Wad or shot...which arrives first?

[Skychief]

I found a new load that shows real promise. I am using an olive oil soaked full cushion wad on TOP of the shot charge (#6 shot) out of my 12 gauge.

Which do you think or know arrives at a target 25 yards away....The shot or the lubed wad??? :hmm:

Thanks for your thoughts, Skychief. :thumbsup:

 

[silly goose]

I've never shot the fiber wad over the shot, but I believe the wad disintegrates shortly after it leaves the barrel. I've only been able to find the tiniest pieces of whats left of them. I could be wrong.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I think even with a cushion wad on top of the shot that after 10 or 12 yards the shot will get past it . . . probably also leaving an ever growing hole in the pattern. Why cushion the air in fromt of a shot load. The cushion is intended to cushion the shot (I do believe).

 

[Skychief]

I've never shot the fiber wad over the shot, but I believe the wad disintegrates shortly after it leaves the barrel. I've only been able to find the tiniest pieces of whats left of them. I could be wrong.

Silly Goose, I found that my olive oil soaked cushion wads struck a cardboard box at 25 yards 2 out of 3 shots. They penetrated one face and lit within the box! :shocked2:

 

[Skychief]

I think even with a cushion wad on top of the shot that after 10 or 12 yards the shot will get past it . . . probably also leaving an ever growing hole in the pattern. Why cushion the air in fromt of a shot load. The cushion is intended to cushion the shot (I do believe).

It is counter-intuitive Stumpkiller, but, I am getting some great patterns loading this way. :idunno:

I have to wonder if the "heavy" cushion wad leads the way to the target and a lot of the shot is attracted to the "vacuum" created by its flight. Not unlike the draft created by any object moving through the air (i.e.:a race car's "draft", etc).

Can anybody come up with a ballistic coefficient of a 1/2", 12 gauge cushion wad weighted down with olive oil? :rotf: Then again....that might be very telling as compared to the ballistic coefficient of a piece of #6 shot.

Launched at the same velocity, the higher B.C. object (pellet or wad) would win the race to the target! :hmm:

So much to ponder when a load works better than it should. Still, engineers say that a bumblebee should not be able to take flight.

I'm rambling now...must hit the hay.

G'Night all, Skychief.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

Skychief,

I think as the shot passes thru the barrel and into the air it will possess some characteristics of a single lump mass and then begin to rapidly dissipate as it progresses to the target in a shot column or string. The longer the wad stays together the farther and faster it will travel.
I have witnessed a plastic modern wad breaking a clay target or target piece many times. In trying to recall those instances, I believe the shot had already done (or not done) it's thing.

Have you considered rolling your cushions in oil to just cover the sides and maybe reducing the thickness of them as well to see if your pattern changes?

 

[hunts4deer]

The velocity it would take for a cushion wad to penetrate a cardboard box out at 25 yards tells me that its humming along at a pretty good clip and, contrary to popular belief must not be slowing down so rapidly as to be an obstacle for the shot to get around. Sorta like a buck and ball combo. You may be onto something...

 

[CoyoteJoe]

The shot is passing the wad. Even a heavily soaked fiber wad does not have the density of lead as demonstrated by the fact that it won't even penetrate both sides of a cardboard box.

 

[Austringer]

Hi, the T/C manual recommends this method of loading a smoothbore
powder
1/2 in CW
Shot
1/2 in CW

I am totally confused anyway, there seem to be as many ways of loading as there are loaders!!

Tony W

 

[Stumpkiller]

You got that. "The right way, the wrong way, the Navy way, and my way."

I played around with tow as wadding for shot, even. Big time inconsistant. My own patterning brings me back to powder, 1/8" card, 1/2" fiber wad, shot and then 1/32" card. I also 'sperimented with an additional 1/32" over the fiber wad and it helped with #4 but not #6 or #5 (???) Kit Ravenshear told me to "rough up" the last few inches of the bore for tighter patterns, but not how or how rough. Gives me the heebie-jeebies to think of going after a bore with 60 grit sandpaper. :shocked2:

 

[410-er]

While hunting late season squirrels last year I unloaded in a snow bank that a plow pushed in the parking lot.At about 5-8 yds the white snow showed me my wad was desintegrating.Only wished I would have taken a pic.Maybe this year.

 

[tg]

Most people I know just use 1/2 of the 1/2" cushion wad lightly greased, I was able to get by without it and just use the OP wad and get several shots before swabbing.