Wadding
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wadding is a disc of material used in guns to seal gas behind a projectile or to separate powder from shot.[1]
Wadding can be crucial to a gun's efficiency, since any gas that leaks past a projectile as it is being fired is wasted. A harder or more carefully designed item which serves this purpose is often called a sabot. Wadding for muzzleloaders is typically a small piece of cloth, or paper wrapping from the cartridge.
Wadding is also a term used in the United Kingdom for the soft inner layer of patchwork quilts. In the USA, this is refered to as Batting. Quilt Wadding can be made from a variety of materials, cotton, polyester, wool, bamboo[2] etc. The different materials will then influence the loft (bounce, thickness) of the quilt and the distance between the quilting threads.
[edit] Model rockets
Wadding is also used in model rockets to prevent the parachute from melting when it ejects. Without the recovery wadding the parachute would melt because the ejection is by a small solid-fuel engine. It gets so hot it melts hot glue almost immediately.
[edit] References
- ^ Glossary of Firearms Terms, Introduction to Hunter Education
- ^ [1]Range of Waddings available in the UK
