Thunder14
32 Cal.
ok I saved a wasp nest this year and I’m wanting to try making the patch from it,has anyone had any success with this method.It will be used in a 50cal Hawken and a 50cal Frontier.
I also use a felt wad on my .54 caliber rifles. Except that I use an oversized 12 gage wad which serves dual purpose. It protects the ball patch and also cleans the bore on the way down. My understanding is wasp nest was used as an over powder wad with shotguns.I've tried it with a .54 that I was having some issues with. I just took a couple of layers from the nest material and pushed it down over the powder charge with the ram rod. Seemed to improve the accuracy some, but not any more than just a plain patch put down over the powder. With this particular gun, that has a rough barrel, I have finally settled on a felt wad over the powder charge. This protects the patched ball better. My patches are no longer shredded, and accuracy is much improved.
How DID the pioneers use wasp nest?
I'm looking for some evidence it was used in the day. I suspect it's one of those things passed down by the graybeards as unquestioned truth, but actually has no evidence to show it is anything other than a fairly modern idea.Plenty of references available on the web.
Finding historical documentation is probably unlikely. However, I am able to report that when I was first getting into muzzle loading as a teen I was searching for guidance. My maternal grandfather, who was born in 1900 and hunted with muzzle loaders, told me he used bees nest as wadding with his percussion shotgun. He also cut the heads off tacks when unable to get lead shot...I'm looking for some evidence it was used in the day. I suspect it's one of those things passed down by the graybeards as unquestioned truth, but actually has no evidence to show it is anything other than a fairly modern idea.
I'd like to be proved wrong.
Spence
The idea that you will wind up with a house full of hornets if you bring a nest inside after cold weather starts is one of those perpetual old wives tales which refuse to die. Take a look at the life cycle of the bald faced hornet which builds the nests. They all die in the late fall, only the young queens survive the winter, and they do it buried in the ground or somewhere insulated against the cold, not in the nest. By the time cold weather comes along the nests are completely empty. NO hornets overwinter in the nests.Rather than fumigateing it, if you have the space in your freezer, toss it in there for a couple of days or a week.
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