Cotton balls as overpowder wads

[Robert Egler]

Ok, this might be just totally stupid. (And that would differ from my typical post how?? :grin: )

Anyway, has anyone ever tried lubed cotton balls as over powder wads when shooting shot? I mean between the over powder card and the shot cup. Of course they’d have to be rammed down so they’re not just a fluffy ball. It seems they get fairly dense, but still have a little give, when compressed. I was thinking of trying these lubed with bore butter, but I can’t get to the range for awhile, so if anyone else has any information, I’d appreciate it, might save me from trying something that has already been proven not to work.

 

[Leatherbark]

The only problem I can see would be if a spark gets past your overpowder wad it will ignite the fuzzy lube laden wad like tinder maybe? And fire does get past the overpowder wad.........Be worth a try just to see if you can find any of it laying on the ground................Bob

 

[Rancocas]

I don't know how they would work for wading, but if you do try it make very, very sure that you use real cotton.
The synthetic cotton balls will burn like little pieces of napalm. (Don't ask how I know that)
I would also be real careful with what you use for lube. I use cotton balls lubed with vaseline for fire starters. One match and they light right up, regardless of weather, and burn long enough to get a good fire going.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

When I was a kid, we didn't have fancy pre-made wads. We used pieces of old wasp nest(very good), news paper and even cotton balls. The trick was to pull the cotton balls apart a little bit so that they didn't fly very far. Lubed with a loose beeswax and tallow/olive oil lube they worked well. Sort of a modern form of tow.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

When I was a kid, we didn't have fancy pre-made wads. We used pieces of old wasp nest(very good), news paper and even cotton balls. The trick was to pull the cotton balls apart a little bit so that they didn't fly very far. Lubed with a loose beeswax and tallow/olive oil lube they worked well. Sort of a modern form of tow.

Wasp nest for wadding, are you some kind of trouble maker? :rotf: :rotf:

Just kidding, but I remember the great wasp/hornet nest wars on here.:wink:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

It really does work, TANS! It's best to be sure the wasps aren't home though. And you don't need very much for each shot so it is quite economical--a big nest lasts a surprisingly long time.

 

[buttonbuck]

Ok but can you recover and reuse the wasp and hornet nest material? Has anyone reused wonder wads over and over? I sometimes do with my patches and use them to wipe between shots then they become fire starters. Yes I am cheap and all trails around here lead to the burn pile.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I guess you could try. We never did, but wasp nests were so common that running out wasn't a worry and a big nest lasts a long long time.

 

[Robert Egler]

I would also be real careful with what you use for lube. I use cotton balls lubed with vaseline for fire starters. One match and they light right up, regardless of weather, and burn long enough to get a good fire going.

As a test I took a cotton ball (100% cotton) which I lubed with bore butter and held a match to it. It burns REALLY well, and surprisingly long! You're right, it would make a good fire starter. I don't think I'll be using the cotton balls for wads.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I don't remember fire being an issue, but this was back in the middle of the last century, so my memory may have faded some. Or maybe the lube made from beeswax and tallow and olive oil didn't burn well?

 

[Robert Egler]

I've been wondering about this, since I use bore butter on my patches and they don't catch fire. Maybe when the cotton ball would be compressed, like it would be when shot, it doesn't catch fire easily. :hmm: I will have to do more experiments.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Well lots of stuff will more or less work as wading, newspaper, toilet paper, cleaning patches, grass, etc. But when commercial Circle Fly wads are available in sizes to properly fit any gun and eight bucks will buy a supply for many years, why bother with junk that may or may not work and may present a fire hazard?
In the late 1960s I was stationed in Turkey and many locals still hunted with ML shotguns. I don't know what they used for wading but during a drought year muzzleloaders were banned due to fire hazard.
The quail there were migratory and hunting was terrific for a few day when great swarms of them arrived. They were so exhausted from the flight across the Black Sea that you could catch them by hand. After a few days they were all gone again.

 

[bingo1952]

I have never tried them as over powder wads but when I was duck hunting and looking for tighter patterns than a cylinder bore would get me I came up with a system using a plastic wad that had the petals taped together with a hole drilled through the bottom with a piece of string about 8" long with a cotton ball tied to it for stabilization to keep it from tumbling. It worked well giving me an extra ten yards or so. I would load a 1/8" over powder wad, my "tampon wad", pour the shot and ram home. I never saw one burn but they did leave a trail of fluff when they were shot.

 

[Ohio Rusty]

You can easily make wads. If you have a tube that matches your bore size, wet newspaper stuffed/ compressed in the tube and allowed to dry make good wads. I've also discovered that you can get 100% wool felt in the form of hats and fedoras at the thrift stores for 99 cents or cheaper. One hat will make hundreds and hundreds of cap-n-ball pistol wads. If you punch them bigger, 2 or 3 stacked will work fine in any smoothbore gun.
Ohio Rusty

 

[Robert Egler]

Thanks for that idea about the paper! I actually went to some local thrift stores and the goodwill place and none of them had any hats except a few old baseball caps.

I'll try the newspaper idea. Presently I'm using 2 over powder cards and a paper shot cup and getting ok patterns, but I'd like to see if I can get the patterns a bit denser with also using a wad under the shot cup.