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Jugged choke and round balls

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I think I will try the unpatched ball system with lubed wads. I also watched a video my Mike Belliveau who uses the same unpatched method.
I will start with powder, then a heavy leather wad ,lubed wool wad, ball, and a stiff wad to hold it all in place.
Another question, my dad was a plumber and he used a product called oak up, when he was packing lead joints, is oakum tow that has been lubed?
Just wondering.

I think oakum had tar mixed in it, at least the kind used to seal up joints on sailing ship’s wooden hulls did. May have been used on the later steel hulls too.
Can’t say on the plumbers type.
I sure would not want tar residue in my barrel.
You could test some by burning a good piece of it and see if it makes black smoke or has a strong petroleum smell.
 
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Every gun is different but I think the consensus is generally that the jug choke doesn't affect roundball shooting. My 16 gauge certainly doesn't suffer any ill affects. For wadding I swear by combinations of felt wads and thin overshot cards. My 24 gauge is not particularly finicky with any specific combination of those two wads, but I generally load two felt wonder wads over the powder, ball, and a thin overshot card with the side slit to slide down easily without the air under it being a pain. I find that the snug fitting thin card holds the ball down as securely as anything else. With that load, and LOTS of practice, Id feel comfortable to shoot a deer to around 40 yards. I haven't been practicing with this load long because I just discovered it, but with more practice I expect to pretty reliably extend that range to 50 yards while still taking ethical shots. Tow is great and I love it for my 16 gauge because it is easy. However, I would warn that with dry tow you might as well be shooting incendiary loads. I roll it around in my mouth to moisten the wad, which doesn't taste particularly great at all. That is the stand in procedure when I forget to pre moisten them with something at home.
 
Every gun is different but I think the consensus is generally that the jug choke doesn't affect roundball shooting. My 16 gauge certainly doesn't suffer any ill affects. For wadding I swear by combinations of felt wads and thin overshot cards. My 24 gauge is not particularly finicky with any specific combination of those two wads, but I generally load two felt wonder wads over the powder, ball, and a thin overshot card with the side slit to slide down easily without the air under it being a pain. I find that the snug fitting thin card holds the ball down as securely as anything else. With that load, and LOTS of practice, Id feel comfortable to shoot a deer to around 40 yards. I haven't been practicing with this load long because I just discovered it, but with more practice I expect to pretty reliably extend that range to 50 yards while still taking ethical shots. Tow is great and I love it for my 16 gauge because it is easy. However, I would warn that with dry tow you might as well be shooting incendiary loads. I roll it around in my mouth to moisten the wad, which doesn't taste particularly great at all. That is the stand in procedure when I forget to pre moisten them with something at home.
Try not seating the felt wads and ball right away. Place them in the muzzle just far enough to stay there and get pushed slightly further with each added component, then after you place the thin card on top, push the whole thing down together.
Since I started doing this with ball loads and shot loads, I don't need to slit the cards, no more trapped air issues. YMMV
 
Try not seating the felt wads and ball right away. Place them in the muzzle just far enough to stay there and get pushed slightly further with each added component, then after you place the thin card on top, push the whole thing down together.
Since I started doing this with ball loads and shot loads, I don't need to slit the cards, no more trapped air issues. YMMV
Thanks! I will try that next time.
 
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