doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com black powder wads do the need lube?

Jim,

Those were not "Wonder Wads" I used but lubed cushin wads. They were much cheaper than the Wonder Wads and carry much more lube. I don't remember the cost, bought a bunch of them many years ago, even have a few left. They did make the fouling softer and did reduce the barrel heating, which apparently was partly due to friction of dry wad down dirty bore. Never noticed much, if any, difference in recoil, so, must have been less than that added by 2,0 grams of additional shot (which I do notice).

Niklas

When i first started shooting a ML shotgun it was a slightly oversize 12ga. The old Alcan corp was still in buisness so I ordered a quantity of their "Feltan Bluestreak" "Ring Waxed" filler wads as well as their .135 Nitro card wads both in 11ga. When I later decided to load some BP shotshells I used essentially the same wads but in standard 12ga, some Alcan & some Herter's but both ring waxed. Never had any problem I could associate with the wads in either case. I have heard but not tried, that a 50/50 mix of beeswax & mutton tallow is as fine a lube for ML, either patched ball or shotshell, revolver wads etc one can get.

PS; I am not saying these were better than dry wads, just at the time were all I knew about which were readily available at economical prices. I had no complaint with them.

I use my lubed wads in cartridges and muzzleloaders.A well oiled machine operates more efficiently than a bone dry one IMO.No noticable side effects and my wads are only lightly wax coated.

I used the same wads as 2-piper only in 10 ga. For muzzleloaders we used to order the "10 ga for brass" diameter. Followed V.M. Starr's recommendation of chewing on the 1/8" card over powder wads to get a little saliva on the edges to reduce fowling during continual shooting. Ever tried reloading a ML double while standing in three feet of water with waves coming through the bulrushes?

so if I was to try some beeswax on the side or the fibre wads it might help keeping the fouling down?

Not a lick, IMO. A spray bottle of moose milk surely will, with no worries of killing powder in shells that might sit for a long time. But it's your beeswax and your time. Waxes and greases do not do much, if anything, to BP fouling. Water or water-based solutions will "Git-er-done".