To wad or not to wad?

[bebloomster]

Have a 36 caliber Uberti-made 1858 Remington that has proven to be quite accurate... minute of shotgun hull at 20 yards. Have tried loads both with and without Wonder Wads between the ball and powder. Either way I still Crisco over the chamber mouths. Can't say as I've really seen any compelling reason to use the Wonder Wads as they don't seem to improve accuracy any. Have you found any really good reason to use them?

 

[Raider2000]

I have a 24 year old Remington copy from Pietta that loves wads "although the wonder wads not as much, maybe it's not enough lube" & it shoots it's best with em but my 27 year old Pietta 1860 Army shoots it's best with just come Crisco over the ball compared to the wad under the ball.

The point I'm making is, some revolvers like em more than others & it pays to shoot alot & see what your piece is tellin ya because when ya listen the music is perfect harmony.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I use felts punched from DuroFelt over powder in both my '58 Rem and Roa. I grease the slugs good so don't have to grease atop.

 

[mingo]

Firing these off and on 40+ years.
Never used a wad.

I have had a chainfire or two but not since I grease over the chambers.

 

[SgtSchutzen]

I shoot a .44 Colt Army and have never used any wads. Just some grease over the balls. Works good enough for me. All I use it for is bouncing cans and stuff though. Sights aren`t good enough for precision work anyway.

 

[Mike Brooks]

I use wads to take up space in the cylinder as I don't use full loads. Otherwise there is a gap between powder and ball. The wads I use are from circle fly and are about 3/8 tall which puts the ball right at the end of the cylinder, which gives me less "jump" to the rifling.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I've never once had a chainfire, IMO it's much dependent on neat powder charging and tight ball/slug fit in chamber along with snug cap/nipple fit.

 

[renovato]

I used wads mostly to get the ball to seat at the chamber mouth when using reduced loads. I use filler mostly now. The wads did make a noticeable improvement in accuracy in my revolvers. Filler doesn't give me quite the accuracy improvement that wads did, but I always seem to have something on hand that I can use as filler, and it seems that I'm always out of wads when I need them the most.

As a side note, my rifles all shoot better with a wad (or filler) under the ball too.