Round Ball Wad condition

[Fla9-40]

Found these at the range today, shot from a shooter who I overheard to say he was trying out some of his cast round ball loads in a 12ga.

These were light blue wads with LOTS of black on them from the powder.

Is this a sign of hot loads/over pressure?
What do you think? What does this tell all you more experienced shotgun shooters out there?

Looks like the gas seal (I think that is what it's called) at the bottom of the wad is blown out as well....

[FullTang]

Those are Claybuster clones of Windjammer wads, and I've tried them in .69 roundball loads. They have very thin petals, and would seem perfect for the job, but my results were exactly what you see here: the gas seals almost all blew out under the strain. This wad is just too lightly constructed for the job, and gives a lot of poofy shots, with velocity nowhere near predicted levels, even with fairly light charges. So, it's probably not overpressure, it's just a crappy wad.

Has anyone tried the Downrange 12S0 or 12S3 8 petal hybrids? Those seems like they could be good for this application.

[FullTang]

Also, the black soot all over the wads indicates incomplete combustion, as well as blow-by. So, when the gas seal gives out, the pressure drops and the powder can't burn properly---those RBs probably came dribbling out a few hundred FPS less than their expected velocity.

[longbow]

What they said!

In my experience sheared and or crumpled petals are generally a good indication that a different wad or ball size is required and in general accuracy in my guns is not as good when petals are damaged.

Now gas seals is a whole different issue. Every time I have had gas seal problems, accuracy has been poor.

The blown gas seal is not necessarily an indicator of high pressure. I have had Win AA Reds blow a quite low pressure loads. In fact that is why I don't use them anymore even though I got a bunch free. So poor wad type/material might be one reason for blowout.

Another cause of seal blowout is if there is not a solid seat under the ball. I have found that most wads want to wrap around the ball which also distorts the gas seal and leads to edge failure. I use a 16 or 20 ga. nitro card wad or two under the ball and usually a scoop of COW on top of the nitro card wad(s).

The nitro card wads provide a solid base to support the cushion leg below the ball and the COW makes a nice form fitting seat for the ball. COW seems to improve accuracy for me.

Good wads, good wad/ball fit and good support under the ball are in my opinion very important ~ at least for best accuracy.

Longbow

[Fla9-40]

I post this because I have a .690 mold I bought here and have not tried it yet. I wished I had a chance to talk to this shooter to see what he had loaded.

I just did not know what this indicated, so when I do start casting a few of the .690 I knew what to look for if I'm loading in the wrong direction.
Still trying to find a load for the .690 with the components I have on hand.

Longbow you mentioned COW on top of the nitro cards...am I confused by thinking you are putting COW below the ball?

Thanks all for your input....

[longbow]

Yes, I find that a small scoop of COW between ball and nitro card wads seems to provide better accuracy for me. My take is that the COW just compresses some and forms a nice seat under the ball. It may also provide just a bit more support for the petals below the ball as well so they can't wrinkle.

Check your fit with 0.690" RB. So far I have only found one wad that gave a decent fit with 0.690" RB and even then accuracy was poor. I have had far better results using smaller ball of 0.662" and 0.678" or bore size balls with no shotcup. It takes a thin petal wad to allow a sliding fit with 0.690" RB's.

Most of my recovered wads with 0.690" RB's had sheared petals at the ball's equator. Too tight a fit.

Alternately you could try cutting the petals off at the middle of the ball or cut them off completely and use paper or Teflon wrap. Not sure as I gave up on 0.690" as an "inconvenient fit". Others have made it work though.

And to qualify, I am using smoothbore with cylinder bore. A choke complicates things more as does a rifled barrel. Those wads in the photo do not look as though they were shot through a rifled barrel though.

I guess another issue is what sort of accuracy you are looking for. If 4" to 6" at 25 yards is good enough then it shouldn't be hard to achieve and that is good enough for many. My good loads run 3" to 4" at 50 yards. That's a little harder to achieve unless fit and wad column are good.

Longbow