Shiloh Rifle Forums

I use a .40cal white coffee filter 'wad' at the bottom of the case, over the primer hole in both my .45-70 and.45-90.
Really lowered my ES, and the target told me to keep doing it.

Lumpy Grits wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 7:38 am I use a .40cal white coffee filter 'wad' at the bottom of the case, over the primer hole in both my .45-70 and.45-90.
Really lowered my ES, and the target told me to keep doing it.

When you use the filters do you try to salvage the sides or just use the flat bottoms ?

Brian there may be two kinds of filters at play here, the Bunn type basket filter and the Melita cone filter. Myself I use the 'cone' type. Several years ago someone in the family purchased a package of the wrong size so with no other use for them I ran some of them through my press mounted punch. I forget what I had been using before but there was often some of it left. With the coffee filters I have never seen evidence of any residue. There is also an ancillary benefit. A few years back I sat myself down on the line for the Standing Bear at Big Hill. When it came time to load I pulled a cartridge from my box and immediately (if not sooner) saw that there was no primer. A quick check showed that all 50 were primerless. I excused myself and hastened back to the truck, picked up the first box I laid my hand on and headed back to the line. Two steps and whoa, maybe, just maybe, sure enough they were primerless also (I load in batches of 100). The next box was complete and back to the line I went. Much to the credit of the gentlemen in the squad they allowed me to finish my string. Upon closer examination there was not one grain of Swiss 1.5 in the bottom of the boxes. Glen Gipson gave me 100 GM150M's and a hand tool. I say gave because I tried to pay him and he would not accept payment, what a guy. I inserted the primers and the next day shot them with equally excellent results.

Paul

I take the paper basket coffee filters and just use the wifes iron with some steam, nice and flat. Stack a few and staple them together. Press wad punch and a capture pie pan under the die. Some worry about ash deposits but if you are a swabber it is not an issue. I am referring to under powder wads here.
kw

There are two barely concealed messages in my long post above. Who spotted them?

The "messages" are easy to see if you are thinking in terms of 1000 yard shooting. Mental Management and Fouling Control should have been on my list too. Both cannot be escaped beyond 800 yards. Also, people will naturally shoot better when they have a lot of faith in their load. If they believe the wads make their load better, they will pretty much automatically shoot better groups if they know the wads are in there.

It may be necessary to do a blind test in order to suss out whether wads work or not...that is, one shooter loads the ammo the best way possible with the wads, another shooter loads the best way possible without wads, and a third shooter shoots the groups not knowing which is which. This rabbit hole just keeps on going and going....

desert deuce wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 9:49 am There are two barely concealed messages in my long post above. Who spotted them?

Coffee filters didn't work for you.
But then you are using pistol primers.

Your dissertation on primer pockets was interesting also, but again you were probably talking about pistol primers.

I have two rifles that shot very well with the federal large pistol magnum primers. But leaving out the other key ingredients would no doubt affect others tests.

My good friend Brian and fellow elocutionist of the landfill order. Surely you jest?

Hint, do you really think the National Champion Shooter could only muster a 2 minute group at target, OR, was he messing with your mental factor? I used to see this frequently in silhouette.

Hint, he was really good at adjusting to conditions. The Champs shots at 1,000 pretty much were within the 10 ring horizontally, conversely the perceived rifleman with the more accurate rifle and load his groups were about X-ring high yet his horizonal group spanned beyond the 10-ring, to either side. Arguably near perfect vertical distribution.

Johnny V mentions faith in load and fouling control, I put those in match prep with rifle and load which bolster the Mental factor.

What separated the scores in the example was the ability to adjust to the conditions. Reading the mirage and wind.

So the answer then becomes clear. The better shot needs to improve their conditions reading.

How do they do that you say? (YOU TELL ME)

Ahhh!!!

Your use of the word subtle threw me.
You've never been Subtle about developing the proper skills needed to rise to the top.

I figger if I'm hitting the fridge in the center and not the dryer to the left or the stove to the right I'm doing pretty good.

Kim
I'll give that a try.

Paul
I remember having some of the cone ones somewhere
Now I may actually have a use for them if I didn't throw them away.

Ahhh, come on!

Blair demonstrated how to do this last month when he won both the IRONMAN and the 1,000 Yard World Championship at the Desert International.

semtav wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 8:24 am

Lumpy Grits wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 7:38 am I use a .40cal white coffee filter 'wad' at the bottom of the case, over the primer hole in both my .45-70 and.45-90.
Really lowered my ES, and the target told me to keep doing it.

When you use the filters do you try to salvage the sides or just use the flat bottoms ?

Just the flat bottom is used.