My Homemade Wads

[Smokey Plainsman]

Hey all how are you doing? Today I punched a fresh batch of wads for my revolvers:

My recipe is 2:1 beeswax and lamb’s tallow using Durofelt 1/4” pure wool felt. Punched out with a 7/16 punch for .44s and 3/8” for .36s. I don’t do this to save money, but because these wads work so much better than the factory ones. The fouling stays soft through multiple cylinders. I can clean my bore with 3 patches at day’s end. One damp with water, one to dry, one with Ballistol to preserve the bore.

Love these wads and they’re satisfying to make. Just thought I’d share. If you’re on the fence about making your own revolver wads, go ahead and give it a try. They’re worth it for sure.

-Smokey

 

[Pete453]

smokey, i make my wads for the same reason as you. I use deer tallow and beeswax, with a little olive oil to soften up the mix. After 24 shots, my barrels are clean, with very little fouling. People dont believe it til they see it. You're right, clean up is a piece of cake.

 

[SDSmlf]

Not sure exactly how you are backing up the material when you punch your wads, but I have found that with piece of lumber, be it 2 by, 4 by of 6 by, the end grain of a piece of wood holds up well. I place the wood in a sturdy vice and punch away. Guess you could set it on a bench and do similar. Just my two cents.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Not sure exactly how you are backing up the material when you punch your wads, but I have found that with piece of lumber, be it 2 by, 4 by of 6 by, the end grain of a piece of wood holds up well. I place the wood in a sturdy vice and punch away. Guess you could set it on a bench and do similar. Just my two cents.

I use a cutting mat for fabrics etc. It works very well, and doesn’t dull the punch as quickly as wood.

 

[Pete453]

I cut them on a piece of hard maple or oak scrap from the scrap bin at work, whatever is in there. And i sharpen. My punch SHARP. Cuts neat and clean

 

[Whughett]

I use a cheap Harbor Freight set designed for use with a drill. I can run off hundreds of wads quickly. Don’t have the patience to hand punch them and making the wads isn’t part of the appeal of percussion revolver shooting.
I also use the 1/8th material and for availability Crisco with the bees wax.

 

[CyrusP]

Those look great. Only thing I’d do different? I am such a miser I would be placing those holes closer together. Even if I got one extra row. I am a cheap SOB!

 

[William P Sepessy]

I also tried using the thinner 1/8 felt from Durofelt, mostly to save space for powder in the 36 Navy. They seem to work just as well, but by the time the material soaked up my lube(50/50 beeswax & lamb tallow) they were almost the thickness of the 1/4 material. However, the thinner wads were easier to punch out.

 

[Bunk]

The lube Mark Hubbs of Eras Gone Bullet Moulds (shameless plug) uses is one ounce of common store lunsalted ard and a bar (4 oz.) common canning wax. It is soft enough for winter here in Central Texas and hard enough for summer.
Your weather may require adjustment of proportions.
Inexpensive and easy to find.
Bunk

 

[Pete453]

Im sure that grocery store lard works fine, but it doesnt have the same medicine that deer tallow has, especially when you're using it to shoot another deer!

 

[Bunk]

Im sure that grocery store lard works fine, but it doesnt have the same medicine that deer tallow has, especially when you're using it to shoot another deer!

that could be I won't argue that, but when you are close to the century mark lard is a heap easier to get than deer tallow.
Young fellow you will see it a'comin' and you can't stop it.
Stay safe
shoot straight
Enjoy life
Bunk

 

[Campbell]

I make my own as well. That’s a 1$ wool felt hat from Salvation Army. Beats heck out of paying $10 per hundred for store bought!

 

[Whughett]

I make my own as well. That’s a 1$ wool felt hat from Salvation Army. Beats heck out of paying $10 per hundred for store bought!
View attachment 143436

As many felt products are not 100% wool and a poly blend how would one know the difference. One fellow in a previous thread suggested a Bic Lighter.

 

[Kansas Jake]

To see if a poly blend burn a small piece. If you end up with tiny hard pieces or beads it is a blend. Ash only = wool or cotton.

 

[Whughett]

To see if a poly blend burn a small piece. If you end up with tiny hard pieces or beads it is a blend. Ash only = wool or cotton.

Some where in these pages is a thread containing just such advise. A responder carried a Bic Lighter into thrift stores for just such a “test”.
I’ll pass. $25 buys enough 1/8 wool felt from DuroFelt for a couple of years worth of revolver wads.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I picked up a cheap white wool blanket at a garage sale a few years back and used most of it to make a blanket coat. I washed it and hung it to dry. I used the lighter test to make sure wasn’t a blend. I washed the scraps and dried them in the dryer. They felted up nicely to about an 1/8” thick. I punched them out to make revolver wads. Lubed them with a mixture of beeswax and lard.

 

[Pete453]

Bunk, im 55, but i had a taste of getting older this winter, still tasting it now. I get what you're saying, but im not giving up yet! A double helping of STUBBORN helps! One of these days though........

 

[Pete453]

Whugett, i also buy hats when theyre cheap enough. Your better quality hats willl have a label inside. I avoid chinese made hats, even though they say 100% wool. Dont trust em.

 

[Blackpowderwarrior]

Im sure that grocery store lard works fine, but it doesnt have the same medicine that deer tallow has, especially when you're using it to shoot another deer!

Using deer tallow to catch another deer = Big Big Medicine

 

[smoothshooter]

Those look great. Only thing I’d do different? I am such a miser I would be placing those holes closer together. Even if I got one extra row. I am a cheap SOB!

If you want to save even more money, use .36 caliber wads in your .44’s.
Square wads work just as well as full-caliber wads. So do triangles.
Remember, wads are not gas seals; their only purpose is to carry lube.