I had posted about using cotton balls as over-powder wads. I had gotten the info off another Traditional ML Forum. I have been trying them out of my T/C Hawken .45 with prb's. I have tried 35 gr/40 gr/45 gr/50 gr of T7 3 f. Very poor group size. So i was/am using .012 flannel patch material n recovered patches are fine. Ball size is .440 with a cast sprue. I was pulling cotton ball apart n making 3 parts per cotton ball. I guess you could say its a bust. So my next go around i will use full ball over powder. I will try 55 gr/60 gr/65 gr/70 gr/75 gr. If groups are still bad, then i will try either & or pillow ticking n then 3 f black powder
A few thoughts that may help: cotton has quite short fibers and that's why it's easy to pull apart a Q-tip. Instead use polyester fluff as in pillow stuffing from WalMart. It compresses well, does not burn, does not melt and coat your barrel, and provides a good gas seal. It is widely used where space-filling wadding is wanted in all sorts of cartridges being loaded with black powder or substitutes, and simply blows out of the barrel. It also provides protection against blown patterns and "doughnut hole" patterns in ML shotguns. I have used it for both purposes hundreds of times.
Flannel is not a good patch material - not tough enough and compresses too easily. Run a micrometer down fairly firmly on a supposedly .012" thick flannel patch and it will be distinctly less thick. Use pillow ticking, denim, or pocket-drill material. These are time-honored and tough patch materials which do not compress much and tend not to burn through or tear. Lube the patch. (notably, some of the packaged pre-cut patches are nearly worthless -- beware).
Several things contribute to poor accuracy with a PRB: undersized ball, too-thin or poor quality patch, and inadequate spin on the ball. So protect the bottom of your patch and this often helps: 10 or 15 grains of corn meal over the powder, or a felt wad like a WonderWad, or a loose ball of poly-fluff about the size of a pingpong ball can work wonders when ball is undersized from optimum and/or patch thickness and quality are not good. Even the best of lubed patches may benefit from protection, giving better accuracy. (My ML pistol loads for competition did better with a felt wad over powder, even using only 18 gr. of 3f BP in a .45 barrel.)
You also have to push the ball fast enough to achieve adequate spin rate, and that also involves the rate of twist in the barrel's rifling. Not a common problem with PRBs tho, unless your ball is not large enough for the snug bore/patch combination that is needed.
Aloha, Ka'imiloa
