20 Ga. Smooth bore Wadding

[canadianml1]

I have a French trade gun with a 0.615 cal smooth bore and plan to use 0.600/0.610 ball with flax tow wadding over the powder and over the ball. Thought about patch and 0.595 ball but not sure how well this would work with all the fouling that Goex produces. The range that I shoot at has just reopened so I will try them out for myself but would appreciate any comments that you have regarding your experience with same.

Thanks

[bob in the woods]

patched balls vs fouling in a smoothbore depends a lot on the patch lube. How much powder, and how many shots ?   A wet lubed patch works but not for hunting. I have never been satisfied with the groups I was able to get with patched balls in my smoothbores.  I like paper cartridges, and at times bare ball on powder with a tow wadding on top.

[canadianml1]

Thanks for your comments, makes sense!

[Pukka Bundook]

I have never really  liked tow for wadding.
 Yes, it will hold a ball in place, but is a bit light and airy and the gas will blow through it unless a  real tight knot of it is well rammed home.
I prefer felt wads, or paper most times, as both are easier to get a good gas seal with.

Good luck!
R.

[rich pierce]

I’ve had to stomp out smoldering tow. Upside of tow is it’s historical and therefore fun to use. Wadded newspaper works for those who don’t want to use punched wads.

[Maven]

canadianml1, I've tried tow wadding fore and aft with a bare ball (.598") + 100gr. FFg ala Mike Beliveau and got poor accuracy, a fouled bore and smoldering bits of tow.  For my gun (GRF 20ga. NW trade gun) a hard OP wad + greased felt wad which I make + .618" RB + thin OS wad works pretty well @ 25 yd. (65gr. - 80gr. FFg), which seems to be the distance my gun prefers.  Better still is a patched RB between .598"  (Lee & Tanner moulds) and  .604" (Lyman mould) with 65gr. - 80gr. FFg.  I've attached a photo of those results, i.e., 2 different diameters of RB's @ 25 yd. so you can see what's possible.  Btw, the .618" RB (Tanner mould), with various wads wasn't quite as accurate, but would be OK for a woods walk if no patched RB's were permitted.

[canadianml1]

Thanks for the comments. I am familiar with Mike Beliveau's youtube tests and that's why I have been leaning towards tow with a stout charge. In his test results there is a hint that some(or a lot of?) gas leakage is actually desirable. I am thinking that maybe the high velocity leakage helps keep the ball centered as it makes its way down the barrel by virtue of the lift/dampening that it provides to the ball..................just a theory. Just as reference,  the French ball diameter used back in the day was .563 with bores varying between .577 and .623 for their 28 caliber (28 balls to the French pound(livre) 20 ga. today). With historical wadding they undoubtedly had a lot of leakage. With the diameters involved it almost seems that they intended to have lots of leakage???
Just thinking out loud. Different gun different results. Thanks again!

[Daryl]

This is a 28 yard, 5 shot group with my 20 bore flinter. This gun has a slight standard choke, perhaps IMP CYL.
The load combination is listed on the target.
I've not tested YET with bare ball and wads.
One of the guys in our club has only one muzzleloader, a 20 bore Pennsylvania fowler he built himself. He uses
about .020" patches and a .595" pure lead ball, with 85gr. 3F - he shoots that gun as well as most of us shoot
rifles. Amazingly accurate. That is another test I must make, 85gr. 3F and patched ball in my smooth bore.
We have zero fouling issues with the combinations we use and loading is unchanged for a day's shooting - no wiping.

[stikshooter]

I use a nice wad of wasp nest over and under ball and no smoldering and best part is no cost if you outrun the wasp 

[Hungry Horse]

 I use nothing under the ball but lots of powder, no patch, and a greased piece of wool blanket, or a chunk of hornets nest on top of the ball. Your undersized ball is about right. My old hunting buddy knocked a bull elk flat in Idaho with one shot at eighty yards with just such a load. And, his trade gun was built from a 27” 20guage shotgun barrel, a Lott lock, and walnut stock harvested off his ranch. The rest of the parts came from my scrap pile, by way of my forge. Good luck.

  Hungry Horse