High fire risk patches....any advice?

ComradeVlad

ComradeVlad

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So I've been looking to hunt game birds with my Pedersoli Bess for a while now.... But the season for the last 2 years has been super dry. My original plan is to use powder, a felt nitro card I believe, a circlefly cushion wad with undershot card attached. Shot and a overshot card of unknown material.

BUT.... Ive heard people say watch out for wads smoldering after leaving the barrel and starting fires....

Think it's a viable risk ??

I remember reading somewhere that people were using wasp nest material as wads cus it disinigrates rather than catching a fire.

Can anybody reflect on this?

Also for hunting purposes would u guys recommend lubing the cushion wad? Or leaving it dry?

Thanks
 
ComradeVlad said:
So I've been looking to hunt game birds with my Pedersoli Bess for a while now.... But the season for the last 2 years has been super dry. My original plan is to use powder, a felt nitro card I believe, a circlefly cushion wad with undershot card attached. Shot and a overshot card of unknown material.

BUT.... Ive heard people say watch out for wads smoldering after leaving the barrel and starting fires....

Think it's a viable risk ??

I remember reading somewhere that people were using wasp nest material as wads cus it disinigrates rather than catching a fire.

Can anybody reflect on this?

Also for hunting purposes would u guys recommend lubing the cushion wad? Or leaving it dry?

Thanks
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I would try shooting some of those prelubed cushion wads from the Blue and Grey products or similar and shoot them into a backstop of some kind so that you can recover them after shooting. That would allow you to check for any sign of burning / smoldering. I think wasp nests would be very flammable and a much riskier wad to shoot. Also I have never seen enough wasp nests to permit more than a very small amount of shooting

cheers mooncoon
 
I was out hunting and happened onto a dozen abandoned ones throughout the day.... my trucks tool box is full of them XD thats probably what ill due for now... shoot what I got and inspect the wad if I can find it through all the smoke and fire haha. Id presume its only the nitro card that gets exposed to the fire ?
 
ComradeVlad said:
I was out hunting and happened onto a dozen abandoned ones throughout the day.... my trucks tool box is full of them XD thats probably what ill due for now... shoot what I got and inspect the wad if I can find it through all the smoke and fire haha. Id presume its only the nitro card that gets exposed to the fire ?
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when you look at high speed videos of gun muzzles during firing, you often see flame coming out of the barrel before the projectile and on that basis I think you need to consider the whole column of powder and wads. If you shoot against some sort of backstop from say 20 yards, the wad should have lost most of its energy and fall to the ground where you can find it.

cheers mooncoon
 
You even have to be careful with the burning embers coming out of the barrel. When at an NRA midrange match in Wyoming, I set part of the range smoldering with my .40-65 Sharps. I wasn't using any combustible wads at all.

Chris.
 
I have seen hundreds of shots fired on a Trap range with M/L and BP cartidge shotguns guns using over-powder card wads and lubed fibre wads - never once did we have one smouldering or start a fire. Same cannot be said for patched round balls using commercial lubes. The absolute worst was patches lubed with beeswax but close behind was Wonderlube 1000, as I recall.
 
the only wads that I have ever seen smolder a little bit was from an 8 guage that we shot trap with. 3 or 4 of the patches left a smoke trail behind although it was a snowy day and the wads appeared to go out while still in the air. The only patches that I have seen smolder were spit patches that were too dry. Seemed like every second shot we had to run out and stomp out the patch. One smolder that I started was on a hot dry day and shooting over a dead rotting stump at the target. The sparks from the rifle fell into the dry punk that was at the top of the stump and started smoldering. Luckily we could smell the smoke and put it out

cheers mooncoon
 
ComradeVlad said:
Also for hunting purposes would u guys recommend lubing the cushion wad? Or leaving it dry?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I never lube my shotgun wads. Smoothbore doesn't pick up much fouling. I can shoot till I'm bored with unlubed wads without hard fouling becoming an issue.
 
Ol' Flinter said:
I have seen hundreds of shots fired on a Trap range with M/L and BP cartidge shotguns guns using over-powder card wads and lubed fibre wads - never once did we have one smouldering or start a fire. Same cannot be said for patched round balls using commercial lubes. The absolute worst was patches lubed with beeswax but close behind was Wonderlube 1000, as I recall.
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Odd, I've never had any of the many thousands of WL1000 patches I've shot smoulder... They're barely even scorched.
 
For round balls in my Kentucky long rifle, I take about 40 dry patches, run water over them to get them soaked, give them a squeeze to get rid of the excess water, then place them in a empty round Copenhagen snuff box individually layering them as you put them in, so that you can take one out to load your rifle and they are not stuck together. After the shoot if you have any patches left over, take the lid off the Copenhagen can so they can dry out. If you are not going to shoot again for some time (months) open the lid so they can dry out. If you leave them in wet with the lid closed, after time they will get moldy.
 
!n heavy naval guns, the powder (in bags) was loaded separately behind the projectile. I've read that the bags were made of silk, because silk would either burn or it wouldn't. It wouldn't smoulder. I can't find the reference, so that may be a myth, or can anyone confirm it?
 
uglydukwling said:
!n heavy naval guns, the powder (in bags) was loaded separately behind the projectile. I've read that the bags were made of silk, because silk would either burn or it wouldn't. It wouldn't smoulder. I can't find the reference, so that may be a myth, or can anyone confirm it?
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Navel guns used in a over land situation ?? haha doubt thered be much concern about the wads burning as they flew out over the ocean...
 
uglydukwling said:
!n heavy naval guns, the powder (in bags) was loaded separately behind the projectile. I've read that the bags were made of silk, because silk would either burn or it wouldn't. It wouldn't smoulder. I can't find the reference, so that may be a myth, or can anyone confirm it?
Click to expand...

I think the worry would be that some of the cloth bag(s) would be left in the barrel and cause pressure rings in the bore.

cheers mooncoon
 
I've never done any testing myself but I believe the big difference is between using grease based lubricants like bore butter and water based such as moose milk.
I've always used moose milk of one recipe or another and never had a smouldering patch in 25 years. Usually they have water soluble cutting oil mixed with hydrogen peroxide, wiper fluid, Murphy oil soap, or other things. Sometimes some alcohol if freezing is a concern. There are lots of versions and I can't see how most would ever support embers or combustion in any conditions.
And only natural fibers for wads and patches.
For shotgun wads I usually soak them in some moose milk and find it makes cleaning much easier but that's generally been at the range for ten shot strings.
 
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