walnut wads
 

https://shootingsportsman.com/wadless-shotshells/

has anyone tried this at home?

this is very interesting I would like to try this....charlie

It sure seems to have merit, especially in states where, if not already, the use of plastic wad/shotcups may be deemed ‘plastic litter or pollution’ (which I believe it and unreclaimed shotshells are) and eventually become outlawed.






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I wonder if Pecan shells would work as well, How about testing this Phil?

I always keep my empty hulls, but when it comes to wads, guessing I will choose to be an outlaw.

Wouldn't that be neat.I could take 30 cases of wads to my neighbor as he melts plastic down and makes fence posts.On question though,would the heat from the powder exploding possibly light the dry media on fire.Dont know if I'd want to shoot them in a dry grassy area on a windy day?

Not trying to be skeptical,I think it would be the neatest thing since sliced bread if it works.

I wondered about the fire thing, also, powder and or "wad" migration over time. Either seems like it might be solved with a nitro card to segregate the components. If soft shot and bore erosion opens patterns maybe then theres less need for the perfect spreader widget. scarce 10 ga wads, 8? 16? whatever it seems like an appealing idea.

historically - hunters used all sorts of wadding/packing in muzzleloading fowlers - wasps nest was one I remember seeing -

not sure how much cushion nut shells would give to protect the shot during set back

I would think it would work similarly. Pecan shell is much harder than walnut shells. Heck it might be the first self cleaning shotgun shell.
I always thought a compressed pecan shell ball or even a pigeon might be a great biodegradable target.
I just dont know how well they would launch or break.

Very interesting also to note that even though Jay sold his reloading business, he is still at work innovating. I sure wish he still was in the retail business with his low pressure, and short, loads. They were really good shells.

Wondering if one could substitute "Quaker Oats" cereal for the surrogate wadding material? Would be great to see shells commercially available logoed with the smiling Quaker elder as on the cereal box with the big black hat and wafting neck bib.

Kevin, that would look like a ticker-tape parade after shooting “oat wads”!!

Several years ago, I was at the local skeet club at the same time as one of our local personalities who was both offbeat and frugal. He was discussing at length his experimental loading with paper toweling as wadding. The members managed to ignor him until the second instance of starting a grass fire with the flaming cloud of confetti that accompanied each shot. At that time he was invited to leave by the club operator.

Gave this a try, just the thing to shoot down browntail caterpillar nests in the yard.

What i found was unexpected but in hindsight seems obvious. The walnut media took a rapid toll on the plastic cheddite hulls. one and done basically, most cases failed on the second loading such that I wouldnt attempt to reload them in the future. If you got creative with a wrap, perhaps this wouldnt be an issue. You might get two loads out of thicker hulls like rem or aa but i dont know. Otherwise they worked just fine.

Art, we called that a "Prescribed Fire". :rotf:

I agree with you Aaron, a wrap would add longevity to the hull, but if the whole idea is to not use any plastic "wadding", that would defeat the purpose.

I have plenty of once fired Fiocchi hulls and a good amount of used tumbling media walnut shells so I'm also going to load a box or two. I will most likely add a card over the walnut shells too before I drop my shot. Maybe do one box like that and one box W/O the card.

mike. thats where i came out. unless the wrap was not plastic its only utility for home reloading is in the one size fits all wadding. If youre shooting plastic free into that california wma but shucking your hulls out of the boat, whats the point?
The bore was nice and clean when I was done.
let me know what you find yourself

maybe the used media is less abrasive

I was going to try reloading a 10 gauge 2 7/8 ,1 1/8 oz load using corn cob media,and thought would use a nitro card over powder and a mylar wrap around shot.Researching corn cob media,(blasting media), I see they have several different sizes,then wondered if pressure would be different with fine media verses coarse,then I thought I remembered reading somewhere about a paper or thin cardboard shot cup.Then I came across these new shells from Federal that have some interesting components.Luckily I've been busy getting ready to plant my crops and put all this on the back burner for a while.The media wad may work better in a brass case?Has anyone tried or come across the new Top Guns with cardboard wads? Jeff.

Found the shot cup I was thinking about.Dont know if these are available or feasible.Can be found at claygame.co.uk Jeff

They can't ship from UK to USA unless you have a friend over there ship them. Even then you'll jump through hoops. One of our esteemed members did us a solid and pulled off the miracle and had 8g components shipped here. He found the proverbial needle in the haystack. :shock: