Since I wrote Black Powder Loading for CAS, I've
had several conversations with various black powder shooters about their selection
of wads for shotshells. Strawberry Lars got me started on this path.
Anyway, the selection of plastic wads or card/fiber wads should be dictated by your
shotgun. For a long time I was using card/fiber wads (from
Circle Fly). At one match I had a LOT of trouble knocking down the shotgun targets.
I went and patterened it and found that there was a hole being blown right through the
center of the pattern. I've discovered why. It has to do with forcing cones and actual
bore diameter.
Older shotguns have tight bores and very short forcing cones. These
work very well with card/fiber wads. The short forcing cone and the tight bore ensure that
the card wad seals well and you don't get blow-by. If you have a modern shotgun with a
long forcing cone and more open bore, then the card wad won't seal and allow the gasses
to push by. This causes the fiber wad to blow through the pattern creating a hole in the
center.
The newer, modern shotguns have bores that are more open then the older guns and long
forcing cones. Plastic wads work better in these guns because the base of the wad expands
and seals the bore, preventing blow-by. Since I switched to plastic wads in my Stoeger,
the patterns are much tighter and look like they are supposed to.
So get out and pattern your gun and then choose the wad column accordingly! |
