what lube for cushion wads

[fishblade2]

I want to shoot some shot out of a musket and I'm have researched what all the different wads are for and how they help increase accuracy in a black powder shotgun but I still have a few questions about them.

With dry cushion wads I was wondering what I should use to lube these. I was thinking of lubing them with some form of pan lube I can make that would work about the same as the wonderwads in pistols but these cushion wads are made out of a different material and are much thicker so I don't know if that would work. So what lube should I use (handmade or purchased) for the cushion wads.

On Track of the Wolf they sell both nonlubricated and lubricated cushion wads. Which would be the preferred way to go? Would it be cheaper to buy the non lubricated and do it yourself. Does it not help to get the lubricated if your going to open them up and over time they would dry out?

Thanks for the help.

 

[arcticap]

The thick non-lubricated vegetable fiber wads cost about $10.50 less per bag of 500. However, that works out to costing only .021 cents more per wad. Plus some folks cut the wads in half which would mean spending only 1 cent more per shot for the lubricated vegetable fiber wads.
If the pre-lubed wads ever dry out or don't contain enough lube then more lube can always be added to them individually.
Folks lube the dry vegetable fiber wads in different ways, and either way can be somewhat messy.
One way is to hand-cut or score V-channels down or around the sides of the wads with a knife which can then be filled with a softer type of lube like Bore Butter or a Crisco/beeswax/oil type of mixture. This can be a tedious process.

Another way is to very briefly soak them in a vegetable or olive oil or other liquid lube like Ballistol, mineral or neatsfoot oil. But then a tight fitting over powder card or dry felt wad should also be used underneath to keep the powder from soaking up any lube. It's depends on how much oil is absorbed and vegetable oils can turn into a varnish over time.

It's probably best to just buy the pre-lubed wads and pay the extra penny or two per shot. Since making your own lube isn't free there's not much money to be saved by doing it yourself, and the potential for not doing it properly could also mean inconsistently lubed wads with some being thrown away and wasted too if the lube doesn't work out right or last indefinitely.
But by keeping the bag closed, the pre-lubed vegetable fiber wads may last indefinitely. And if their lubricant is superior and applied uniformly, then they will not only work better but will be more convenient too. IMHO that would be well worth the extra penny or two.

Vegetable fiber wads:

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/171/1

Felt wads:

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/174/1/OX-WAD-12-W

 

[rodinal220]

I vote for Gatofeo lube,here is a link on THR on how to make it.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=123266&highlight=gatofeo+lube


If you do not want to make your own DGW Old Zip-Patch is very close,I don't think it has the paraffin in it,just mutton tallow and beeswax,but it works well.

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=3689

 

[PapaG]

If you are shooting clay games, throw them in a jar of solvent and squeeze out before loading. In hunting, soak in a little shortening and wrap in wax paper to carry in your pouch.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

For what it's worth, I never use lubed wads in my Black Powder shotgun loads. I use Circle Fly wads, which are the same ones you can buy from Track or the Wolf.

I use a 4.3CC dipper (the largest one that comes in the Lee set) of FFg. Any brand of FFg. Then I seat a 1/8" overpowder card, then a 1/2" cushion wad, then 1 1/8 ounces of # 8 (or 7 1/2) shot. I finish up with a thin card over shot wad, I forget how thick it is.

Shotguns are not like rifles. With a BP rifle, you don't want fouling getting deposited in the rifling grooves because the fouling will begin to fill the grooves and ruin accuracy. But there are no grooves in a shotgun barrel to get filled with fouling. Each dry cushion wad will pretty much scrape out most of the fouling left behind by the last shot. It's not like there is any rifling to crud up, a little bit of fouling in the bore of a shotgun really won't hurt anything.

Been doing it like this for years with dry wads. Shoot lots and lots of BP shotgun in CAS. The shotgun clobbers anything I point it at.

 

[mykeal]

I'm with DJ - never saw the need for lubed shotgun wads.

 

[BADUNAME30]

Yep, what DJ and mykeal said.
Never used lubed ones in my .12ga T/C and she allways shot and cleaned up just fine. 100gr. FF, dry wad,100 grain o' shot, dry wad. Allways had good patterns.

 

[fishblade2]

just wondering out of you guys that have never shot anything but dry wads out of your shotguns, have you done it with modern ones as well? I was just wondering if you used a modern shotgun with a cut shell down to the brass acting as the breech with primer if you would used an over the powder wad still? Just to make sure what I just said makes sense. I would cut the plastic off of a shell and leave just the brass. Do with this a couple of them and reprime them all. These would go into the back of the modern shotgun acting as the breechplug with primer. Next I would add powder, over the powder wad, dry cushion wad, shot, and over the shot wad. But my main question is if I did this method would you still recommend using all those wads because Jim, West you stated that you just use a two wads. I didn't know if you didn't see the need in the other wads and if this method would need all the wads.

 

[mykeal]

I don't see the point in going to all that trouble in a modern shotgun.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Yeah, why in the world would you want to load a breech loading shotgun like a muzzle loader?

To get back to your original question, the way I load Black Powder shotgun shells with separate wads is considerably more work than loading shotgun shells with modern plastic wads. Modern plastic wads combine the over powder card and cushion wad in one, plus have a shot cup that extends around the shot to protect it from flattening by rubbing on the barrel. Much less work, you dump in your powder, then the wad, compress it a little bit, dump in shot, then crimp.

So much less work that many shooters who shoot Black Powder in their shotguns in Cowboy Action shooting use modern plastic wads instead of the separate wads that I use.

There are two considerations if one does this. First, modern plastic wads are configured for Smokeless powder, which takes up much less space in the case than Black powder does. So if one is going to use a modern plastic wad, one has to use one that allows enough volume in the hull for the Black Powder. Th old Winchester Red Wad is very good for this, and is the wad of choice for CAS shooters who choose to combine Black Powder with a plastic wad. Unfortunately, Winchester stopped making the old Red Wad a few years ago, but luckily Claybuster makes a wad which is basically the same.

The other consideration is that Black Powder burns much hotter than Smokeless does. Hot enough that a plastic wad will actually melt a bit as it travels down the bore. It does not melt completely, but shooting Black Powder with modern plastic wads will result in a thin coating of plastic melted onto the inside of the bore after a box or two of shells. It's really not too difficult to remove the melted plastic, but it does have to be done. Most guys clean their BP shotguns with plenty of hot water, which will usually loosen the hold of the plastic on the bore. Most shove the plastic out of the bore in one long piece using wadded up paper towels once it has been softened and loosened.