Felt wads under patch and ball?

[Joemolf]

Would you help out a pilgrim? Please explain to me what tow is?

Thank you
Terry

Flax fiber In the textile industry, a tow is a coarse, broken fibre, removed during processing flax, hemp, or jute and separated from the shives.
It’s period correct for smooth bores. I’m sure there are other that can elaborate. I started out using in in my Brown Bess heck I have heard people using grass. Some are concerned with potential fire hazard which is warranted though I don’t use it in the woods and when I do use on my property if I see it smoldering naturally I stomp it out. Works really well with hot water for swabbing the barrel. I buy a pound from the Woolier online store you get a bunch for reasonable price.

 

[Joemolf]

Flax fiber In the textile industry, a tow is a coarse, broken fibre, removed during processing flax, hemp, or jute and separated from the shives.
It’s period correct for smooth bores. I’m sure there are other that can elaborate. I started out using in in my Brown Bess heck I have heard people using grass. Some are concerned with potential fire hazard which is warranted though I don’t use it in the woods and when I do use on my property if I see it smoldering naturally I stomp it out. Works really well with hot water for swabbing the barrel. I buy a pound from the Woolier online store you get bunch for reasonable price.

Roll small ball of tow over powder then the RB followed by more tow to hold the ball in place. I found that by using it my rifle with cheap grade powder that fowl fast that becomes less a factor good powder shoot 25 rounds and no broken ramrods the first seems to load as easy as the first I use TOTW lube on top of the tow followed by the patch and ball

 

[Pilgrim]

Flax fiber In the textile industry, a tow is a coarse, broken fibre, removed during processing flax, hemp, or jute and separated from the shives.
It’s period correct for smooth bores. I’m sure there are other that can elaborate. I started out using in in my Brown Bess heck I have heard people using grass. Some are concerned with potential fire hazard which is warranted though I don’t use it in the woods and when I do use on my property if I see it smoldering naturally I stomp it out. Works really well with hot water for swabbing the barrel. I buy a pound from the Woolier online store you get a bunch for reasonable price.

Thank you

 

[Joemolf]

Thank you

No change in accuracy that I could see either. Obviously slows down reloading but I am not in hurry. I’ve been using it regularly now in my rifle’s over the powder. Works great with a worm for cleaning. I have heard that some actually rinse it out for swabbing reuse. I have enough that have not bothered. Has a course texture so great for cleaning out heavy fouling if you fire a smooth bore repeatedly like i do with my Brown Bess and Charleville. Track and Dixie both offer it.

 

[Joemolf]

No change in accuracy that I could see either. Obviously slows down reloading but I am not in hurry. I’ve been using it regularly now in my rifle’s over the powder. Works great with a worm for cleaning. I have heard that some actually rinse it out for swabbing reuse. I have enough that have not bothered. Has a course texture so great for cleaning out heavy fouling if you fire a smooth bore repeatedly like i do with my Brown Bess and Charleville. Track and Dixie both offer it.

Looks like this

 

[burlesontom]

When I first started shooting BP I had trouble with blown patches. Then I bought the Sam Fadala manual and read about wasp nest under the PRB. I don’t play well with wasp so I started using a patch under the patched ball. I just use the short starter to poke a patch a little ways in then seat the patched ball on top of that.

No more blown patches and ball patches look so good they can almost be reused.

 

[pwbsmokey]

Oh ok. I thought you seated the disc first then the patched ball. Thanks

You could do it either way. What ever you prefer

 

[Joemolf]

As @colimr states, tow is the waste by product when flax is processed into linen fibers and is a very good product. It's tough and I use it to scrub the bore as well as using it as a cushion wad. Tow from flax can be hard to find.

Suitable alternatives can be found that are the fibers created from jute, hemp or manila twine. Sisal can also be frayed into strands, but it's not a s good as jute or hemp fibers.

You can get flax tow from the Woolery online store they sell all variants hemp jute TOTW and Dixie also carry it but the price is significantly higher and significantly less. You can get a bag from the woolery and share it. Though if you use it for swabbing you will go through more. I like using it fits any caliber and you can use it for shot as well. Heck it worked for our Forefathers.

 

[Clint Meier]

Rather than trying to cut octagon shaped recesses into the face of your ball board, I think it would be faster and easier to measure the muzzle of the barrel across points (instead of across flats) and make a new ball board by counter boring for each ball hole first just deep enough to fit over the end of the barrel and not slip off with either a spade or Forstner bit, then drill the centered holes for the patched balls.

 

[wganz]

As a BP tenderfoot, I was researching everything that was mentioned and decided to keep the URL's to post to help other lost souls.

Dixie Gun Works - search for "Wad Punch"
7/16 - 0.4375
1/2 - 0.5
5/8 - 0.625
11/16 - 0.6875
3/4 - 0.75
13/16 - 0.8125

Harbor Freight hollow punch set

The Muzzle-loading Rifle; Then and Now Hardcover by Walter Cline

Ballistic Products.com - linkage to Cards and Fillers
.125 Maxi Nitro Card (500/bag) from 5 gauge to .430 gauge listed for $9.99

Buffalo Arms Co. - cord wad material

Tractor Supply - roll of cork

Hemp Tow - only $45.99 for a pound

Turkey Foot Trading Tow - $6 for 4 oz

Track of the Wolf linkages
Track of the Wolf - search for over powder wading

Other Track of the Wolf over powder wads, cards, and such
Cards & wads for black powder shot shells - Track of the Wolf
Cards & wads for muzzle loading rifles & revolvers - Track of the Wolf
Cards & wads for black powder cartridges - Track of the Wolf
Felt wads for muzzle loading and black powder cartridges - Track of the Wolf

Duro Felt has one of the most barren commercial sites I've seen, emailed for more info & pricing
Duro-Felt Products

eBay search result for muzzleloading blackpowder wading

Buffalo Arms - hammer struck punch search

Found a Bore size table. Copied into an Excel spreadsheet, added the inch to mm column. I'll work on adding a inch fraction later.

