Cork, The Other Wad Material

[musketman]

Does anyone use cork for smoothbore wads?

Thin cork sheets for gasket material is what I have in mind, or even cork off of an old bulletin board could work...

I use fiber and paper wads, but I think I may try cork in the near future...

 

NO!




fig newton anyone?

 

[Dave K]

I am sure the cork will work if you build the right load for it. I guess I have my loads for my shotguns all set and I have a bunch of cards and cushions. There is just no point in playing with loads in it anymore. It is time to go hunting though! eace:

 

Cork available by the foot, in sheets up to 1/2" thick around these parts, makes an excellent wad material, but I've only used it in rifle BP ctg. loads, where it excells.

 

[Slowpoke]

Ballistic Products <---- double click

I've used them before but really couldn't find any advantage to using them. I tried to use them instead of a wad but found the next shot hard to load. You can't really lube them very well because they don't absorb the lube. They are cheap enough, give them a try.

Chuck

 

[Musketeer]

I've never used cork wads in my smoothbore, but when I was but a wee lad, my dad bought me a little toy ML pistol. It had a percussion "lock" that used a paper cap for "ignition" and fired small cork balls (probably around 3/8" diameter). Man those things stung! :shocking: Ahhhh, fond memories.....Anyhoo, I might just go down to the local hardware store and pick up some sheet cork, and give it a try. :thumbsup:

 

[musketman]

Anyhoo, I might just go down to the local hardware store and pick up some sheet cork, and give it a try. :thumbsup:

Thats the wonderful thing about smoothbores, you can try/use just about anything from wasp nest to plastic and they will shoot...

 

[chickenlittle]

I decided to do some research on this important topic. This would be a great idea, IMHO, if a wine cork could just be sliced in pieces. Polish off a couple bottles and go shooting when you finally get up the next day.

My research intially started with a bottle Finger Lakes wine from the fridge. But I didn't feel like rummaging through the shed to find my calipers. A quick websearch tells me that most wine corks are 24mm in diameter or roughly 94 cal. That's a bit big for my taste but this Pinot Gris has made for some pretty tasty research.
:redthumb:

 

[RussB]

NO!

fig newton anyone?

My instincts tell me to go with Maxi on this one. At least my own somewhat limited experience with gasket material tells me it ain't much good for our use in muzzleloading.
On the other hand, you personally may have better luck than I did, so give it a try.

A few years back someone mentioned it was the best thing since sliced bread, and MUCH better than whatever was in first place before sliced bread came along.
I tried it. I'm sure I tried better than 200+ shots. I tried it in 1/8" using 1, and sometimes 2 wads to try to make it work. I tried to lube it, and I tried to use it under a PRB, I even tried it with lubed Lee REAL bullets seated on it. I could not get anything to work. The fouling was a mess in every thing I tried. That cork seemed to multiply the fouling!
Now, having said that, I must say I have talked to people who say it's great. So maybe I did something wrong. Perhaps there are different "types" of cork, I dunno. I used gasket material from NAPA that comes in the 2 ft. square sheets and is 1/8" thick.
Maybe the cork from a bulletin board is different. Or maybe there is something in gasket material that is not in other types of cork. I dunno.
I do know all my experiments with it never panned out. There was quite a discussion on the BPCR board a few years back that dealt with this. I don't recall a lot about it other than some insisting it works, and still others insisting it didn't.
Wads from a plain old milk carton, print side down, makes the best wads I've personally ever used. That goes for BPCR, and Muzzleloaders. Of course one should never use a wad with a HB conical.
Respectfully, Russ

 

[Keith]

[/quote] The fouling was a mess in every thing I tried. That cork seemed to multiply the fouling!
[/quote]
I haven't tried cork, but this makes sense to me. A cork is a lot of smaller pieces bonded together to make a bigger piece. So, that means there is glue to add to the fouling and make a mess. Right? At least that's what I think. If there isn't glue how does cork stick together? :m2c:

 

As with any load with BP- there HAS to be a lubricated wad down the barrel. The standad Donaconna wads are the best.
;In the rifle laods, there is a ball of lube, bewteen a wax paper wad and the cork wad, THEN the bullet.
: I haven't tried them in a pelter, but the cork could be used as an overshot wad if 1/8" thick, or as an extra wad in the load, not as the ONLY wad. A lubed wad needs to be in there as well, or some other way of keeping the fouling soft, is required.

 

[Keith]

Yes, of course there must be lube. My point is there seems to be glue in cork, each piece isn't a single homogenous piece. So, the glue under heat and friction is apt to add to the fouling.
I might be wrong about there being glue in cork, but how else does it stay together?

 

They work just fine in BP ctg. rifles, and the glue hasn't been a problem in these from the 1880's when they wre first used, untill now, so the glue can't be a problem.

 

[musketman]

Perhaps there are different grades of cork...

Some of cork's most unique and useful properties..

 

[Musketeer]

:crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :crackup: :thumbsup: