question about air gaps and fillers

D

Dre_sa

New member
Hey Folks,

Ive been working with my Martini Henry for a little while now and I'm thoroughly enjoying playing around with different loads and bullets and what-have-you's.

I understand the need to fill the air gap in the cartridge, and have been doing so successfully with cotton wool.
However, on my last trip to the range, one of the wads of cotton decided to clump together and have its smoldering self blown into some dry grass.
The problem was solved with a cease fire and a bucket of water.
I choose to believe I prevented a wild fire that day. :o

so my question concerns fillers. In my reading I have discovered that fiber fillers are better for the necked cartridge of the .577-450, whereas a granular filler would be better suited for a straight walled cartridge like the .45-70.

So what fibrous filler would be best for preventing wads of burning fury falling 20 feet in front of the muzzle?

I'd prefer not to use plastic based fibers as I really don't want to have to scrape molten plastic out of a 130 year old barrel, and I have read good things about kapok fiber and carded wool.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help all!
 
You could use a wad in the 45-70 but I've never used a filler for anything so can't help on the bottleneck.
 
Go " borrow" some kids stuffed animal and gut it,,, use it's entrails, makes good filler and won't burn the village down. ;)
 
I wouldn't do that Gavlan. Stuffed animals are usually filled with a poly fiber, aka plastic. Will probably melt to the barrel and be a beast to clean out.
 
Re: stuffed animal toys. It also depends on where its made. If it originates from the Workers' Paradise, it's a crap shoot what could be in them. I'd rather use cornmeal, cream-of-wheat, or farina (all of them would have to be rancid first as I'm loathe to waste food).
 
I have come to the conclusion that air gaps are blown out of proportion. My Sharp's paper cutter will hold 110 grains of loose powder but the recommended charge is 80 grains. The manual says not to have an airspace between powder and bullet but there's no way to not have some air space. Even with a full chamber there's a little air space, it's just the way the gun was designed. I've seen you tube vids of people loading 80 grains and pointing the muzzle up and bumping the stock to get powder in the firing channel thus leaving most of the air space behind the bullet.
 
Would an air gap be less risky with a cartridge rifle than a black powder muzzle loader?
Better materials and heavier design to withstand higher pressures maybe for the cartridge gun?
 
I tend to agree with Hawg. I think the warnings of air gaps under the bullet with BP guns is generally...overblown. Hah. :D

Steve
 
I would not use cornmeal or similar in a bottle neck cartridge such as the Martini Henry 577-450. I have used cotton balls and a wool fiber wads in mine and never had a problem with the cotton catching fire.

For those who don't know what the 577-450 cartridge looks like, here's a picture.

martini13stor.jpg
 
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