Tow Source?

Where are yall sourcing your natural flax tow? Looking to use some in my smoothbore horse pistol. Thanks!

-Smokey

Dixie Gun Works. PA4500

DGW has the word TOW in parenthesis and there search function does not recognize just plain tow. Use the part number.

Currently unavailable it says.

Turkey foot traders has it for good sized bags at $4-5, Townsend and sons has it in a little smaller bags at the same price. At Wal-Mart you can get hemp string for craft projects. You can cut this in one foot pieces and tease apart in to fluff that acts just like tow for wadding or cleaning.

I got mine at the local yarn/spinning/weaving supply store. I told them what I needed, and they gave me a pound of it.

You can get it off eBay, type in "flax tow".

I am still working through a 1 pound bag I bought about 6 years ago. Purchased from The Woolery, $33.00 for a GIANT bag. 1 lbs of flax tow is about a gallon bag of the stuff.

You should be able to find them by a simple google search!

Thanks so much, gang!

This is what some use as a wad, correct? Pour powder, wad of tow, ball, another wad? Any lube needed?

I will lube with either Olive Oil or spit. Typically my over powder wad of tow will be oiled, then ball or shot, then spit wad. BUT, sometimes all of it is spit. Just depends on how much I want to fiddle with. In the winter, I really just want to shoot.

I bought six pounds from Silver Shuttle in Memphis, TN and it has lasted me 20 years or so. The individual fibers are like 18" and it smells like honey. It was all I ever used to clean my Bess. Who knew how much six pounds was?

Sorry, but y'all living in the wrong place. I used to be 13 miles, moved and now about 58 miles from Stahlstown PA. That small village has a Flax Scutching Festival on last Saturday every September. Our BP club used to be invited to set up over the weekend and basically did show and tell and ran a hawk throw for making some money and as a draw for festival goers. Their main attraction was taking flax and doing the process from plant to linen to clothes. They used to throw away about four to six stake side trucks of tow. I, and others in our group were allowed to take what we wanted. I'd get a couple 45 gallon garbage bags full. Haven't been there for about 5 years, but will go this year with the grand-kids. We asked, they said take it. They can only say no or give you a price or ask you what you'd pay. You don't know unless you ask.
:hmm: :hmm: :hmm:

I got 4 nice bags from Turkey Foot Traders several years ago. Good sized bags to.

Gang I got a healthy sack of tow from a seller off ebay. I was surprised how soft it is, I really like the feel! Mine does not appear to be "combed" and kind of breaks apart easily, but appears it'll do well for wadding at least.

Good for you. Try cleaning your rifle with it. I think you'll find that it does a real good job of scouring not only the bore, but also the face of the breech plug as well. :thumbsup:

Has anyone tried nettle, dogbane, or milk weed fibers for this also. I've got some linen i teased apart thought I'd try that but wondered what they did if they ran out of tow on a long trip.

running horse said:

... wondered what they did if they ran out of tow on a long trip.

Click to expand...

Sounds like bad planning on the part of an inexperienced hunter to me. :idunno: Anyhow, you can rinse out tow and use it time after time, maybe even get your fire lock completely clean with just one hank twisted around the gun worm, dry it with a second, grease it, then save back the greased hank for later use.