Gauge	Bore Diameter or Calibre	mm	64th of an inch	32th of an inch	16th of an inch	8th of an inch
1	1.669"	42.39​	106.8​	53.4​	26.7​	13.4​
2	1.325"	33.66​	84.8​	42.4​	21.2​	10.6​
3	1.157"	29.39​	74.0​	37.0​	18.5​	9.3​
4	1.052"	26.72​	67.3​	33.7​	16.8​	8.4​
5	.976"	24.79​	62.5​	31.2​	15.6​	7.8​
6	.919"	23.34​	58.8​	29.4​	14.7​	7.4​
7	.873"	22.17​	55.9​	27.9​	14.0​	7.0​
8	.835"	21.21​	53.4​	26.7​	13.4​	6.7​
9	.802"	20.37​	51.3​	25.7​	12.8​	6.4​
10	.775"	19.69​	49.6​	24.8​	12.4​	6.2​
11	.751"	19.08​	48.1​	24.0​	12.0​	6.0​
12	.729"	18.52​	46.7​	23.3​	11.7​	5.8​
13	.700"	17.78​	44.8​	22.4​	11.2​	5.6​
14	.693"	17.60​	44.4​	22.2​	11.1​	5.5​
15	.677"	17.20​	43.3​	21.7​	10.8​	5.4​
16	.662"	16.81​	42.4​	21.2​	10.6​	5.3​
17	.650"	16.51​	41.6​	20.8​	10.4​	5.2​
18	.637"	16.18​	40.8​	20.4​	10.2​	5.1​
19	.626"	15.90​	40.1​	20.0​	10.0​	5.0​
20	.615"	15.62​	39.4​	19.7​	9.8​	4.9​
21	.605"	15.37​	38.7​	19.4​	9.7​	4.8​
22	.596"	15.14​	38.1​	19.1​	9.5​	4.8​
23	.587"	14.91​	37.6​	18.8​	9.4​	4.7​
24	.579"	14.71​	37.1​	18.5​	9.3​	4.6​
25	.571"	14.50​	36.5​	18.3​	9.1​	4.6​
26	.563"	14.30​	36.0​	18.0​	9.0​	4.5​
27	.556"	14.12​	35.6​	17.8​	8.9​	4.4​
28	.550"	13.97​	35.2​	17.6​	8.8​	4.4​
29	.543"	13.79​	34.8​	17.4​	8.7​	4.3​
30	.537"	13.64​	34.4​	17.2​	8.6​	4.3​
31	.531"	13.49​	34.0​	17.0​	8.5​	4.2​
32	.526"	13.36​	33.7​	16.8​	8.4​	4.2​
0.41	.410"	10.41​	26.2​	13.1​	6.6​	3.3​

​

 

[wganz]

For those that want to buy a Ballistics Products .125 Maxi Nitro Card, here is a bore to gauge table for your convenience.
To go from caliber to spheric volume, used the formula, V = 4/3 times Pi times Radius cubed( v=4/3 x π x r^3 ).
Plugged into Excel as =(4/3)*PI()*('bore diameter cell'/2)^3 where 'bore diameter cell' is the cell location to its left(ie. D3). The resultant volume was multiplied by the density of pure lead that was found to be 6.55609 ounce per cubic inch [oz/inch³] to get the weight of pure lead ball of that volume. The number per pound was that weight in ounces divided by 16 since there is 16 ounces per pound. This gives a table where you can go from the bore diameter in inches to gauge which can then be plugged into their web page here to select the correct desired product.

caliber	Pure Lead RP in oz.	# per pound(aka gauge)
0.775​	1.6​	10​
0.720​	1.3​	12​
0.690​	1.1​	14​
0.663​	1.0​	16​
0.629​	0.9​	19​
0.620​	0.8​	20​
0.580​	0.7​	24​
0.577​	0.7​	24​
0.560​	0.6​	27​
0.540​	0.5​	30​
0.520​	0.5​	33​
0.500​	0.4​	37​
0.480​	0.4​	42​
0.450​	0.3​	51​
0.440​	0.3​	55​
0.410​	0.2​	68​
0.400​	0.2​	73​
0.380​	0.2​	85​
0.360​	0.2​	100​
0.320​	0.1​	142​
0.320​	0.1​	142​

 

[wganz]

Another source of Hammer-Driven Hole Punches:
McMaster-Carr

 

[wganz]

DuraFelt answered the email requests quickly and provided links to the requested items. These links are highlight below:

DuraFelt felt

By ClemBert from The Firing Line: 36" x 12" pc will punch out over 1,500 wads of .44/.45 caliber or over 2,100 wads of .36/.38 caliber.

Item	Width	Length	Thick	Density	Price	Sq. Inch	Material shipped
FM1812OWH	36"	12"	1/8"	0.36 gm/c3 - Hard F-1	$25.00 each	432 sq. in	61 1/4" x 7 1/4" - 444+ sq. in

They also supply Lanolin and Sheep Tallow .

 

[Joemolf]

Boy you have busy gathering info! Thanks for putting the effort forth! We’ll done!