• Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Raw wool instead of flax tow

Shop deals on ebay
the hawken shop
L & R
Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Tumbledown said:
Considering sheep's wool apparently DOESN'T work, according to a period source that actually tried it...
Click to expand...
Let me counter that claim...
with my reading of the subject material it sorta reads to me like the dude who wrote it was counseling folks that hat felt or brown paper was the superior choice . Reads like advice against the common wisdom to me suggesting that it must have been common practice for him to council against it. Why even bring it up otherwise?
 
cynthialee said:
Let me counter that claim...
with my reading of the subject material it sorta reads to me like the dude who wrote it was counseling folks that hat felt or brown paper was the superior choice . Reads like advice against the common wisdom to me suggesting that it must have been common practice for him to council against it. Why even bring it up otherwise?
Click to expand...
What source do you have that it (raw wool wadding) was common practice?

To me it reads like someone who was experienced or at least knowledgeable in many different methods and materials wrote a very long essay on the subject for those who weren't, and still aren't today.

Maybe raw wool was a somewhat common practice (he doesn't actually say,) but that doesn't mean it was a good one, and he offers evidence and reasons as to why.
 
Tumbledown said:
What source do you have that it (raw wool wadding) was common practice?

To me it reads like someone who was experienced or at least knowledgeable in many different methods and materials wrote a very long essay on the subject for those who weren't, and still aren't today.

Maybe raw wool was a somewhat common practice (he doesn't actually say,) but that doesn't mean it was a good one, and he offers evidence and reasons as to why.
Click to expand...
well if you need exact quotes saying "we used wool" you are not likely going to find it and you are being a little pedantic

Why would he bring up wool in the first place and say that felt and soft brown paper were preferable if no one was using it?!

The very way he speaks of it in his writing indicates it was likely a common practice to use wool. Otherwise he is just the idiot talking about a thing no one was doing in the first place.

When looking at historical documents sometimes one must read between the lines and use a little common sense. And I know that it is a rare commodity and all that but just do some simple extrapolation here!
 
cynthialee said:
well if you need exact quotes saying "we used wool" you are not likely going to find it and you are being a little pedantic

Why would he bring up wool in the first place and say that felt and soft brown paper were preferable if no one was using it?!

The very way he speaks of it in his writing indicates it was likely a common practice to use wool. Otherwise he is just the idiot talking about a thing no one was doing in the first place.

When looking at historical documents sometimes one must read between the lines and use a little common sense. And I know that it is a rare commodity and all that but just do some simple extrapolation here!
Click to expand...
Nothing in his writing indicates it was a common practice, and if it was, it doesn't mean it was the BEST, or even a GOOD method. One can only extrapolate wool may have been used by some, and he goes on to explain why it was NOT the best, and not even GOOD.

The OP asked if raw wool was any good. Beyond wild speculation, no one offered evidence it is, and one historical source said it isn't.
 
Tumbledown said:
Nothing in his writing indicates it was a common practice, and if it was, it doesn't mean it was the BEST, or even a GOOD method. One can only extrapolate wool may have been used by some, and he goes on to explain why it was NOT the best, and not even GOOD.

The OP asked if raw wool was any good. Beyond wild speculation, no one offered evidence it is, and one historical source said it isn't.
Click to expand...
I saw the OP and I read the thread and it devolved into an argument.

And the evidence that it was used is indeed in the text quoted by the simple fact the author indicates that hat felt and soft brown paper are the superior choice to wool. Thus indicating wool was used enough for the author to make claims against its use. Otherwise he never would have brought it up in the first place.
 
As stated earlier, I've used it for some time now. The question was simple: is wool good... My gun never exploded. Game ends up just as dead. Patterns look good on paper. It is simple to keep up with and use. I don't know about the historical significance of wool being used for wadding. Nor do I care. It works for me. And I'm sure most likely many folks did use it because, in many if not most cases, folks in history before Cabela's used what they had. Just my opinion.
 
Beeswax/olive oil mix and wool felt wads, I make my own with a wad punch. They do not burn, just like the leather over powder wads I also make and coat with the same mixture of beeswax and olive oil. What is the fuss about? They are historically correct and give me excellent patterns in all my smooth bores. I purchase all my Raw Felt from Duro Felt online. I personally like the 3/8” thick felt.
Check out Duro Felt and make sure if you purchase from other people that it is 100% organic felt. No man made fillers added or you will have problems.
Rob.
 
