cardboard wads, is it worth it?
 

Hi everyone from this side of the earth,
Will the accuracy improve on my Ardesa Deerstalker if I use cardboard wads with the patched .490 roundball, 177gr?
I'm printing a matchbox sized group at 50meters with 55gr Sannadex pistol-powder, I guess it something equivelant to your FFFg blackpowder.
I started using the pistol-grain powders when the rifle-grain got scarce, my nearset dealer are about 3 hours drive away and I only visit them 2-3 times a year.
I hear a lot of the guys are using wads or is it intended for conicals?
My rifle is the .50cal silwer-coloured Deerhunter with sintetic stock, 24" long with a 1:48 twist.
Appreciate any comments or help

You're shooting a light load. I don't think a wad would help much.

I started with 85gr pistol powder and worked my way down to a decent group which ended at 55grains.
When rifle grain was still available I used 85gr(volume) with the same roundball which produced a nice and tight group at the same distance. I chronied the rifle then at 1700fps average if I remember correctly.
The new stock of powder which is on the way to the supplier will only be available in one grain, pistol and rifle in one. The guys who produces the powder were scaled down due to bad economy the past 2 years.

I have used a wad when I shoot Triple Seven powder and a patched roundball. I find that the wad protects the patch from being blow apart or burned. This allows the patch to do its job. So would a wad under the ball help.. all you can do is try some. If you have a hollow hole punch you can knock some out of milk carton cardboard. It works very good. A 1/2 or 9/16th works very well. You can also use wool felt and make your own.

I even took a 1/2 inch copper pipe, cut a chunk off, and sharpened the edges of the one end.. and used that as a hollow hole punch. It did work but not real well. Set a board over the top of the pipe before you hit it with a hammer.

With the kind of accuracy you are currently achieving, I doubt if a wad would improve anything. But again.. muzzleloaders learn by trial and error. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice sir, I will definately try the wads.
I was tought to inspect the shot patches, my patches dont burn holes through. They just have the small cuts from engaging the rifling.

Generally speaking Wildeboer, cardboard wads are used under the base of conical bullets as a gas seal so as to increase accuracy and prevent leading by protecting the bullet base from flame cutting/melting.

Also generally speaking, a wool wad is preferred over a card wad if one were to use a wad under a patched ball. A patch/ball combination that fits the bore well and shows no evidence of patch failure after firing is not likely to benefit by the addition of a wad. However, even with a well fitting patch/ball combination, a wad (either wool or card) may be desirable for a hunting load that remains in the bore for and extended period so as to provide a barrier between the patch lube and powder charge.

Thank you Semisane, what you just said confirmed my suspicions. I know I read it somewhere a few years ago but forgot where it is supposed to be used.

If you must have a wad the easy way to make them is to obtain punches used to cut wood plug from the hardware near you and get some wool felt stripping used to insulated windows and doors and punch out your wads. I have found it is much easier to grease them afterwards.
Actually you should adjust the ball size and patch thickness to fit the gun. as long as you don't use 777 you should be alright with out a wad.
In case you do not know how to tell when you have the right combination: the patch should imprint its weave on the ball plainly where the lands are and faintly where the groves are, You MUST use pure lead to get the best results with patch round ball.

I get my best results with lubed wads. I like to melt the lube and dip the wads in so they soak through evenly and then put them on a paper plate with wax paper on top.

I know this isn't an answer to your question, but since I have the same rifle with a blued barrel and a wood stock, I thought I would suggest trying sabots and bullets with it. Mine shoots them very well. Mine is a .54 caliber, but it's worth a try.