Favorite "Projectile" for Blank Load.

[Delkal]

I posted this under the "Water Balloon" thread but I don't want to HiJack the thread so I though I should should start a new thread here........

My favorite "projectile" for a blank load is a piece of a T-shirt.  I always swab the chamber of my GB mortar between shots with a damp piece of a T-shirt (about a 1/4 piece).  Not soaking wet ... just damp enough to kill any embers.  Just for fun at the end of the day I loaded it, gently tapped it down,  and fired it.   It was extremely loud!  The T-shirt only goes about 30 feet,  it rapidly opens and quickly stops.  Plus, it is self extinguishing and not a fire hazard.   You can recover it and use it again for a number of shots before it is too tattered.

I will be doing this tonight for the 4th!  Does anyone have any other Favorites (besides Water balloons, bread, and grass clippings)

[keith44]

pressed cotton "make up" pads greased of course. Depending on bore dia one to five of them give a nice boom.

[Mike H.]

I use carefully cut and fitted cork "disks". 

For a 3/4" bore I start with wine bottle corks.  You can get 3 disks out of one wine bottle cork if you cut carefully.  Then sand carefully so they are not too tight, just snug.

For larger bores in the 1" to 1-1/8" range I start with champagne bottle corks.  I get one round per cork.  No two are alike.  First cut the section out that is a good fit, then final sand to match the bore.  Belt sander works great and very fast for the final fitting.

I keep the cork "length" at less than the chamber wall thickness.  Not so tight that it has to be "pounded" down, just a few gentle taps so it is down against the powder charge.  I normally make them a little conical, so they start easy.  They drop in until only 1/4" sticks out the bore, then finger pressure usually finishes it off.

You can get a lifetime supply of wine and champagne corks on ebay for next to nothing.

[longcaribiner]

there is an interesting article in Back Woodsman about making scrap paper "briquettes" which would carry over to making wad projectiles for cannons.  It uses a piece of PVC and a caulking gun. 

For years, I jhave been cutting my 1.25 bore wads from leather with a 1.25 circle leather punch.