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Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 89

Has anyone tried removing some of the cushion section of the wad to gain more usable space in the hull. I wanted to load some buckshot but need a little more room to get the proper crimp. My concern was raising the pressure by removing the cushion section.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

I've cut the petals off but never reduced the leg section.I would try another wad instead.

Yes, the shot cups and wad bases of any one piece plastic wad can be used to load heavy charges of shot or a heavier than average charge of slow powder for special purpose loads. However, common sense warns us we are doing so at our own peril. It is always best to have the proposed loads professionally tested.

Well over a decade ago, I developed a 1 ounce #6 shot 28 gauge magnum load for pheasant hunting. My load called for a charge of 24 grains of Hercules/Alliant 2400 powder loaded into a polyformed translucent green plastic Fiocchi hull. I used only the shot cup and wad base of the Down Range Blue Pattern Control 28 gauge wad by carefully cutting the cushion section away. I used a solid felt wad stacked w/one thin overshot card wad placed between the plastic shot cup and wad base to get a perfect crimp height.

One of my old friends at the Alliant ballistics lab in Radford, VA kindly tested my load for me. Average peak load pressures were consistently around 9400 PSI and velocities were uniformly around 1220 FPS. Lab and field tests proved the load to be a very good one. I successfully used the load in my 28 gauge Browning Citori Lightning model over several seasons to cleanly take stocked pheasant at modest ranges in my home state of MA. Recoil was readily manageable w/ my 6.75 pound O/U. However, recoil was fierce to unmanageable in guns which weighed under 6 pounds. The load was very reliable out to about 35 yards, but I usually took most of my birds in closer over my GSH pointing dog Heidi.

If any of you choose to go this route, please use some caution and common sense. Please do your homework and choose a powder with a proper burning rate like I did by choosing a very slow .410 and magnum handgun powder for my magnum 28 gauge loads. Then be sure to have your loads tested by a professional lab, and follow up with thorough field testing.

Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 89

Maybe I could use this combination without modifying the wad, and just roll crimp instead of fold crimp to gain the extra space I need. Now the question is how does the roll crimp affect the pressure when used in place of the fold crimp? Maybe just to be safe stick with a load of 10,000 psi or less when substituting a roll crimp in pace of a fold crimp?

Member Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 601 Location: Virginia

I've done it by cutting out the cushion section and using fiber wads between the shot cup and the overpowder cup, splitting the wads until I got the length I wanted. This was before I found the 28-gauge magnum wads. As for using a roll crimp instead of a fold crimp, my understanding is that a roll crimp produces less pressure.