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This got lost in the change over, I had it saved in my documents;

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What would be nice is the same chart for punches for making felt wads.
 
Before you guys go into class and flunk your math quiz, those decimal values are not all the same as the fractions values.

:eek:
 
What would be nice is the same chart for punches for making felt wads.
I've made this recommendation before and it seemed to fall flat. Below is a copy/paste of a post on a different muzzleloader forum that describes this.

Thought i would share this for those looking to make their own over powder wads at home. I will go with these 5 calibers .36, .45, .50, .54, and .58 Cal

In an over powder wad we are usually looking for a bit oversize to seal the bore good, say 10-15 thou over bore, depending on bore and Groove, but 10-15 thou over is a safe bet for a good gas seal. I have found that MM Hollow punches are a better fit in some cases than Inch. I have, and use both. Here are examples of sizes that i feel to be ideal.

For .36 Cal a 3/8 dia Hollow punch is the best fit at .375 There are no MM sizes close enough here.

For .45 Caliber rifle, a 15/32 dia would be a great punch size in inches, 15/32= .468
And the closest size in MM for .45 Cal would be a 12MM hollow punch at .472 (a little big for a hard card, but perfect for wool)

For .50 Cal i hear guys refer to a 1/2dia Hollow punch, in my opinion that is to small and not giving a good solid seal, 1/2 dia = .500
A much better fit for .50 Cal would either be a 33/64 inch punch at .515 or a 13MM at .511

For .54 Cal a 9/16 inch hollow punch= .562 (again, a little large for hard card, but great for wool)
A better fit for .54 Cal would be a 14MM Hollow punch at .551

For .58 Cal a 15MM Hollow punch= .590, And the closest inch size would be a 19/32 at .593, Either of these would work great.
 
what thickness or kind of wood are you all using. id like to make some of these in .50 .54 .58 and .72

You can make ball blocks from almost any kind of material. I use whatever wood scraps are laying around handy. Thickness should be, at least, the same as ball diameter. I have a planer and use that to size to thickness needed. Drill to ball size, test with a lubed patch. If too tight hand sand the hole until it suits you. Tight enough to hold but not too tight to press the patched ball through when reloading.
 
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OK, we are sharing unique ball blocks we have made. Here is one I made for a newcomer to our club. He was showing off a Jackie Brown fowler he bought from a third party at double regular price. I made this hoping to make him feel better. He never came back. It has a single powder charge with stopper and the ball it handles is 20 ga./.60 cal. +-. Made from a hunk of scrap antler.
 
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