What happens if you don't use a wad in a shotgun shell

The wad keeps your powder and shot apart, you don't want it all rattling around together. It also provides a gas seal so you get a bang instead of a wumph. Just use the wad.
 
You always need to use a wad. What you are describing is removing the bottom of the wad cup. While it may seem like wad cups have been around forever, remember we did have shotguns BEFORE we had plastic. That being said, felt and fibre disks were used.
 
You need some sort of buffer between the powder and shot or nothing would be able to push the shot out with any real force.
 
The old black powder shotgun I used to have used felt like pads between the powder and shot column. Some of the pads that were available were lubed with a non sticky wax, very similar and maybe even beeswax. Then of course, there was another pad or sometimes, if the pads were hard to find, wadded up newspaper to hold the shot column together.

I tried using double AA type plastic wads in the shotgun with felt pads or news paper over the shot. It worked well for a few shots. The black powder fouling made it difficult to load them. That's where the lube in the pads came in handy.

Anyway, the plastic wads also serve another purpose. They protect your shotgun's bore.

Many of the earlier smokeless loads that didn't use cup style wads caused barrel erosion. The streaks looked like deep scratches down the bore. Some shot is very hard and easily marks the bore as it is compressed against the sidewalls during firing. I can only begin to imagine the damage steel shot would do.

Is it possible to use a plastic wad without the crush spring on the bottom??? Yes. As long as there is something to keep the powder and shot separated and provide a piston to drive the shot down the barrel. If you're planning to cut off the bases of the shot cups and fill the remaining space with more shot, be very careful. Pressures will likely go beyond what your shotgun was built to handle.

If you are planning on leaving an airspace above the shot, likely nothing will occur but your shot patterns may vary.

If you're planning on filling the space below the shot cup with more powder, expect something disastrous to happen.
 
Without a lot of wadding the rock salt might come out as salt dust. It might, even with lots of wadding. Use a fast powder, because the load is light, and that will give you more room. Don't crimp. Glue a top cardboard wad to seal the top.

Let us know how it works. never tried it myself.
 
I agree with most of your post but this part........

bearhunter said:
...Anyway, the plastic wads also serve another purpose. They protect your shotgun's bore. Many of the earlier smokeless loads that didn't use cup style wads caused barrel erosion. The streaks looked like deep scratches down the bore. Some shot is very hard and easily marks the bore as it is compressed against the sidewalls during firing. I can only begin to imagine the damage steel shot would do...
Click to expand...

Can't see how this protects the bore. Lead then was even softer than it is now. Commercial steel shot was only developed after smokeless powder not in the time of black powder ( that's not to say people didn't throw whatever was handy in the old scatterguns). Modern barrels / chokes that are compatible with steel shot won't be damaged by it's use.
Barrel erosion was most likely caused by the heat of the burn coupled with the fact that all black powder was corrosive. The dark gouges were either score marks from non-suitable projectiles or heavy buildup that made the lower ends look like gouges. The steel could not possibly have been gouged by the compression of the lead shot bouncing around without a shot cup.


Simply put.. the wad only serves two purposes:

It provides a seal in the barrel to maximize the effect of the rapidly expanding gas in its efforts to propel the shot downrange (it is a larger diameter than the barrel itself which is part of the reason why there is a forcing cone in the barrel).

It serves to keep the shot together to increase the length of the shot string to increase range and accuracy. It has nothing to do with protecting your barrel.

Think about it.. you believe the soft plastic sides of the shot cup is what stops the lead / shot from gouging your barrel? If it was that resilient why not just coat the pellets in the same material?
 
Nope not in my experience. Besides providing the gas seal with in the shell for the powder
it definately protects the barrel from leading up, or scratching / marking in the case of steel. Also of great importance is it cushions the shot which reduces deformed pellets thus producing better tighter patterns and few flyers. Unprotected pellets wear and deform quickly leading up the barrel which screws the pattern / performance of the load and was an issue when we used just the milar wraps around the shot.
Much sooner keep on top of the plastic build up than the nightmare of lead build up
 
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It helps with the leading and yes, as I mentioned it helps produce a good pattern and longer shot string but does not prevent against scratches. The steel in the barrel is designed to be harder than that of the shot. That's why you need to make sure your barrel and choke are compatible with steel shot. A rifled slug has a wad for the seal portion but DOES NOT have the fingers of the shot cup that normal bird / buck shot has.

With regards to leading.... if you shoot a lot of trap or sporting clays etc you will see the waxy build up in your chokes from the wad as well. It' s not as bad as leading to remove but it is no real joy to clean either.
 
Hoppe's Tornado brush makes short work of plastic wad fouling.Soak with no.9 about fifteen minutes and about three brush strokes and it's all gone.
 
As others have mentioned the wad provides, a gas seal, cushioning, and some protection to the shot from the barrel. Since your original question refers to cutting out the plastic webbing. What will immediately happen is by eliminating the webbing you have greatly shortened the height of the overall shot wad column thus you will have nothing to form a decent crimp against. So the crimp will be deeply dished and open and the shot will just run out. When we used to use felt and card board wads there was different thickness's to have the shot wad column turn out just right to get a good crimp with at least 40 Ibs of wad pressure when all was said and done. The same objective was true when plastic wads came along. Take a look at different plastic wads. You will notice that the web part and the shot cup of the wad are of different heights.

If your making some type of "Specialty" load you will need to play with filling up the hull with something and maybe adding an over shot card wad to get the lid down just right with a decent crimp.

We used to make up special little loads and slip them into Berretta Boys and few other beloved fellas pockets when out on the skeet/sporting clays field. We were lucky they all had a tolerant sense of humor. You gotta love it when a plan comes together.!!
 
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