shotgun wad purposes

[fishblade2]

Since I was already discussing several topics in the other black powder shotgun thread I decided to start a different one asking these questions about wads:

What are the purpose of the over the powder wad and the cushion wad in black powder shotguns?

Does the Cushion wad have to/ should be lubricated and what is the purpose of both (dry and lubricated ones)?

Lastly this one question is about wads but in a modern inline muzzle loader. I know with flintlock and percussion guns that a patch is used around the ball when loading the ball to place something between the powder and the ball and to give the ball some grip for better accuracy, but with my inline muzzleloader all I have used is the synthetic pellets with a sabot bullet. If I was to use regular black powder (actually in a powder form and not pellets) would I need a wad between the powder and the sabot bullet?

Thanks for the help!

 

[arcticap]

What are the purpose of the over the powder wad and the cushion wad in black powder shotguns?
Does the Cushion wad have to/ should be lubricated and what is the purpose of both (dry and lubricated ones)?

These items serve multiple purposes.

The over powder card (or wad) serves to seal, protect and compress the powder, and to help seal the gases from blowing by.
The cushion wad serves to cushion the shot from deforming on ignition which helps the shot to pattern better, just like a modern plastic shotgun wad would. And it can also help to stop gases from blowing by which would help to increase velocity and downrange performance.
I suppose that both of these could also scrape some fouling off the bore as they exit the barrel too.
Both the OP card and the wad can help to keep the shot load together and from getting mixed up with the powder so that all of the shot exits the barrel together.
A cushioned wad doesn't have to be lubricated. Lubrication is usually for keeping fouling soft or for making loading them easier if they fit very tight. Soft fouling is easier to remove during swabbing or shooting.
In theory, a clean, shiny bore should produce better patterns.
At least that's what I noticed when I shot trap and at turkey shoots with a smokeless barrel that had hard plastic fouling accumulated in it.
A lubed wad may help if firing a coarse powder that leaves a lot of residue in the barrel, or if one wants the best performance for every shot, or if one is shooting a lot of shots and wants to reduce the amount of hard fouling or at least make it softer.
The hardness of powder residue can depend on the humidity and type of powder being fired. In dry climates, the fouling produced can be very hard so lubed wads could make loading easier if firing a lot of shots. That also occurs because some powders contain and produce creosote when fired which is a tarry substance.
Some shotguns have a choked barrel and if the wad is tight then lubrication may also help.

If I was to use regular black powder (actually in a powder form and not pellets) would I need a wad between the powder and the sabot bullet?

Loading sabots along with black powder doesn't require the use of a wad underneath it. Some black powders are better to use for shooting sabots than others, like Swiss powder. But if someone discovered that using wads worked better for shooting sabots with black powder, then that would be a good reason to do it.
That's what muzzle loading is all about, experimenting to find out what methods work best for you, with your gun and in your situation.

 

[pohill]

I recently started shooting trap with a muzzleloading, double barrel, side by side British 10 ga shotgun. I had and have lots of questions. These sites have some good info:
http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/shotgun.html
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=2605
http://www.muzzleloadingshotguns.com/articles/developingloadsformuzzleloadingshotgunspart1

This company is good to deal with:
http://www.circlefly.com/index.html

 

[fishblade2]

thanks for the advice and the links. I will check them out and be back soon with any additional questions (if I have any)

 

[St8LineGunsmith]

well no need to post anything else this has been well covered.