vegetable wads for .40-82 black powder loads

Win 38-55

Win 38-55

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I want to start loading black powder for my old Winchester 1886 .40-82. I've heard that vegatable wads keep the fouling nice and soft. Where do I get these in .409 cal or thereabouts?
 
MT Chambers supplies all manner of BP shooting supplies, Bp bullets, veg. wads, felt wads, lube wads, BP lube, etc.
 
Ben, I googled MT Chambers with no success. Have you got any addition info that would help me locate them?
 
PM me for details on MT Chambers.....the wad doesn't do what you say, it protects the base of the bullet on ignition, keeps soft BP lube from contaminating the powder. The keys for keeping the fouling soft and easy to clean are a) use of a proper BP lube b)proper use of a blow tube c)a BP that matches your cartridge and is drop tubed or compressed properly. These things must be experimented with to find best combination.
 
Ben is MT Chambers. I have bought bullets from him and they seem very good. He set me up to do paper patches and with plain sided .50 bullets as well as pre lubed. Was good to deal with in my experience. Included everything I needed including pattern and paper and some patched to show how it is done.
 
I am not sure how much you would want to use BP in an 82. The gun has to be washed out after each shooting session and you will probably get water down in the mechanism. You do not want to strip one and reassemble it. It is easy except for the little linkage between the cartridge carrier and the lever. That one piece is an absolute bugger to get back in as I recall.

cheers mooncoon
 
Mooncoon, I've only used BP in an original Winchester 1876 .45-60, but it wasn't that hard to clean. No residue got past the case into the action. I cleaned it by grabbing it by the muzzle and turning it upside down and then shoving wet soapy wads down the bore and they fell out the far end. As long as I did it right, there wasn't any water running down (up) into the action. When I was done, I was careful to dry any wet areas around the ejection port.
 
Plus a 76 is much easier to strip and reassemble :>) Even though I don't particularly like Marlin lever guns, I thought they were the easiest of all to strip and clean.

cheers mooncoon
 
If you can, try to avoid using any style of greased wad in black powder cartridge rifles...it is not required. I say this with over 35 years experience in shooting BP cartridge rifles.
With original vintage guns your best performance will be with a felt wad or "Ox-Yoke" Wonder Wads (which I beleive are being made in 40 cal now). Dixie Gun works sells them.
The idea of using a wad as lube comes from the Sharps shooters using paper patched bullets with no grease grooves. They needed some kind lube for the bullet the grease wad was best...some were smart enough to use a card wad under the grease wad though.
In vintage guns the concept of the wad is not for softening powder fouling, but to provide a positive gas seal in bores which may be lightly pitted or rough...plus the wad provide protection to the base of the bullet to avoid gas cutting. This is a phenomenon I have personally seen. Think about it...the grease wad is ahead of the powder and the resultant fouling...any fouling in the barrel from the previous shot is cleared by the bullet travelling down the barrel...the grease wad only provides minimal lubrication, and in the worst case may be embedded with powder granules which may smolder after leaving the barrel. This can create dangerous fire hazards.
Hope this helps you out.
Cheers
 
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Thanks, men, for all the good advice you have given me. I'm pretty new to BP shooting and am learning as I go.
 
Win 38-55 said:
Mooncoon, I've only used BP in an original Winchester 1876 .45-60, but it wasn't that hard to clean. No residue got past the case into the action. I cleaned it by grabbing it by the muzzle and turning it upside down and then shoving wet soapy wads down the bore and they fell out the far end. As long as I did it right, there wasn't any water running down (up) into the action. When I was done, I was careful to dry any wet areas around the ejection port.
Click to expand...

Here is another hint;
Try to find a cleaning jag in 40 caliber, and a strong steel rod...you will also need a good brass bore guide. Clean from the muzzle with the fired case in the chamber, and try to do this after every shot...it works very well. Plus, it achieves a few things.
1. The bore gets cleaned very well, and improves accuracy.
2. The cleaning solvent does not get into the action.
3. You clean part of the the fouling out of the cartridge case, making it easier to prep for reloading.
I used to clean the bore after every shot with the fired case removed. Then after the day was done I spent several dirty hours cleaning cases. After using the technique above life became so much easier.
Cheers
 
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