1/8" wool felt powder wads for .50 cal............

[bronko220002]

A round ball patch is always lubed with the mixture of your choice. The over powder felt wad can be lubed or not. I shoot mine unlubed and they work just fine. X

X unlubed wads may work fine but you're lessening the efficiency of thewwad. Lubing will give you a better gas seal.

 

[X-ring]

X unlubed wads may work fine but you're lessening the efficiency of thewwad. Lubing will give you a better gas seal.

I have recovered many of my fired wool wads and patches. No evidence of any gas blow-by at all in any of my rifles or smoothbores. Next time I find some I'll post some pics. X

 

[bronko220002]

Correct me if I'm wrong but Wouldn't the lube help stop the gases from going thru the wad and around the bullet? I know the wads are dense but there is also a lot of pressure.
After all that is one of the main reasons for lube, even on a bullet besides reducing leading and keeping fouling soft.

 

[X-ring]

Correct me if I'm wrong but Wouldn't the lube help stop the gases from going thru the wad and around the bullet? I know the wads are dense but there is also a lot of pressure.
After all that is one of the main reasons for lube, even on a bullet besides reducing leading and keeping fouling soft.

The "lubed" wads I had were so skimpy on the lube you couldn't squeeze any out and could barely feel it on your fingers. They were the wonder wads which I assume were lubed with Wonder Lube. Side by side comparison of Lubed and dry wads gathered downrange showed no difference. No sign of gas blowby in either. I think lubed wads is kind of a marketing thing promoted by the wonder lube people. I punch my own felt wads now from 1/8 inch Durafelt sheets and use them dry. I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from not using the lubed wads. X

 

[drpatton]

The "lubed" wads I had were so skimpy on the lube you couldn't squeeze any out and could barely feel it on your fingers

I am new to wads. In my 40 years of muzzleloading I never thought of using them. Now, I won't shoot without them, with the exception of hollow based bullets. I also never used them in revolvers. I used Crisco to coat the top of the exposed ball to prevent chain fires.

I am a natural experimenter. It's my personality. So, before I was on this forum, I made my own lube (discussed in another thread). It was a hard almost solid paste, which turned pure wool felt pads into little pucks. I assumed they melted a bit in the barrel. I never thought to look for used wads (how do I know mine from someone else's?).

I may try to lube 1/4 of the 1/8" felt pad, with my new home made lube. It would barely give it a skim of lube, and used face up, will not be in contact with the powder. I will only do this with my Renegades. Not in a new rifle where I'm trying to find a the right bullet and/or load.

I don't know the engineering behind the "Wonder Wads." It may be just a gimmick." It also, may be designed to spread during the heat of firing. I have them dry and lubed. I also bought Dura-Felt to punch my own, which is due to arrive today. I already have the punches.

 

[Bert621]

I've punched my wads out of thin cardboard and dipped them in DGL. It works the same as felt wads

 

[eekjellander]

No patches are definitely noy dry. All patches and wads should have a lube on them. I'm not so sure about the melting of the lube though. Especially with a conical bullet. If any melting would occur it would have to be by a bit of friction during the miliseconds from firing until it leaves the bore. My thinking is that at firing the bullet compresses slightly (obturation) which helps. If you're talking about the felt wad melting then you're not using 100% wool felt.
The best explanation I can find on bullet lube is that it serves 2 purposes. First is to slightly lubricate the bore and secondly and most important is to help form a gas seal to prevent escaping gases past the bullet.

Your only 1/2 right ,the purpose is to protect the base on a conical and on a patched RB the patch anything else is your imagination (all due respect) /Ed

 

[drpatton]

Wouldn't the lube help stop the gases from going thru the wad and around the bullet?

Bullet Obturation is what seals the bore from the gasses. The bottom of the bullets may be eaten up by the gasses, but the bullet itself seals the bore.

I started using wads to protect the patches on my round balls. I have since learned patches are used by competition shooters to protect the bottom of the bullet from being cut or misshapen by the gasses. So I will start using them with conicals. I assume one cannot use a wad with a hollow base, but I'm not even sure about that.

 

[bronko220002]

Bullet Obturation is what seals the bore from the gasses. The bottom of the bullets may be eaten up by the gasses, but the bullet itself seals the bore.

I started using wads to protect the patches on my round balls. I have since learned patches are used by competition shooters to protect the bottom of the bullet from being cut or misshapen by the gasses. So I will start using them with conicals. I assume one cannot use a wad with a hollow base, but I'm not even sure about that.

Somewhat true drpatton but the lube also serves as a gas blocker.
https://www.shootandreload.com/2012/08/05/lubing-and-sizing-cast-bullets/
There are many other links that say the same thing. Lube helps seal the gases.

 

[bronko220002]

Your only 1/2 right ,the purpose is to protect the base on a conical and on a patched RB the patch anything else is your imagination (all due respect) /Ed

No I'm 100% right. That the purpose of the wad is to protect the bullet and/or patch. I never said it wasn't. What I said is that a lubed wad is more efficient than an unlubed one. Simply because the lube helps seal the gases.

 

[bronko220002]

Those 1/16" wads IMO are worthless. I also cut my own durafelt cut wads.

 

[eekjellander]

No I'm 100% right. That the purpose of the wad is to protect the bullet and/or patch. I never said it wasn't. What I said is that a lubed wad is more efficient than an unlubed one. Simply because the lube helps seal the gases.

Nope it does not seal anymore than a dry , believe what you want I KNOW better ! Set up your chrono
(you got one right) and try both , does not matter !!! If you use a caliber bigger is all it takes to eliminate gas cutting base and if you know how to alloy with conicals being cast 20-1 works fine and still soft enough to seal bore unless your in the habit of casting under sized projectiles that the conical can't make up for unlike a patched ball . That's why you change path thickness in case your bore need more and the wad protects the patch if you screwed up and used a too thin patch .Again prove it to yourself it ain't rocket science !/Ed

 

[bronko220002]

Ok you're right and the rest of the world isn't. Live long and prosper

 

[eekjellander]

Ok you're right and the rest of the world isn't. Live long and prosper

Short answer you got no reply ,no chrono and to much bother to find out what folks with those resources know for fact /Ed

 

[drpatton]

Those 1/16" wads IMO are worthless. I also cut my own durafelt cut wads.

1/16th wads? I don't know what you are referencing.

Are you referring to my test of using 1/8" wads and just coating one side with my home made lube?

As far as wads sealing the bore, I'm an engineer at heart. I deal in data. If there is leakage around a bullet without a patch versus with one, it will show up on a chronograph. So, lets test it out. I have a chronograph buried deep in my cellar. It may take me awhile, but I will eventually find it and check the data. Then we will know. No guessing.

 

[bronko220002]

Maybe it wasn't you but someone said their wads were flimsy. I have a chrono too but I'm going to FL for the winter, leaving tomorrow and won't be back until May. I have a lot of bullets to test so I might do this as I go as I will be using wads anyway.

 

[bronko220002]

Short answer you got no reply ,no chrono and to much bother to find out what folks with those resources know for fact /Ed

See my post right above this. ^^^^^

 

[Philgumbo]

Bullet Obturation is what seals the bore from the gasses. The bottom of the bullets may be eaten up by the gasses, but the bullet itself seals the bore.

I started using wads to protect the patches on my round balls. I have since learned patches are used by competition shooters to protect the bottom of the bullet from being cut or misshapen by the gasses. So I will start using them with conicals. I assume one cannot use a wad with a hollow base, but I'm not even sure about that.

I use wads at least on my initial shot when hunting. They seem to help seal everything better.

 

[eekjellander]

I use wads at least on my initial shot when hunting. They seem to help seal everything better.

Like stated it doesn't ,that's a fact inconvenient but factual./Ed

 

[drpatton]

This myth may have started with smooth bores. Mainly cannon. They used wads to seal the undersized steel balls, which did not expand in the bore.

Obturation effects all types of metal, but at different rates and some, due to their hardness, the effect is negligible. Lead, is malleable enough to be compressed into the grooves of rifling, whereas steel is not.

If a bullet is not sealed in the bore, the loss of gas pressure will result in a loss of velocity. Also the burning gas will act like a torch and burn into the metal. This will cause an enormous loss in accuracy. If there are blow-by gasses, this will occur on the bearing sides as well as the base of the bullet. If no blow-by gasses, it will only occur to the base of the bullet. Either way, there is a loss of accuracy; However, it would be more extreme in a non-sealed bore with blow-by gasses.

The best way to detect blow-by gasses in the bore, is with a chronometer, due to the loss in pressure versus a sealed bore. Also, accuracy may be used. In the blow-by situation, most of the bullet's surface is effected and an extreme loss of accuracy should be noted. With a sealed bore, only the bottom of the bullet is effected and accuracy will be diminished, but not to the extreme level of a blow-by situation.

Sorry, the engineer in me is coming out.