how bout ah palm o powder, followed by ah wad o wasp nest, followed by ah palm o shot, followed by ah wad o paper...
Early in my muzzleloading career, I read that it was proved by chronograph that putting a wad of hornets nest material between the powder and the patched ball sealed the bore better and added almost 100 feet per second to muzzle velocity. That sounded good, so I began collecting every nice dormant hornets nest I found. The dormant part is important. I once hit one the size of a basketball in the summer with a brush hog, and learned my Ford 8-N tractor could not outrun them.
I used the stuff for years in my first flintlock, and I sure fired that gun a lot. Then I noticed a sharp and rapid drop off in what had been excellent accuracy. Ragged one hole groups at 65 yards became patterns. The first few shots on a clean barrel would be OK... not great, just OK, and then quickly open up. No matter what I tried, it only got worse. I lost confidence that I could even hit a deer in the heart at 50 yards or more. I compared the rifling with a much newer barrel of the same make, and mine was visibly worn. The bore and rifling looked good, but close examination showed it wasn't sharp.
Then I remembered that hornets use mud as part of their nest building material. Dried mud is abrasive. I was lapping my bore for years with every shot. Cutting the barrel shorter and recrowning didn't help much at all. The damage was done full length. I bought a new barrel. And I no longer used hornets nest under my patched ball.
