1st time shooting shot in smoothbore

[Nordnecker]

I finally got around to trying some small shot in my 28 ga. Using 3fg for charge and prime. I had the "B" cards and planned on using 2 over the powder and 1 over the shot.
After 3 or 4 shots, I had a notion to swab the bore. I'm glad I did because it was really fouled. It seemed to be the worse about 8" or so from the breech. It was just caked with lead.
We cleaned the bore with various solvents and continued shooting. The pattern seemed to get worse after cleaning???
We tried different amounts of powder between 50 and 65 grains, 55 seamed the best. We tried different combos of cards, wads and wasp nest. Surprisingly, 2 of the best shot troops had wasp nest over the powder card.
When ramming home the overshot card, there was a definite air lock. It would push the ramrod back out of the barrel if you pushed too hard/fast.
We found alot of the cards only a few feet in front of where we were shooting. Some were burnt around the edges a little one or two were burned pretty bad. We never found the felt wads.
I've been reading old posts and searches on these topics. One suggested that the powder is too hot, causing blow-by.
It's a good thing I had a metal range rod and a buddy to help pull it out. If I had been in the field without the ability to clean the bore, I think this might have lead to a potentially dangerous situation.

Cleaning the gun when I got home was somewhat of a chore, actually much worse than I've ever seen it just shooting a patched round ball.

So, is this typical when shooting shot? Your Thoughts?

[Hungry Horse]

 It sounds to me like you haven't been lubing your compression wads, or hornets nest or whatever you are using. Just a little dip in a mixture of rendered fat, mixed with a little bees wax, will make the cleanup, and the loading easier. I have a shoe polish tin that I put over the top of a candle lantern, and fill with tallow, and bees wax. I just dip one end of my cushion wads in the mix, and set them aside to dry. I would suggest using a nitro card over the powder, and splitting the edge of the overshot card to prevent it from compressing air and moving forward creating a dangerous situation.

                    Hungry Horse

[Kermit]

A couple of tricks I picked up somewhere: Using thin overshot cards only, like you did, put two over the powder, but put a little lube between the cards. Load them one at a time with the goop on the bottom of the second card. I've even spit-lubed the cards on the trap range. The second is to notch the edge of the cards. One little notch will do. It lets the air behind the card escape when pushed down the bore, preventing that return piston effect. These notches are very unlikely to line up over the powder compromising the seal. I use a funky old rotary leather punch that's retired from leather work. I punch a small half-circle in one place on the edge. This is pretty quick, certainly easier than doing it with some other tool.

Not finding your cushion wads is evidence that these things can blow holes in patterns. Finding the cards close by shows that they drop out quickly. Those plastic cushions used in shotshells were developed to do this same thing, getting them separated from the moving and expanding shot.

[Feltwad]

All you need is 2 no 1/8 card wads  over powder and 1no 1/16 card wad over shot , if you having difficulty in placing the wad over the powder after only a few shots is mostly due to large size wads for the bore .Forget about a greased felt wad before placing the second 1/8 wad moist it in your mouth or place some spittle in the bore,always use card wads keep well away from plastic wads they will give you more trouble.
Feltwad