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I have a new 16 ga grabber and I'm reloading the black RGL hulls with the 7/8 oz DownRange wads. There doesn't seem to be any way to get the DR16 wad to slip onto the rammer tube without splitting the shot cup. In other words there's not enough room between the rammer tube and the wad guide - even with max separation between the two - for the wad to be placed up on the rammer tube. Anybody else having this problem or could I possibly have my wad guide installed on a "pole" designed for 3 inch shells?

Guest

Try slipping the open end of the wad up onto the rammer tube, then bring it down into the wad guide. Should work. It's a little different motion than you might be accustomed to, but it's how you do it with some wads.

Guest

Tony,

Just a queston.

Why do the the wad petals have to break apart? The pellets are bascially in free flight as soon as the pellets exit the muzzle. If you are using a nice fast burning powder, the wad won't be pushed into the shot column.

I don't understand the issue, as it has been brought up before, by others. If the loads patterned bad I would understand the objection. The patterns are pretty good, a bit core dense, but you are playing with sub-gauge loads and that comes with the territory.

My practical experience with the wad, has been a clay target smoking performance.

Hello Colt :

Dave gave you the correct procedure for inserting the wads , slide up on the ram tube then drop back down into the wad finger cup , once you get it down its the same as any other wad to load .

Regards Charles

Usually, the first concern and correct procedure for setting the rammer tube height is to first adjust it up or down to seat a plastic one piece wad with a minimum of seating pressure. Do the following only after you have properly set your sizing and priming stations.

Turn the allen screw open to loosen the ram tube clamp. Make sure the rammer tube can be moved upward without undo force. Bring it down a bit too much, and leave the clamp loose. Now seat a wad onto a properly sized, charged, and primed hull. The rammer tube should be easily pushed up by the wad's resistance as it seats on the powder. Repeat this with another charged hull to make sure the ram is fully up and not crushing the wad down. Mark the tube with a red pencil. Adjust it down a 1/16th of an inch and clamp it firmly. You are done. This setting should seat the wad perfectly and firmly on the powder with just enough pressure to bump the seating pressure indicator a tad. It should not register any force. The wad should not be crushed down but should be displacing any air in the powder charge. Inserting the wad cup onto the rammer and sitting it into the wad guide should not be a problem at this point.

If you can't set the rammer to this point, you might need to look at your basic set up. Check the height of the wad guide. It might be set too high. It should drop down and sit on the hull mouth without any force when the reloader is fully down, but it should just contact the hull mouth. If your set up is ok and the problem persists, you can trim a 1/4 inch off the ram tube end with a metal saw. Cut it squarely and deburr the end with a mill file and some sand paper to smooth it. Then readjust it.

You should now be good to go. Fit the wad cup over the tube end as previously advised. Good luck.

Guest

Tony,

For steel shot wads, you MUST have slit wads, because the weight is in the very bottom of the wad and the slow burning propellants WILL push the wad around at muzzle exit and cause poor patterns. At times, to the extreme of having the steel shot wad turn 180 degrees acting like a shuttlecock.

The probability of that happening with a lead shot wad is very low, as the shot charge is up front. Fast powders, will cut the probability and barrel porting, ported choke tubes, chokes etc, will really stop the wad from being rammed into the shot charge on muzzle exit. (I really like ported barrels for this reason, hope I don't get tarred and feathered on this site for saying that).

I saw the show "Time Warp" on the Discovery Channel recently, they did a bit on breaking clay targets, and they also showed the wad/shot charge leaving the barrel in very slow motion. the wad petals really didn't open up as much as you might think, during the first foot or two of flight. The shot charge actually separated from the wad before the petals folded back. The fellow doing the shooting, was a member of the US Olympic team using an unported, looked like a Perazzi MX-8.

If anyone gets a chance watch the show it was interesting. We have all seen pictures but usually not a slo-mo of the wad/shot charge leaving the barrel.

Hello Tony :

The big question is DID YOU HIT WITH THE LOADS ??

If you did then it is a moot point , if you didn't then change something .

I gave em a through work out (10,000+ ) , with the wads out of the single cavity and then out of the production mold and they meet my standards which is pretty durn high , I ran 95 straight with em at Tenn. State Shoot with folks commenting as to what load I was shooting for I was hitting them so hard .

So I am happy with the wad as it is with no changes taking place .

Perhaps you would be more happy with the Claybuster wad .

Regards Charles

That would be a good test for you to do for yourself Tony , I did all the testing I wanted for myself and am extreamly happy with the results .

Folks roll up your sleeves and put your nickle down do the work and find out for yourselves , that way you will know beyond the shadow of a doubt .

I always if curious about something go and find out for myself you all should too .

Folks I will tell you all something pretty blunt , almost all loads will shoot beyond the shooters ability to shoot them .

THE ONLY REASON TO LOAD YOUR OWN SHELLS IS NOT TO SAVE MONEY .

IT IS TO MATCH YOUR TIMING TO THE LOCATION THAT YOU STRIKE THE TARGET WITH IN THE SHOTSTRING .

NO MORE NO LESS .

Regards Charles