Any virtue of LDPE wads over cardboard?

S

stubbicatt

New member
I just tried some LDPE wads I cut from a food container lid. Other than being sort of difficult to properly position over the powder charge, do you suppose there is any benefit of LDPE over tablet backing wads?

Thanks in advance.
 
stubb; I do the same with the foam trays. First... In what caliber are you shooting them? How are you cutting them out? And how [for what purpose] are you using them?
They are very good for some uses, but not the best for others.

WILL

Just saw your earlier post. I use the hard yellow or the thin black trays. They seem to work the best for me in my .44 Mags w/ cast bullets, and my
H&R barrel in .444 Marlin with 240-300gr cast bullets. The foam keeps the flame front from melting the bullet's base in the longer barrels....where most of the leading comes from.

WILL.
 
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LDPE = plastic = potential bad juju in a BP role**

Your ordinary cardboard (or fiber) card wads will do just fine at protecting the bullet base.
In fact you will find them all-but-unmarked** about 15 feet from the muzzle.

ps: I used to just punch them out of milk cartons -- worked maaahvelously in the Sharps.



**
Thinking about it, since the card wads are unburnt, LDPE will probably also be unmarked/unburned as well.
Consider it a push then. ;)
Other than being sort of difficult to properly position over the powder charge
Click to expand...
What are you punching them out with? Using a sharpened 45-70 case ought to give you a perfect-fit card wad.
 
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stubb: It's best to just position the wad over the case mouth and seat [it] and the bullet in one step, leaving the wad directly under the bullet.... instead of tamping it down over the powder.

This was told to me some years ago. and the way I have done it for a long time...BUT, I've never loaded over black powder before, so I'll just back outa' here for now, and leave you to your loadin'

WILL.
 
With BP, you put the card wad in the case mouth, then compress it into the
powder column, and the powder column itself even further to the bullet's
shank/seating depth. THEN you seat the bullet to just kiss the card.

(You do not compress the powder w/ the bullet itself, as that will deform
any bullet of BP softness)
 
With the card wads I've been sort of mashing them into the case mouth with my thumb, and then push them down on top of the powder with my home made compression plug. Then compress the charge. Last, I seat the bullet, typically by thumb, and then crimp in the press. Basically the only operations on the press are compression and crimping.

The card wads are more flexible than LDPE, which when I press it into the case mouth sort of gets cock-eyed in there, but is rectified by the compression plug and usually goes "straight" on top of the powder column, as the inside diameter of the case seems to be larger by that point, as compared to the inside diameter of the case mouth.

Unless I notice a benefit to the LDPE, I will revert to card wads, as the LDPE are just a little squirrely in the process of seating them over the charge, while the card wads are much more friendly to use in this procedure.

The wad cutter I'm using is a hammer punch type I purchased from Midway. When used in conjunction with the end of a 2x4 it does a great job when struck a few times with a rubber mallet. The wads are just a little bit larger diameter than the case mouth, so the initial press into the case mouth tends to tilt the LDPE wads a little bit... sometimes a whole lot. I'm glad I have the tool, but its use is tedious, and the relatively low cost of commercially available wads, such as Walter's, makes them much more attractive.

I reckon the size of the wads being greater than bullet diameter might help a little bit in reducing blow by. I don't get any barrel leading using them. But neither do I get any leading using smokeless without wads. I'm guessing diameter and alloy and lube are adequate all around.

There are press mounted wad cutters, but I don't feel like parting with $55+ to buy one.
 
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You don't happen to have a 1/2" drill and/or drillpress do you ?

If you do, file off the rim of a 45-70 case and drill out the primer pocket to accept a large (20d) nail.

Use a standard case chamfer to sharpen up the mouth edges, chuck the case in the drill, and then use
that combo to cut out 8-10 card wads at a time one-after-another in seconds -- stacking them inside
the case as you go. Then use the nail to push all the cards out in a single stack. You can half-fill a coffee
cup w/ hundreds of pre-cut wads in 5 minutes this way.

In order of thickness: Milk cartons make great card wads, as do the heavier paper "picnic" plates sold
at Safeway/Giant, as do beer coasters from any local bar. Endless supply.
 
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