How much improvement would you get using a patched round ball in a smoothbore vs a fiberwad, the ball and a card over the top?
The "card over the top" is only to keep the shot or ball from falling out, or moving away from the powder, when you turn the gun down....by keeping the ball, or shot, seated over the powder you prevent any chance of that same ball or shot becoming a blockage,.
The purpose of a "fiber wab" is to prevent the shot from becoming damaged or deformed, ie, out-of-round, when the gun is fired. A fiber wad is often referred to as a "cushion wad".
This is all based on the idea that perfectly round shot fly better, and maintains a more consistent pattern than shot that has been deformed....such as reclaimed shot, which I have shot tons of over the years.
In a muzzle loader you can not apply "wad pressure" as we can in shot shells using a crimp to maintain that pressure, which insure consistent patterns with a given load.....
With a muzzle loader, it is also equally important, that equal pressure be applied as each component is seated.
As far as using a "patched round ball", since we have no rifling, and no lands / grooves for the patch to "bunch up into" when seating a tight fitting ball in order to impart a "spin" on the ball....with a smoothbore, it begs the question if a tight fitting OP (over powder) wad or card doesn't indeed help with the prevention of escaping gas, create an even better seal than the patched ball alone, and add accuracy to our smooth bore shooting.
Nothing in smoothbore shooting can beat "experimentation" with ones own gun, whether it be with roundball or shot. I have a new, new to me, .56 cal S/B that is fast becoming one of the most interesting guns I have ever owned....interesting in the sense that it actually seems to like me a little bit, and responds to thoughts, theories, and experiments as though it might know what it's doing.....instead of fighting me ever step of the way.
Does this make sense? If it does, then you can appreciate how much I have learned to like the lowly Renegade in the few short months I have owned it....it is nowhere near as finicky as custom, or semi custom smoothies I have played with over the years.
All this rambling is just one person's opinion. There are many other opinions, and many of these will have merit. However, you just can't seem to beat the principal that ever single gun is a science within itself, and should be treated as such.
The one thing that has drove me crazy is how a sling, tied on the end of the barrel of my .62 smoothbore, could change the POI (point of impact) with round ball so darn much....but it does, and that's all a story for a different thread.
Uncle Russ..
Topic: 28 gauge smoothbore (Read 1614 times)