Moleman said:
As of late it's been really dry and under burn bans because of lack of rain, so being careful in the woods is imperative.
I love shooting bare ball using flax tow but it smolders badly after the shot, so what about raw wool?
The loading process would be the same, just replacing the flax tow with raw wool.
Has anyone tried this?
Since wool don't burn is it a viable choice?
Click to expand...
Okay, the original question was “has anyone tried this”. Like I said, yes I have tried it and it worked fine. But let me go one step or two further. Did it work (for me) as good as flax tow, jute tow or wasp nest or leaves?No. Why not? It took more material in order to make a good wad that would seal. But it was somewhat oily which made it load easy. I didn’t have any that burned. Ain’t saying it wouldn’t, but it didn’t happen with what I had.

Did I like it enough to buy some? No. Would I use it again if I could get it free? Sure.

Now, is it historically correct? I have no idea.
 
.
Banjoman said:
Okay, the original question was “has anyone tried this”. Like I said, yes I have tried it and it worked fine. But let me go one step or two further. Did it work (for me) as good as flax tow, jute tow or wasp nest or leaves?No. Why not? It took more material in order to make a good wad that would seal. But it was somewhat oily which made it load easy. I didn’t have any that burned. Ain’t saying it wouldn’t, but it didn’t happen with what I had.

Did I like it enough to buy some? No. Would I use it again if I could get it free? Sure.

Now, is it historically correct? I have no idea.
Click to expand...

MMmm yes.. I tired wool fire insulation.. I give it the same review.

pattern was just ok. Not worth buying...
 
I wished I had kept every piece of documentation I have come across in the last 30 years. I don't remember the book or the name, but the account had said there were french and indians in Canada that were in a fight using their trade guns, and the author noted the indians were using their balls wrapped in wool in their trade guns.
Ohio Rusty ><>
 
Ohio Rusty said:
I wished I had kept every piece of documentation I have come across in the last 30 years. I don't remember the book or the name, but the account had said there were french and indians in Canada that were in a fight using their trade guns, and the author noted the indians were using their balls wrapped in wool in their trade guns.
Ohio Rusty ><>
Click to expand...
Yep, worn blankets or trade cloth. Makes since. French trade guns commonly had barrels somewhere in the general vicinity of 20 bore. The balls for them were .56” wool blanket would eat up a lot of the excess windage.
 
Last edited:
Historian said:
Beeswax/olive oil mix and wool felt wads, I make my own with a wad punch. They do not burn, just like the leather over powder wads I also make and coat with the same mixture of beeswax and olive oil. What is the fuss about? They are historically correct and give me excellent patterns in all my smooth bores. I purchase all my Raw Felt from Duro Felt online. I personally like the 3/8” thick felt.
Check out Duro Felt and make sure if you purchase from other people that it is 100% organic felt. No man made fillers added or you will have problems.
Rob.
Click to expand...
The OP wasn't about felt. Raw wool, loose, and unwoven. Your post is irrelevant.
 
Noob questions

Can you grease the wool just the same..

You just wadding under a ball no patch.. do you wad ontop also?

add paper?.. little paper first. Then a wad of wool?

Paper paper looks like it's producing a good seal for what it is.
 
I was thinking of running a wad cut from a minute steak threw the turkey gun.

Use 1 os card I steak wad..

😆 and I just found a package of cold cuts or Pepperoni...
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

Smokey Plainsman
Review: Veteran Arms Handgonne
Replies
18
Views
3K
Rudyard
R
Drain_Bamage
TC Renegade bad breech plug: fixable? Advice requested.
2 3 4
Replies
70
Views
5K
brushblind
brushblind
Fallon Kid
Finally, the truth
2 3
Replies
57
Views
6K
nhmoose
nhmoose
Flintlock_Zoomer
Shooting shot out of a rifle? Steel shot?
2
Replies
31
Views
4K
burlesontom
burlesontom
dhaverstick
Cold Snap (another tale of suffering)
Replies
19
Views
2K
Codger Craig Wilcox
Codger Craig Wilcox

Latest posts

Back
Top