Greetings all, this is my first foray into this forum. I'm trying diff loads in my CVA Staghorn rifle, to which I've recently added a 1.75x4x32mm Bushnell Trophy (a very worthwhile purchase). Anyhow... one of the bullets I tried was the Hornady 385gr Great Plains conical. I'm inclined towards these because I like the idea of heavy bullets, & they're relatively inexpensive. I ran out of primers only four shots into those Hornadys, but the group was 2"-3" across, which pleased me. I shot all four from a clean barrel, as I'm trying to duplicate what I'll hunt with. I got very good groups with T/C 250gr PTX bullets, but only when I spit-swabbed between shots; from a freshly-cleaned barrel, they weren't all that tight.

I went to Hodgedon's website http://www.hodgdon.com/data/muzzlelo...ifle-sabot.php and note that in their chart they reference use of Triple 7 with "385 Gr. Hdy. Conical w/ Wad"

What kind of wad, and why? Will a 'wad' gain more accuracy when used with heavy conicals, or what? I simply shot them as they came from the box (little bore butter added) and they seemed alright. What will using a wad gain me?