For maximum safety avoid any type of solid material for over

by ERSisk , Wednesday, August 09, 2017, 14:09 (2600 days ago) @ Bruce in WV

powder wad. Years ago I built a 1" bore 24" barrel naval carriage black powder cannon. The first test firing was inside our welding shop with the barrel in a shallow wooden box backed up against the cinder block wall. The charge was 1.75 oz Goex FFFg. I packed a plane brown dry paper towel down tight against the powder with a piece of wooden broomstick, the far wall was 20 feet away. When the smoke, dust, and ceiling tiles cleared we found a perfectly round 1" diameter by 3/16" deep depression in the far wall. I got the Cream of Wheat load from an old acquaintance who is big into Civil War (he has his own bronze full size cannon) and WWII reenactment.