Improving Shotgun Pattern - Page 2

bladesmith 1 · February 19, 2022, 01:04 PM

You're right about size. Circle Fly recommends 11ga wads for MLers. When pushing the wads down the barrel, especially the OP card, it will want to come back up because of the trapped air. You'll need to stop, let the air pass by, and push again, maybe two or three times. I then " throw the rod down " on the seated wad till it bounces off. I then know it's seated tight against the powder.
As a side note, my neighbor was sighting in his 72 cal rifle, left the ram rod on the seated ball and went for a phone call. When he came back the ram rod was about 8" back out the barrel. He pushed it back down, shot it, and reloaded another ball. As he sat there, he watched the ram rod come back up out of the barrel. That big bore was trapping air when he loaded. So, moral is always double check to make sure the ball doesn't come back up off the charge.
If shooting a SxS muzzleloader the first shot could loosen the wads in the unfired barrel. It's a good practice to check.

Deltadart · February 19, 2022, 10:47 PM

True, air is often under the wad. I drilled a small hole about .040 in the LBC43 wad to let some air out and also as a test to see how it would affect pattern. Wads went down much easier, and the pattern did open up. I also found the wads 75 yards down range stuck in the back stop berm. Pretty tuff plastic. Youd definitely want to check a SxS after the first shot to ensure the shot has not shifted forward, with the cap removed of course. I wonder if the hammer was down on an expended cap on the rifle when the ball was loaded? If the hammer was at half cock and no cap on the nipple the air may have had a chance to exit thru the powder and out the nipple.

February 19, 2022, 01:04 PM	#26
bladesmith 1 Senior Member Join Date: July 14, 2018 Posts: 240	You're right about size. Circle Fly recommends 11ga wads for MLers. When pushing the wads down the barrel, especially the OP card, it will want to come back up because of the trapped air. You'll need to stop, let the air pass by, and push again, maybe two or three times. I then " throw the rod down " on the seated wad till it bounces off. I then know it's seated tight against the powder. As a side note, my neighbor was sighting in his 72 cal rifle, left the ram rod on the seated ball and went for a phone call. When he came back the ram rod was about 8" back out the barrel. He pushed it back down, shot it, and reloaded another ball. As he sat there, he watched the ram rod come back up out of the barrel. That big bore was trapping air when he loaded. So, moral is always double check to make sure the ball doesn't come back up off the charge. If shooting a SxS muzzleloader the first shot could loosen the wads in the unfired barrel. It's a good practice to check.

February 19, 2022, 10:47 PM	#27
Deltadart Senior Member Join Date: April 26, 2015 Location: Washington State Posts: 286	True, air is often under the wad. I drilled a small hole about .040 in the LBC43 wad to let some air out and also as a test to see how it would affect pattern. Wads went down much easier, and the pattern did open up. I also found the wads 75 yards down range stuck in the back stop berm. Pretty tuff plastic. Youd definitely want to check a SxS after the first shot to ensure the shot has not shifted forward, with the cap removed of course. I wonder if the hammer was down on an expended cap on the rifle when the ball was loaded? If the hammer was at half cock and no cap on the nipple the air may have had a chance to exit thru the powder and out the nipple.