doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Lubing Fiber Wads

In an effort to remain "traditional" with one gun, I decided to go the fiber wad route in an attempt to utilize ammo as it was loaded when the gun was made in 1938. I tried a variety of fiber wads and nitro card combinations but my chronographed velocities were all over the map by multiples of 100 fps. Questioning my equipment, I chronographed promo dove loads and a five shot group had at worst 15 fps over manufacturer's velocity claim. I dug deeper in the old literature, mainly a 1953 Lyman manual, and noted that seating pressures were important. I settled on 60 lbs. seating pressure with two nitro cards and a NOS Alcan Bluestreak fiber wad which seemed to be the ticket. I had also "floated" one of the nitro cards in a thin layer of melted beeswax generated by putting shavings on top of aluminum foil in cast iron skillet. I'd flip the NC to coat both sides. I saw where BP listed "waxed" hard card, .5" and ordered them. Something didn't look right about them when I got them. The flat surfaces, front and rear, looked a little too shiny to be wax. I tried melting them in the skillet and there was no melting of the substance-whatever it was-but it was definitely not wax like. Gil

I soaked dried out fiber wads in glycerine for my 10-bore Dewson ml but never had a chance to test them. Could have blown to piecs for all I know.

I had very mixed results chronographing loads with the 12 bore hard waxed cards from BP which Gil mentioned. I was using them without lube in RMC brass shells with 1.25 lead shot in four different loadings: 27.5 gr Longshot, 28.0 Longshot, and 35 gr. Blue Dot, all with reclaimed shot, and on another occasion again with 27.5 gr. Longshot but this time with new lead shot. Five shots each. The three loads with reclaimed shot yielded speeds all over the place, between 472-1011; 773-1059; and 781-1171 respectively. With that much variance, I don’t think the averages meant much.

However, on the second day and using new lead shot over 27.5 gr. Longshot, I got much more consistent speeds of 1101-1171 fps, with a mean of 1139. I would not have thought the shot quality would have made any difference but perhaps someone can set me straight. Otherwise, I have no explanation for the extreme inconsistency with these wads and I never used them again.

After receiving results from pressure testing last night regarding fiber wad loads, I'm starting to realize I should've listened to the advice Dustin Hoffman's character received in The Graduate 57 years ago: "Plastics". Gil

If it was only that simple.

Plastic wads definitely seal better and give more uniform results both in pressure and velocity. They do not however seal very well in an all brass case so you generally have to use organic materials. I like shooting black powder and I like plastic wads. If I'm feeling nostalgic I will load fiber wads in paper or brass cases with black powder. Some say you can't shoot plastic cases with plastic wads and use black powder. That is total baloney! Will you get more plastic fouling? Obviously yes. I don't like roll crimping because it takes too much time. I can load all of my gauges except .410 with black powder in plastic cases and then crimp them on my single stage MEC press. You have to use a very low wad because of the internal volume that black powder takes up. I still load 80 grains of black in a Fiocchi or Federal 12 gauge plastic case using a Win AA 12 red wad with 1 1/16 ounce of shot. This is a beautiful load that is easy to load in a single stage press. To reduce fouling while shooting a round of skeet or sporting clays I will often alternate a smokeless load with a black powder load.

I certainly have not been able to load black and Win AA hulls and wads without copious amounts of plastic fouling that takes much longer to remove than roll crimping does. I also worry that the amount of fouling is enough to substantially raise pressures, and maybe damagingly so, if followed by smokeless rounds.

With Cheddite hulls, I get small pinprick like holes burned through the hulls so they are generally one-and-done loads. The Win AA hulls will last 2-3 BP loads before the case mouths deteriorate.

I have loaded black in a progressive press without much problem, but not with plastic wads. I'd love to know how you do that.