Felt wads with concaved base conicals ?

[kyron4]

I've used lubed felt wads over powder with great success with flat based conicals like Maxi-Hunter, R.E.A.L. bullets, and Maxi-Ball , but wondered if they will make accuracy worse with a Minie ball style bullet with a concaved based/skirt meant to expand on firing. I have some Hornady Great Plains Bullets on the way and they have the hollow base; so wad or no wad for someone who has tried it both ways ? -Thank you

 

[hawkeye2]

Anything between the powder and mini will inhibit its expansion. There is a chance the wad would be driven into the base and carried with the mini which wouldn't do anything for accuracy.

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

I shoot lubed minies in a .54 Pedersoli Jaeger. After the powder charge I send down a .54 cal dry felt wad, then the minie. The rifle shoots great, and I think the wad helps scrub the bore each time. Lead fouling is minimal after a string of 20 or so shots. I've never had one stick in the base, I don't think. They are always able to be spotted like a little falling meteor, with a smokey tail lol.

I'm no physics major, so in my pea brain I see the pressure being all at the base of the minie, since the wad is not a total gas seal. This equal pressure on both sides of the wad would prevent it from being shoved in the base cavity.

 

[52Bore]

From my experience:
Slight Concave- yes advisable, like Whitworth’s partial sphere.
Deep cavity - no

 

[chorizo]

Well, if you look at the recommended loading data for triple 7, they recommend a wad for ALL conicals and specifically for the great Plains. Check out the thread I started on felt wads.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...a-felt-wad-will-do.152991/page-2#post-2161655

 

[deerstalkert]

when i shot my GPR the other day i poured powder(all but once) then a lubed felt wad, then the minie. accuracy was the best i have had with that 1-60 twist.
when i scrounged up the wads, every one was a donut. the center burned out, leaving a circular gasket.
only thing i can think of is the pressure forced the center into the cavity and concentrated the fire on that spot.