Wad thickness

[Eutycus]

I mentioned making wads out of an old felt hat. I got it all cut up and now I am left with the sweat band. It seems to be real thin leather. Are thin leather wads of any use in black powder shooting?

 

[hawkeye2]

Way too frugal Eutycus. Yes leather wads are useful. Punch out a bunch and use them between the lubed felt wad and the powder. That'll keep the lube from getting into the charge and contaminating it.

 

[Eutycus]

Frugal is another word for cheap, isn't it?

 

[Grenadier1758]

Frugal implies that you are seeking the best value for your expense. Cheap implies that cost only is the driving motive.

 

[Eutycus]

Well then, frugal it is! (Thrifty)

 

[Bad Karma]

You know shooting a BP revolver is not rocket science. I don't use wads or lube. Just powder and ball. Some guys use wads and lube. Just go out and shoot the dang thing and see what you like best.

This times one. I’ve shot them with and without wads, lube, corn meal, etc. I shoot Colts and Ruger Old Army exclusively. Grease the base pin or arbor as the case may be, load with good powder and an appropriate ball or bullet, cap with a snug fitting cap and shoot. There’s really not much more to it than that.

 

[Bad Karma]

Just reread your op. I wasn’t aware that you were shooting a brasser. Same advice applies as long as you keep the loads around 20 gr of 2 or 3f and a round ball. You might check to see if your rammer will seat the ball on 20 grains. Many people feel they get better accuracy with such a load and 10 grains of filler. I’ve not been able to see much of a difference in most revolvers. I don’t compete but I can shoot competitively and deep seated balls will shoot just fine for a plinking application.

Welcome, and best of luck with all your experiments and experiences...

 

[Eutycus]

Hey folks , I did it. Today I fired off the ASM. I was using a homemade press to assist in the loading. All went well but the press is gonna need some tweaking. Plus I do believe 454 balls would be a better fit than 451s. And speaking of fit, the #11 caps seemed to fit better than #10s. Notice I said seemed, I 'm new at this revolver thing but 10s just seem too tight.

 

[Zonie]

Well?
So, what do you think about shooting a black powder revolver now that you've actually fired it?

Was it a lot of fun or was it a big let-down?

 

[Eutycus]

If I could spell thoroughly I'd say I enjoyed it immensly.
Actually I really did have fun. The cleaning up afterward was kind of a drag, but thats part of the hobby of blackpowder shooting. I need to do some teaking and adjusting on the press that I built but again thats part of the hobby!

 

[Eutycus]

There is a picture of me firing the gun on another post. (Under ASM). If my back wernt turned you could see it I am grinning from ear to ear. The young man who took the picture told me he has a dislike for guns,that "they kill people". Myself and a nephew gave him our side of the story how people kill people. Then I let him shoot several of my guns. He said they were " awesome"! I think we have a new recruit on our side. Not black powder yet, but a future gun enthusiast.

 

[Bad Karma]

Well done on both counts!

Btw, geojohn’s scribe on the first page claims his olive oil cleanup after shooting with lube under the ball is much easier and faster to do than other cleaning techniques. I’m lazy that way. Going to start experimenting with that!

 

[drobs]

If you read about wad making on any of the other BP forums, Duro-Felt out Arkansas, is the go to seller of 100% natural wool felt.

Their website is awkward to use.

Go here:
http://www.durofelt.com/image_26.html
Click on the shopping cart (right side of the page).
Use the drop down to select FM18OWH +$24.00.

I ordered a sheet of wool felt from them last year and made my own 44 Caliber Wads and lube.
The sheet of felt is 1/8 inch thick and very hard - compared to a hat or blanket.

I used power tools to make my wads and they came out perfect. The 7/16 inch punch from this cheap Harbor Freight Hollow Punch set works perfectly with my battery operated drill.

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-piece-hollow-punch-set-67030.html

 

[Eutycus]

That was one of the questions about this post. I've always assumed that the ones made from the Duro-Felt were thicker, harder, and stiffer than the old hat material. The old hat had a thinner felt but yet the 7/16 wads are very stiff. Is there such a thing as too stiff? Or is it possibly the lube. Too much bees wax maybe?

 

[drobs]

That was one of the questions about this post. I've always assumed that the ones made from the Duro-Felt were thicker, harder, and stiffer than the old hat material. The old hat had a thinner felt but yet the 7/16 wads are very stiff. Is there such a thing as too stiff? Or is it possibly the lube. Too much bees wax maybe?

I personally don't think there is only one way of doing things. If you're happy with the hat - shoot and enjoy. For those that like lube over ball w/ no wad - fantastic. I do some of both.

When loading max charges - chamber full powder charges, I use lube over ball with no wad. When using less than chamber full charges, I like a greased wad. One of these day, I'll try some dry cereal mix under the ball.

My 1st try at making my own lube, I found it to be too sticky (too much paraffin wax or too much bees wax and not enough crisco, olive oil, or tallow). I was finding wads under my 25yd steel gong that I was shooting with my revolvers. Plus my accuracy on paper was all over the place.

That tells me the wads were stuck to the base of the round ball an I need to add more crisco, tallow, salad oil. I believe wads should fall off just a few yards past the muzzle.

 

[Eutycus]

That was my next question, by adding oil or crisco to "too stiff' a mixture would it thin or "unstiff" the grease? I'm thinking that too much beeswax was put into the original mixture. And how would you go about thinning the wads that you already made with the stiff mix? I'm thinking microwaving on a couple of paper towels would liquify the stiff grease and the excess would be soaked up by the paper towels.

 

[Eutycus]

My wife gave me a bottle of Wesson oil. She said its out--dated and rancid. A friend gave me a can of Neats Foot Oil. Are either of these okay?

 

[Kansas Jake]

With the oils, go ahead and try and see how they work for you. The Neats Foot Oil is great on leather, so I might be less inclined to use it.

 

[Bad Karma]

My wife gave me a bottle of Wesson oil. She said its out--dated and rancid. A friend gave me a can of Neats Foot Oil. Are either of these okay?

The Wesson oil is just some type of vegetable oil and should be fine rancid or not.

 

[drobs]

That was my next question, by adding oil or crisco to "too stiff' a mixture would it thin or "unstiff" the grease? I'm thinking that too much beeswax was put into the original mixture. And how would you go about thinning the wads that you already made with the stiff mix? I'm thinking microwaving on a couple of paper towels would liquify the stiff grease and the excess would be soaked up by the paper towels.

I'm sure the Wesson oil would be fine.

I tried the the double boiler technique that is mentioned in the Gatafeo postings around the web. Ultimately found that using the microwave was much easier.

For my too sticky wads I plan to put them in another canning glass jar, add more lube with them, and nuke em.

Here's my too sticky wads just to give you an idea what they look like:

Next time I'm home will work on redoing them. Nice thing about this is nothing is permanent. Don't need to throw them out as I can just re-nuke em.