A quick note on wad sizes. On the card & felt/fiber wads a normal wad for the gauge will actually measure about a gauge size larger. thus a wad sold as a 12 gauge if you measure it carefully will be found to have a diameter of about 11 gauge. The Oversize 11 gauge wads normall used in thin wall brass shotshells will have an actual measurement of near 10 gauge size.
I do not believe this to have been the case a century ago as I have seen old loading instructions which stated to load a gauge oversize for presumably paper hulls & two sizes over for brass.
In reality the instructions were for smokeless vs black, but I believe they were intended for the use of paper cases for the smokeless & brass cases for the black.
