Felt Wads

[sniper68]

Need some help !!! Been readin about using felt under a patched ball. :hmm: Sounds like it's worth tryin. Got a Harbor Freight store right up the road, so punches ain't no problem. I go to Duro-felt web sight ta order some felt and dang, I thought it would be simple.. :shake: They have thickneses of 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 1". Also in soft, medium and hard texture !! :shocked2:
What thickness and hardness would ya'll reccomend. I am leanin toward 1/8 or 1/4 and hard. Need some opinions!!

 

[roundball]

One approach might be to look at the Oxyoke prelubed wads that are often used

 

[gmww]

I thought I read somewhere that someone was using weather stripping like the ones you get at the hardware store.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I used to use vegetable fiber wads under Maxi-Hunter conicals and they are as hard as pine wood. I think you're safe with hard felt.

Thickness? Dunno.

One thing to be aware of. If you start the wad and push it in just 1/2", then seat the ball & patch it will work better than seating the wad on the powder by itself. They "pop" up from the compressed air underneath and can tip if there is no weight on top of them.

 

[roundball]

I thought I read somewhere that someone was using weather stripping like the ones you get at the hardware store.

I was under the impression that the hardware store weather stripping was not 100% felt, but a synthetic instead...like toilet rings of beeswax are not actually beeswax

 

[gmww]

Don't really know for sure. Like I said I saw it on the Web. I want to say it was on Blue Grouse Black Powder somewhere I think. Best way to find out would be to go to the hardware store and check it out. Might need a sample and set a match to it.

 

[PapaPopup]

If you want to make your own use 1/8 in. medium firmness. But I suggest you buy a pack of Wonder Wads or some such first and try them before you put much money in a good punch and a supply of felt. Shoot the same loads with and without the wads and honestly compare the results. I seriously doubt if you will notice any difference. I've been shooting muzzleloading stuff over 40 years, so I got a little experience.

 

[BS]

Some of the WAD links that I have found
[url] http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/browse.cfm/4,4964.html http://www.sagebrushproducts.com/ShootingProducts.htm http://www.circlefly.com/ http://www.trackofthewolf.com/categories/tableList.aspx?catID=2&subID=37&styleID=118[/url]

Some of the more expensive " Veggie" wads are made from:

Vegetable fiber gasket material engineered to resist high heat & compression
and water resistant.

I use hard card stock and punch my own!

 

[Maestro]

One approach might be to look at the Oxyoke prelubed wads that are often used

Hey Roundball, did I see in some other thread, that you use an oversized wad in any given bore size? (eg., a .54 wad in a .50 cal. bore) Do you do this all the time?
I'm only asking 'cause I want to try it with my .50 rifle - should I get .50 or .54 wads? (I get the best groups now with 70 gr. 2f - I'm hoping to boost that and still keep the good groups.)

 

[roundball]

One approach might be to look at the Oxyoke prelubed wads that are often used

Hey Roundball, did I see in some other thread, that you use an oversized wad in any given bore size? (eg., a .54 wad in a .50 cal. bore) Do you do this all the time?
I'm only asking 'cause I want to try it with my .50 rifle - should I get .50 or .54 wads? (I get the best groups now with 70 gr. 2f - I'm hoping to boost that and still keep the good groups.)

Yes...no question that Oxyoke wads make improvements in my shooting, both round balls and maxi-hunters.

I don't use them for light/moderate powder charges...pillow ticking is good enough for that...but I use Oxyoke wads under all my full power hunting loads.

For example, using a near max powder charge of 90grns Goex 3F in a .45cal RB barrel, the patches were getting some burn-through...from the moment I tried Oxyoke wads, patches picked up off the ground still looked new / reuseable.

And yes, shortly after starting to use Oxyoke wads, I decided to use the next caliber size wad...no science, just the obvious speculation that a larger, tighter fitting wad would be even better...more lube, less fouling, tigthter seal, more velocity, more consistency, etc, etc.

When I pick the larger wads up off the ground, the edges look like miniature gears from where the heat & pressure expanded the extra material out into the grooves...

:thumbsup:

 

[davy]

One approach might be to look at the Oxyoke prelubed wads that are often used

Hey Roundball, did I see in some other thread, that you use an oversized wad in any given bore size? (eg., a .54 wad in a .50 cal. bore) Do you do this all the time?
I'm only asking 'cause I want to try it with my .50 rifle - should I get .50 or .54 wads? (I get the best groups now with 70 gr. 2f - I'm hoping to boost that and still keep the good groups.)

Yes...no question that Oxyoke wads make improvements in my shooting, both round balls and maxi-hunters.

I don't use them for light/moderate powder charges...pillow ticking is good enough for that...but I use Oxyoke wads under all my full power hunting loads.

For example, using a near max powder charge of 90grns Goex 3F in a .45cal RB barrel, the patches were getting some burn-through...from the moment I tried Oxyoke wads, patches picked up off the ground still looked new / reuseable.

And yes, shortly after starting to use Oxyoke wads, I decided to use the next caliber size wad...no science, just the obvious speculation that a larger, tighter fitting wad would be even better...more lube, less fouling, tigthter seal, more velocity, more consistency, etc, etc.

When I pick the larger wads up off the ground, the edges look like miniature gears from where the heat & pressure expanded the extra material out into the grooves...

:thumbsup:

So RB .. since I have not used them afore ... your sayin that if I try these out ... then it mite be a good idear to use say a 54 cal wad ina 50 cal barrel? And a 50 cla ina 45 cal barrel? :hmm:

Davy

 

[roundball]

So RB .. since I have not used them afore ... your sayin that if I try these out ... then it mite be a good idear to use say a 54 cal wad ina 50 cal barrel? And a 50 cla ina 45 cal barrel?

That's what I do...and I'll repeat, no science.

The "normal" caliber sizes are cut to basically fit easily right into the muzzle between the lands.

I simply speculate if they're good the way they fit, a tighter one should be even better.

 

[peeweet]

Have'nt tried the over size wad trick but did notice improved performance on my hunting loads when wads were used.

 

[RiverRat]

I'll add my two cents that RB's method with oversized wads works for me in all my hunting and competition target loads. :thumbsup:

 

[AZ-Robert]

I see 1/2" wads for sale, and I see 1/8" wads for sale (intended behind roundball, I think), but I don't see any 1/4" offered anywhere. Since it seems more than a few folks use the 1/4" size in their shot loads, I wondered if the suppliers had stepped up to the market. Anybody know of a source? Or is cutting the 1/2" size in half the only option?

As an aside, I note those 1/8" wonder wads (of felt) go for more than twice the cost of the regular 1/2" wads.

 

[roundball]

I see 1/2" wads for sale, and I see 1/8" wads for sale (intended behind roundball, I think), but I don't see any 1/4" offered anywhere. Since it seems more than a few folks use the 1/4" size in their shot loads, I wondered if the suppliers had stepped up to the market. Anybody know of a source? Or is cutting the 1/2" size in half the only option?

As an aside, I note those 1/8" wonder wads (of felt) go for more than twice the cost of the regular 1/2" wads.

Yes, they're a little pricey...I've read that the material itself plus the "pressure injection process" they use to get the lube deep inside the wad is a lot of the cost...the good news is I only use them to sight in a hunting load, then for the occasional hunting shot, so a bag of 100 will last a long time

 

[Roy]

We have to use felt wads when we shoot the wall gun, cause they don't make a patch durable enough to stop from burning through. I guess this would be the reasoning behind using on a hunting load? Its amazing what 350-400 grns of 1f will do. :grin: