Cusion Wad and Ball?

[Ray-Vigo]

What effect would a cushion wad have on shooting ball? I'm referring to the following setup:

12 gauge with an overpowder card then the cushion wad then patch and ball. Would adding the cushion change anything with ball, or is it only useful with shot?

 

[Mike Brooks]

On many guns it works well. You could probably even skip the patch and put a card over the ball and still get very good accuracy.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Try and see. The wad at least lubes the bore and gives a good seal - but a bare ball fits a fouled bore tighter. The wad adds weight and will likely reduce the velocity as more mass is being moved. :idunno: Not sure what it may add except easier seating of the patched ball if you lube the wad.

I have been shooting a 0.012" under-the-bore sized ball with a 1/8" overpowder card behind and a 1/32" overshot card on top. No wad. No patch.

 

[rabjr]

I use them in my .12ga smoothbore and it works for me. I don't use an over powder card. I just cut the fiber wads in half, lube up and load one piece of the cut wad, patched ball on top of the powder charge. Works for me. :thumbsup:

 

[tg]

I have had good accuracy as Mike mentioned without the patch and an os card to hold the ball in place, I cut the lubed wads in half

 

[BrownBear]

A bud of mine swears he gets better accuracy with the lubed wad and no patch in his 20 gauge trade gun. And an overshot card of course. His guess is that the ball imbeds itself slightly in the wad and helps to keep it from rattling around in the bore like you would expect from a loose ball. In any case, his trade gun is without question the most accurate smootbore I've ever seen at work- on paper or on game.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I'm gonna have to try TG's method. :hmm: Intuitavely the ball ought to "hunker" into the wad pushing from behind and that may keep it from jostling side-to-side as it transits the barrel.

Still working up a smoothbore ball load. My Getz 16 ga. barrel allowed a 0.010" patch with a 0.648" ball. The Colerain 16 ga. does not. I have to push a bare ball full length after two prior shots - even with the card going down first. I tried the method shown below for accuracy, but even then the funneled crown shaves half the "petals" off.

 

[tg]

I always thought that the gases might kind of equalize around the ball as they escaped a bit and keep it somewhat in the center, as I have tried many non patched ball methods and the fairkly good accuracy does not suggest a ball bouncing back and forth down the barrel, I am not convinced this is how things work with an unpatched ball untill one gets to a very smal ball compared to bore size, one clue is the very wide range of balls acceptable for a given bore size in the past, the "inaccuracy" of the military muskets and undersized balls is likle due to the practice of not aiming the piece as the type of load, powder charge could also be a factor

 

[hanshi]

By using a 1/2" cushion under a patched ball I get better accuracy than with just a prb. A couple of felt wads might do as well but that's a question waiting for the next range session.

Now there is no question that I get much better accuracy with that cushion wad and a bare ball, better than just an op card or felt wad. I load carefully so the ball is centered in the cushion wad when rammed down.

 

[Dan Hogue]

I use a pre lubed felt wonder wad over the powder charge followed by a patched ball on my 62's as well as my 77 bess when accuracy counts. I see a difference as opposed to just a patched ball, and a huge difference over bare ballin. An advantage the wad seems to give is it swabs the bore every shot, and I can shoot almost indefinetly without swabbing the bore, unless the humidity is really high.
I have even done this in my 62 rifled gun, with great results. and ALWAYS use this combo for hunting.

 

[tg]

The only wads I have used atre the fiber wads lubed with bear oil/bees wax and cut in half for ball or shot. I quit uisng then for shot as they seemed to open up the pettern more than a plain op card but this setup seemed to need swabbed more often. I am not much of a shot shooter so do not have a lot of experience with shot combos

 

[majg1234]

The guy I bought my carolina SB in 62 cal suggested using a wool wonder wad over the powder and over the ball,with this the SB delivers 1.5-2 inch groups @ 60yrds

 

[tg]

Come to think of it I have used lubed and dry wasp nest and wool scraps on the powder and the ball with good results for some reason my gun is quite forgiving with the different "stuff" I have fed it. I do not know if it has anything to do with the "fitting" I did with the gun while building it or not but it is a possibility I suppose.

 

[laufer]

for authenticity, i use wool blanket strips over powder and over bare ball. this combo makes great patterns with #6 and #5 shot up to 35 yards.
for precission, i use fiber wads lubed with sweet oil over powder, only the top of the wad dipped in oil, so it does not drain into the powder, and patched ball, with thin, dry patch.

 

[Ft. Jefferson]

I started using a half of a cushion wad under the PRB's to prevent patch burn through with heavier hunting loads. Works well and maintains my usual accuracy. Buzzard