Dan enjoys the smoothbores ;D
-
I've used wasp nests for a lot of years, with good results. I just carry a supply in my bag, and when needed I pinch off a good bit and into the bore with it. It packs nicely and seals off the bore for me. I live in the south though, and wasp nests are pretty easy to find around the eaves of old buildings etc..
-
Dan I agree with what you say about smooth or rifled guns and using any kind of water based lube. However the only thing I agree with when shooting birds with shotguns is the old adage" if they live on the ground like rabbits they should die on the ground like rabbits.
Come shot desert quail and see how many you kill shooting them on the ground. The trick with them is putting enough pressure on them to get them to fly. Bad things happen to them when they fly. The little rascals are born with Nike's on their feet.
.
-
Dan I agree with what you say about smooth or rifled guns and using any kind of water based lube. However the only thing I agree with when shooting birds with shotguns is the old adage" if they live on the ground like rabbits they should die on the ground like rabbits.
Come shot desert quail and see how many you kill shooting them on the ground. The trick with them is putting enough pressure on them to get them to fly. Bad things happen to them when they fly. The little rascals are born with Nike's on their feet.
.
I think you just made my point.
Pheasants like to rub too.
-
Can you tell how much Dan enjoys the smoothbores ;D
Everything has a use. But people really set my teeth on edge with the "versatility" thing. They are special purpose guns or for people with poor eyesight. As a practical subsistence firearm they fail miserably. Thats why there were so many small bore squirrel rifles in the 19th c after the need for militia service largely disappeared.
Dan
-
I know, I know......waste of powder and lead. We are just enjoying a what if discussion of way back then smoothbore loading methods.
-
Dan,
Back in the UK, mostly Everything is shot with a shotgun.
Yes there are exceptions, ...deer stalking and licenses for rifled arms for vermin destruction, but everything else gets clobbered with a shotgun and it has Always been that way.
It too sets my teeth on edge when someone says what we have been doing since powder and shot was invented isn't right or sense...
We come from totally different backgrounds, and a small bore squirrel rifle makes No sense at all in some parts of the world.
I'd suggest looking up "Market Gunners" sometime. These chaps were as close to subsistence hunters as they come, and all used the smooth-bore.
In England, these old marsh-men were called "Fishermen -Fowlers" as that's how they made their living, Fishing, Eeling, and shooting wildfowl in the winter.
This was their only income, apart from mowing marsh-grass and reeds for the London market.
All the best,
Richard.
-
Dan,
Back in the UK, mostly Everything is shot with a shotgun.
Yes there are exceptions, ...deer stalking and licenses for rifled arms for vermin destruction, but everything else gets clobbered with a shotgun and it has Always been that way.
It too sets my teeth on edge when someone says what we have been doing since powder and shot was invented isn't right or sense...
We come from totally different backgrounds, and a small bore squirrel rifle makes No sense at all in some parts of the world.
I'd suggest looking up "Market Gunners" sometime. These chaps were as close to subsistence hunters as they come, and all used the smooth-bore.
In England, these old marsh-men were called "Fishermen -Fowlers" as that's how they made their living, Fishing, Eeling, and shooting wildfowl in the winter.
This was their only income, apart from mowing marsh-grass and reeds for the London market.
All the best,
Richard.
Here, here!
-
Dan I guess I did not state my point clearly. You aren't going to shoot many desert quail on the ground.
As far as shotguns go, to become proficient with them you you need to spend a lot of time shooting them.
There was a time when I truly believed that shotguns are for those that cannot shoot a rifle. Well needless to say I was proven wrong when I was compelled to hunt with one. I decided to become a wing shooter. I put away my rifles and pistols and did not touch them for over a year. I immersed myself in the shotgun sports. To become an efficient killer with a shotgun takes more time and dedication than what it takes with a rifle.
