Anyone ever make their own paper cartridges?

[Bill Hall]

I've never used them for revolvers but had great success with my .54 rifle. The hard part is finding just the right diameter forming dowel. I had to turn one down a bit. I use printer paper and cut it so it makes two layers without any overlap. I water down some elmer's and glue the edge with a small paintbrush. The ball should fit into the end of the tube skin tight. Then I tie off the ball and load a wonder wad behind it, then the powder, then glue the end flap to the side. Then I tie some thread behind the wonder wad so that it makes a slight groove to hold some lube and also keep the ball from liding down the tube when loading. I use chapstick for lube since it's thick enough not to smear off in your pocket or pouch. When loading, tear open the powder end enough so that the powder will pour down the bore when the tube is placed in the muzzle. Push the whole thing down your barrel and you're reloaded. Works great for fast follow-up shots and is surprisingly accurate.
I think a tapered forming dowel would work even better but I haven't tried it yet. Bill

 

[paulvallandigham]

I have never met any shooter who makes paper cartridges who DOESN'T have to make his own mandrill by turning down a larger sized dowel. It goes with the territory. No one is making these kinds of things for sale, because you only sell one to a customer! and they don't wear out!

 

[Grenadier1758]

You should be able to buy potassium nitrate at your garden shop or hardware store. The main ingredient in tree stump remover is potassium nitrate.

Grenadier 1758

 

[rebel727]

You should be able to buy potassium nitrate at your garden shop or hardware store. The main ingredient in tree stump remover is potassium nitrate.

Grenadier 1758

Plenty of it on ebay. There was an article in last months SASS Chronicle about making pistol cartridges out of tea bags. Haven't tried it but supposed to work really well.

 

[Cruzatte]

Back in the day when I was Civil War re-enacting, I made a few pistol cartridges using tea bag paper. I don't think the results were anything too extraordinary.

Cruzatte

 

[Nameless_Hobo]

Do you just push the cartridge in the gun? I've always opened the back end up and pushed the powder and ball in the gun.

 

[paulvallandigham]

In THE SHARPS, THE PLATE AT THE BACK CUTS OFF THE END OF THE PAPER CARTRIDGE EXPOSING THE POWDER. THAT IS A UNIQUE CHARACTERISTIC OF THAT REPRO SHARPS RIFLE. IF YOU USE PAPER CARTRIDGES IN BROWN BESSES, OR OTHER MUSKETS, YOU BITE OFF THE END OF THE PAPER CARTRIDGE, POUR THE POWDER DOWN THE BARREL AND THEN STUFF THE PAPER CYLINDER IN THE BARREL AND RAM THE PAPER UNDER THE BALL OR BULLET HOME ON THE POWDER. tHE PAPER THEN ACTS LIKE A WAD.

 

[Bill Hall]

If I remember correctly, the Hall's carbine also cuts the paper cartridge as the chamber closes. I shot an original Hall's owned by a friend of mine about 20 years ago, and boy did it shoot hot gas everwhere. You had too be careful where you placed your face and hands.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Thanks for the additional information, I have never handled a Hall's carbine.

A friend bought one of the early .54 breechloading Sharps replicas, with the cut-off plate. He said something once about a floating chamber, but I am not sure he had that in his gun. He was a good rifle shooter, but his gun would not put bullets into a group much smaller than about 8 inches. He was using the recommended load and bullet, with the recommended paper, and lube, etc, so he was at a loss as to what he was doing wrong.

As Ilook back, the gun may just have needed to be broken in, or have the barrel lapped to get rid of burrs on the edges of the lands. And, he might have benefited by measuring that bore diameter rather than accepting the caliber designation from the factory as the true dimension. I learned that lesson the hard way many years later, and have become a bit of a crank here on the subject. I have wasted so much powder, and time shooting the wrong sized balls or bullets in guns because I accepted the factory designation of bore size, or got it from a reloading manual, in selecting bullet diameters! I can think of three guns I still own where I struggled for days and years trying to get them to shoot, before it dawned on me to measure the bore!

 

[rebel727]

I made a few tea bag cartridges to try in my new 58 today. They work well except I did tear the bottom off before loading even tho you're not supposed to have to. You get four .44 cartridges from one flo thru tea bag. The best part is you don't need wads.

 

[Cruzatte]

Do you just push the cartridge in the gun? I've always opened the back end up and pushed the powder and ball in the gun.

As I recall, I did just shove the cartridge into the chamber. Tea bag paper is pretty thin stuff.

Cruzatte

 

[Charles D. Prokopp]

I hadn't thought of that type of paper. It would be ideal, with it's strength and lack of additives.
I see, Paul, that you're in one of my old stomping grounds...Champaign.