Blown Order At TOTW

[Glenfilthie]

The damned internet is a little TOO convenient sometimes.

I always order lubed wads for my soot burners and I ordered up a mess of felt wads for my 1860 Army awhile back from TOTW. Unfortunately, due to some pilot error I accidentally ordere the dry wads instead of the lubed ones.

I am too lazy to send them back...so how do I deal with them? Are you supposed to lube them yourself? Or does the Crisco on top of the ball in the cylinder take care of lubing?

Your two cents is, as always, sincerely appreciated. :hatsoff:

 

[Tommy Bruce]

Never used the wadding before, but I do put a liberal amount of crisco on top of each roundball and it seems to help.

 

[Dickydalton]

Put Gatefoe # 1 in search. It's a great lube for wads.

 

[swathdiver]

Do you have any bore butter laying around? Put some in a bowl or zip lock bag with the wads and mix them together, the wads will soak it up.

If not, now is a good time to make your own.

 

[Stony]

I just put a few scoops of Wonder Lube in a cheese stone crock, a handful of felt wads and then into the microwave for a few seconds. Make sure the lube melts and stir the wads around till all are lubed. Take a waxed paper plate and spread the wads around, then put into the freezer. Worked fine when loading BP cartridge rounds for cowboy shoots.

 

[BullRunBear]

I stamp out dry felt wads from a sheet and agree about the Gatofeo lube, it's great for felt wads and as a bullet lube. If the ingredients aren't handy or you need something fast, put the wads in a sandwich bag, add Bore Butter or, preferably, Hoppe's 9 Plus (the one for BP), squish them around until saturated, then dry them on wax paper. I prefer the Gatofeo lube but the Hoppe's is a decent second choice. I use the Hoppe's 9 Plus for round ball patches for my rifles, using the same 'squish' method.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

 

[phoenix511]

Like Hoffman says, use a microwave to soften the lube/wad mix. I use a glass jar (w/o the metal lid), the dry felt wads, and some of your favorite lube. Hit the MW for 15 seconds, shake, and see what you get. Add more lube, or more time in the MW until you are satisfied. I like the wads slightly sticky but not glued to one another.

My favorate CB revolver lube is 1/3 beeswax, 1/3 Crisco, 1/3 EVOO. Not too sticky, not too runny as to contaminate the powder if revolver left loaded for a day or so. Your results may vary.

I'm not convinced there is a "magic" lube that will never need bore cleaning, and never leave fouling. Most black powder shooting is really very forgiving on most details, but unforgiving on some major issues: clean the firearm at the end of the day, make sure the flint is knapped, keep the priming powder dry.

 

[Matt85]

every thing said above will work. even a mix of 1/4 bees wax and 3/4 crisco would work. ive even used strait crisco in a pinch but the bees wax prevents it from getting runny when its warm.

 

[Poor Private]

Do you have any bore butter laying around? Put some in a bowl or zip lock bag with the wads and mix them together, the wads will soak it up.

If not, now is a good time to make your own.

This is exactly what I have been doing for years. just don't get em to wet or they will compromise the powder. I cut my own wads out of old felt hats. I usually pick them up at places like Salvation Army, or Goodwill. Besides getting them cheep, it helps a charitable organization. But I get some real interesting colors--like neon green, flour. orange, and purple.

 

[Many Klatch]

One of our members has a YouTube video on how to make wads for your pistols. I recently followed his instructions and found that they work great. There may some information in this video that will be of help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgNVPC2wmWI

Many Klatch

 

[MSW]

by way of dumb questions, how do you avoid getting synthetic materials (i.e. dacron) onto your system?

does it matter with pistol?

i use durafelt, which is touted as pure wool, but if there's a cheaper way, I'm all for it!

 

[Dphar]

I view wads in revolvers as something someone thought up to sell to people. It sure has worked.
They certainly are not needed for good shooting unless there is some other problem.
For my use, back when I carried on all the time, they restrict powder capacity which I see as a negative.

Dan

 

[mb3]

Do you have any bore butter laying around? Put some in a bowl or zip lock bag with the wads and mix them together, the wads will soak it up.

If not, now is a good time to make your own.

I have done this and it works well.

 

[Billnpatti]

Okay, you have already ordered your wads and have several good ideas for lubing them. But, before you use these up, order a custom punch from Ohio Ramrod (Donald Weimer) on this forum. Then order some Duro-Felt from the company by that name. It comes in sheets of various sizes. Spread some of the lube of your choice on a sheet of the Duro-Felt and put it in your microwave for a few seconds to melt the lube into the felt. Now use your punch to punch out your wads. This is a LOT cheaper than buying pre-lubed wads. BTW, Ohio Ramrod's custom punches are a real bargain. I don't know how he makes and sells them so cheaply.

 

[mazo kid]

I haven't made any wads for revolver use, but use the micro wave and soak patching strips in melted lube, either home-made or SPG, for my rifles. Just squeeze out any excess from the patching with your fingers...after it has cooled some but lube is still runny.

 

[Dphar]

I haven't made any wads for revolver use, but use the micro wave and soak patching strips in melted lube, either home-made or SPG, for my rifles. Just squeeze out any excess from the patching with your fingers...after it has cooled some but lube is still runny.

I would use SPG for revolver wads if I used them.
I would not micro wave it though. Beeswax is funny stuff an heating it too much or with direct heat can remove components that are desirable in the lube. Might not be important with felt wads but for bullet lube it can cause problems.
SPG recommends double boiler only for melting the lube.

Dan

 

[Glenfilthie]

Well thank you boys.

Another question - where is the 'search' function on this forum? You guys are making reference to lubes and materials I never heard of and I nee to track them down... :hatsoff:

 

[Dphar]

Well thank you boys.

Another question - where is the 'search' function on this forum? You guys are making reference to lubes and materials I never heard of and I nee to track them down... :hatsoff:

For SPG lube try blackpowderspg.com. Its the standard for BPCR shooting and has been for quite some time.

Dan

 

[arcticap]

Well thank you boys.

Another question - where is the 'search' function on this forum? You guys are making reference to lubes and materials I never heard of and I nee to track them down... :hatsoff:

Most black powder shooters buy 1/8" thick hard density (F-1) felt for making wads from durofelt.com
Their retail prices include free shipping in the USA.

Duro-Felt Products, Inc.
#6 White Aspen Court
Little Rock, AR 72212
Telephone: 501-225-2838