I have great respect for you Dan. I first read your name in the buckskin report. July '78 issue. There is a photo of you with an antelope you shot with a .58 caliber flint Hawken. The photos in the Buckskin Report were generally difficult to see . Always wondered why Mr. Baird used such a crappy printer.
By the way if you still have that photo I would really love to see it.
-
Dan,
Back in the UK, mostly Everything is shot with a shotgun.
Yes there are exceptions, ...deer stalking and licenses for rifled arms for vermin destruction, but everything else gets clobbered with a shotgun and it has Always been that way.
It too sets my teeth on edge when someone says what we have been doing since powder and shot was invented isn't right or sense...
We come from totally different backgrounds, and a small bore squirrel rifle makes No sense at all in some parts of the world.
I'd suggest looking up "Market Gunners" sometime. These chaps were as close to subsistence hunters as they come, and all used the smooth-bore.
In England, these old marsh-men were called "Fishermen -Fowlers" as that's how they made their living, Fishing, Eeling, and shooting wildfowl in the winter.
This was their only income, apart from mowing marsh-grass and reeds for the London market.
All the best,
Richard.
Here, here!
But I don't live in the UK. Nor was I discussing the UK.
I understand what you say about shotguns and there are Americans who live in heavily populated areas that are forced to hunt small game like squirrel with a shotgun. But it sets MY teeth on edge when people tell me how versatile a shotgun is. Just because you are FORCED to use it for what ever reason or it works for the specific game hunted does not make anything I said invalid. Especially in the context of 18th or 19thc. America. Telling me how much shooting is done in the UK with a shotgun is completely meaningless to the observation that the small bore ML rifle, anything under 45 caliber, is and was more efficient than a shotgun for small game as far as pound of lead for pound of meat produced. This is not important for someone shooting for sport with disposable income or someone shooting water fowl on the water for the market. For someone who trades grain or whiskey or labor for powder and lead to shoot something to eat or protect crops or their LIFE, because they have no currency then the COST of ammo is more important. In the context of American longrifle many people who used them in the "ML era" were SUBSISTENCE hunters. There are STILL places in the US where subsistence hunting is legally recognized and people who live in remote areas get a special season.
Have YOU ever tried hunting Antelope with a NW Trade Gun? I have. Its frustrating as $#*! trying to get in range of an animal with 8 power vision and won't even stop running for at least a mile with a top speed designed to outpace the Cheetah that lived here at the time they appeared. They will stop maybe 1 1/2-2 miles away on a ridge and look back at you. You of course will need binoculars, they don't. Its hard enough with a FL rifle.
A great many Americans used to hunt waterfowl with large bore shotguns and punt guns for the market. Where is was practical to do so but not everyone in the US lived in a place where this was all that viable. My g-grandfather used to market hunt deer with a trapdoor Springfield.
I paid all the hospital bills for my first child trapping beaver. I have guided hunters in occupied G bear habitat carrying a 50 caliber FL rifle. I have actually done things much like what people in the 18th and 19th c did.
Because for MY firearm uses the shotgun was not and is not worth carrying I have not even shot at anything with a shotgun in 30 years. I had a pretty nice 18 bore German Silver mounted Belgian double when I was a kid. But it never really got much use. And I think I sold it after I got out of the Army.
I can take you to places I hunt where you can walk for miles and never see a game bird. Or a duck or a goose. Where I grew up, Iowa, birds, Pheasants, were pretty common. But like I stated I seldom carried a shotgun sop if I shot one it was with a pistol usually. If I was trapping it was always a pistol. Rabbits and squirrels were better shot with a small bore rifle 32-40 caliber. In the mid 60s I used to hunt rabbits with a 32 cal percussion rifle loaded with as little as 15 grains of powder when hunting rabbits setting under bushes or brush piles. Hard to beat that for efficiency.
Dan
Supper after a day in the saddle when I was a lot younger. 50 cal RB at 800 +- fps just pokes a hole no meat loss. Have shot them with a 50 cal rifle with a reduced load too. Head shots with a 54 FL pistol.
