I remember them as the poly patch. I never used them, but the biggest complaint I heard pertained to the poor accuracy. It turns out that the concave surface of the "cup" was too smooth to grab the ball, hence there was no transfer of the rifling spin to the ball. The ball would travel straight while the poly patch spun around it. Instant smoothbore. Bill
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poly wads
- Thread starter robinsroost
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GreyWhiskers
69 Cal.
I've kept a handfull of these. Tried them back in the 70s and wasn't too impressed but I really don't remember why. :hmm:
DOUBLEDEUCE 1
69 Cal.
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I still have some of those. Butler Creek I think was the manufacturer. :idunno:
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And there surely were some prominent gunriters pushing them too. And praising the accuracy and ease of loading....
that is just wrongAlanA said:
I understand putting food on the table, but outright lieing and shilling for a company puting out a second rate product is wrong.
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Ohhhhh poly wads! I thought you guys were shooting pollywogs.
cynthialee said:
Amen sister. That's why so many of us don't read the mainstream gun rags. Mostly full of bought-and-paid for writers. See if you can ever find a bad review on any new hunting or shooting product. Just article sized advertizing.
Bill
Yep. Too bad round lead balls aren't sold for more. Hardly worth the cost of sponsoring a hunting show to promote them.
And God makes flint. Not factories.
Ooop - wrong forum . . . Sorry. :redface:
And God makes flint. Not factories.
Ooop - wrong forum . . . Sorry. :redface:
Hornady has reintroduced the concept in .50 caliber. I played with them a bit back in the seventies. I never saw any problem with plastic residue since the plastic used was formulated expressly for that purpose. I also never had any accuracy problems, all in all they seemed to work as well as but not any better than a cloth patch.
http://www.hornady.com/store/50-Cal-.485-Hard-Ball-System-20-Per-Pkg/
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longcruise
70 Cal.
Joe, had similar experience with them. Still have some in .45, .50 and .58. Never had any plastic residue. Never had a ball move (I'm NOT saying it would not happen and suggest to anybody considering using them to heed the possibilty!!).
If the barrel is wiped between shots, they load easily. I experienced accuracy better than cloth patch in all calibers. On a twenty five yard target one could often find a circle or ring where the poly patch had struck the target face dead head on. :haha:
Even so, I quit using them and went back to cloth patch. Much cheaper and perfectly acceptable in all other respects.
If the barrel is wiped between shots, they load easily. I experienced accuracy better than cloth patch in all calibers. On a twenty five yard target one could often find a circle or ring where the poly patch had struck the target face dead head on. :haha:
Even so, I quit using them and went back to cloth patch. Much cheaper and perfectly acceptable in all other respects.
Huntin_Dawg1215
40 Cal.
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I too used them and found none of the listed bad issue. They worked well for me. Don,t use them now because they can't be found in my area. Did not know that Hornady was making them, most likley want use those, have moved on from that.
at .50 cents a pop, I'd just go back to shooting modern
DOUBLEDEUCE 1
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If I read the ad correctly, the poly wad comes with a round ball for each wad. That is why they are so expensive. When I was shooting those things a long time ago, I think the cost of each poly patch/ wad was somewhere in the 5 cent each range, and I supplied the ball. Still expensive at the time when cloth patches worked well.
price of precut/prelubed patches $5 per 100 that comes out to $0.05 per patch. now if you make your own roundballs (which we all should be doing): the Lee 0.490 mold pops them out at around 0.4 oz each when means you get 40 to the pound. and pure lead over the net is around $1.20 per pound shipped on average (unless your getting ripped off). this means yer .490 ball will cost roughly $0.03. the total cost of your patch and ball is $0.08 per shot!
so $0.50 or $0.08, why the heck would any one use these poly wads?
-Matt
so $0.50 or $0.08, why the heck would any one use these poly wads?
-Matt
phoenix511
40 Cal.
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Poly wads: tried some shot cups in my 20ga, left a residue in the bore very hard to clean.
Also tried over-powder wads cut from ice-cream pail lids in both pistol and rifle. All left a residue that seemed like smeared plastic in the bore.
I'd say don't use poly wads in BP.
Also tried over-powder wads cut from ice-cream pail lids in both pistol and rifle. All left a residue that seemed like smeared plastic in the bore.
I'd say don't use poly wads in BP.
GaCop
40 Cal.
I tried them (poly patch) back in the 70's in my 1863 Remington 58 cal replica. They were a waste of money then just as now.
Tom
Tom
Walks with fire
54 Cal.
I use the Hornady design which grips the ball alot better than the ones pictured. I can shoot a ball out of my 1/28 twist barrels with these and it's quite accurate. I haven't tried it with over 80 grains of powder but that load groups as good as my 1/66 and 1/70 twist rifles at 75 yards.
The only reason I have them is for my GM long range hunter barrels and it works a whole bunch better than a cloth patch in them.
The only reason I have them is for my GM long range hunter barrels and it works a whole bunch better than a cloth patch in them.
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