(https://i.ibb.co/VWJsTh9/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW-thumb-1fff.jpg) (https://ibb.co/7JjqKTC)
-
Dan,
The title of this thread is, "Natural Materials for Smoothbores".
Very best,
R.
-
I finally got to take my smoothie out last Sunday and try it out...
I took a handful of different materials to try out as wadding for both shot and roundball loads. Not all of these are "natural" though
I had punched out several wads from varying thicknesses of cardboard with my 5/8 punch. They worked fine but were a little tedious in the handling/loading department.
I also had a wad of brown craft paper. It worked well for stuffing down the bore over a ball... Just tear off a hunk, wad it up, send it down the bore... but it also was a definite fire hazard. I recovered a few that were still smoldering. I did mitigate this by wetting it with saliva while measuring/pouring powder... But that isn't a good solution for hunting where the shot may not be taken immediately after loading.
I was shooting out at a family member's property and they raise sheep. Specifically "hair" sheep for the meat market instead of wool. However their "hair" is still quite woolly and there are usually shed hunks of it lying around. It too worked as intended for wadding over a roundball.
The material I liked the best was leather. I had a scrap piece of 3-4 oz veg tan I had stuck in my bag and I tried it out. Rather than punching out a bunch of discs with my punch I just cut off a square hunk with my knife as I needed it...3/4" to 7/8" or so... Not real sure of the actual size... And just stuck it in the bore. The corners and edges would roll up and fit snug. Then just push it down and seat it on top of the ball. This was a really good method... No fiddling around in pockets/tins for pre-cut wads. Just grab the hunk of leather and cut off a square.
I didn't manage to recover and inspect any of the leather wads. I did look out where I was shooting looking for visible signs and saw no traces of smoking/smoldering. Didn't see any like I did with paper wadding. I know leather will char but I've never known it to smolder and burn... At least my gloves never have while welding/torching.
I dabble (very poorly) in leather work so the scrap leather is "free" for me. Otherwise I would just be throwing it away.
I'm new to smoothbore shooting so that's what I learned so far about wadding. YMMV.
Mike
-
Thanks for the info. If the monsoons ever slow up here in East Tennessee I plan on taking my fusil de chasse out for a shooting day.
-
I use tow, wasp nest, green leaves, grass... I've tried a number of different things in smooth bore guns. At home, in the woods where I shoot most often, there is an abundance of ferns growing and I've just stripped off some of that to shoot. On Saturday, I put a bunch of town in my pouch, but ended up using the ferns instead both over the powder and over the ball (bare, but kind of nestled in a nest of fern). This is five shots at a 2-pint can of paint from 40 yards off hand. Honestly, I can’t tell the difference in accuracy using bare ball over patched ball when shooting off hand, unless I don’t use anything as an over powder wad. I like simple. Of course, I also like wearing hand-stitched clothes from documented patterns, so I know I’m weird.
(https://i.ibb.co/QQqbz7m/can.jpg) (https://ibb.co/sRDmkp3)
-
I finally got to shoot my fusil de chasse today. Using 70 grains of Goex 2f and 70 grains of #6 shot, I tried different wad materials such as wasp nest, leather, flannel, green leaves, brown paper and pieces of unraveled jute string. The wasp nest worked best in this gun producing very tight, dense groups at twenty five yards
-
One of the real nice things of using wasp nest is for some reason the nests usually don't hold a ember like many other wads do. many times I've found wadding or cloth patches, TOW smoldering on the ground. Some years in very dry weather this can be pretty scary. Just a thought.
-
That's true. When using the unraveled jute string, a smoldering wad of it actually penetrated and stuck in a cardboard box at 25 yards! I decided real quick that this would not be a good choice for the dry squirrel woods. We have a seemingly endless supply of wasp nest around the farm so this will be what I use most.
-
Commercial wads do not 'catch' and smolder that I've seen.