Home made shotgun wads

[recurvebill]

As good fortune would have it , i lucked into a 12 ga. T/C Tree Hawk !!!! O.K. , education time ! Due to no shot cup , is "copper-plated" shot safe to use ? Are shot cups safe to use in this muzzle loader ? If so , how will they affect pressures ? Where do you home manufacturers get your virgin wool felt for making lubed wads ? Where do you get your cutter ?? All answers and leads appreciated !!!!

 

[Woody Morgan]

Durafelt for wad material and many hardware stores, Amazon or Harbor Freight for the arch punch.

wm

 

[Bosteldr]

Ive used plastic wads and they work, however when recovered you can see they are melted, and will leave some plastic in the gun. My grandfather who hunted with a 16 ga black powder shot gun until about 1920 told me he used news paper, paper bags and feed sack as wadding. What ever was on hand and had no trouble killing squirrels, rabbits, racoons and pheasants. I use precut cardboard wads, they produce a more consistant pattern and power to kill. I dont think copper plated shot will damage the gun, dont use steel shot without a shot cup, steel shot can damage the gun.

 

[Ponderosaman]

Copper will migrate into the metal of the barrel, but some consider that to be a good thing. Personally, I don’t think it is good or bad. Also, the copper plating on shot is very thin to the point of be ceremonial. If you look at copper shot, you can see the lead peeking through all over, so the softness of the lead beneath the surface and the thinness of the plating suggests to me that the copper is there to be pretty. Some say that the copper helps keep the form of the shot as it rattles around in your barrel. I think I can see the marketing in my shot pattern when I use copper plated.

 

[megasupermagnum]

Copper shot is fine to use. I use it for #6, for the sole reason it was the only thing the store had the day I needed some. The idea that it improves the shot in any meaningful way is too much to swallow. It is a razor thin copper wash. Paint probably protects better. It doesn't make the shot harder. All it possibly does it protect it from corrosion (which graphite does anyway), and makes it pretty. Magnum lead shot from West Coast or Lawrence is the finest shot you can buy, and any plating on those does not help. It does not hurt anything though.

You can use plastic wads, no worries of pressures. I buy 1/8" hard wool felt for wads from Durofelt. I don't use either in my shotgun at the moment. I am running a thick cardboard, .050" thick. I run 3 or 4 over the powder, and 1 over the shot. It is both simple as can be, and produces the best patterns I've tried, and that includes plastic wads.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Ebay. Get a 19mm hole punch.
Card, Cork or leather.
Go shoot.

 

[Feltwad]

I have made my wads for the past six decades with different size punches that I purchased mostly from car boot sales in bore sizes from the big 4 bore down to the 32 bore . Most of the card I obtained from industrial waste skip in different thickness also felt and leather and cork waste pieces It is best to turn down the punch shank to round so it can fix into a pedestal drill you can cut at least 40 wads in a minute the only trouble is if you do not have some sought of enclosure around your drill the wads when leaving the rotating punch fly around the work shop like confetti
Feltwad

 

[hunter thompson]

Copper shot is fine to use. I use it for #6, for the sole reason it was the only thing the store had the day I needed some. The idea that it improves the shot in any meaningful way is too much to swallow. It is a razor thin copper wash. Paint probably protects better. It doesn't make the shot harder. All it possibly does it protect it from corrosion (which graphite does anyway), and makes it pretty. Magnum lead shot from West Coast or Lawrence is the finest shot you can buy, and any plating on those does not help. It does not hurt anything though.

You can use plastic wads, no worries of pressures. I buy 1/8" hard wool felt for wads from Durofelt. I don't use either in my shotgun at the moment. I am running a thick cardboard, .050" thick. I run 3 or 4 over the powder, and 1 over the shot. It is both simple as can be, and produces the best patterns I've tried, and that includes plastic wads.

I Guess that 3 over the powder wads isolate the heat from melting reg wads i assume?

 

[toot]

Ive used plastic wads and they work, however when recovered you can see they are melted, and will leave some plastic in the gun. My grandfather who hunted with a 16 ga black powder shot gun until about 1920 told me he used news paper, paper bags and feed sack as wadding. What ever was on hand and had no trouble killing squirrels, rabbits, racoons and pheasants. I use precut cardboard wads, they produce a more consistant pattern and power to kill. I dont think copper plated shot will damage the gun, dont use steel shot without a shot cup, steel shot can damage the gun.

my grand father used HORNETS NEST, for wadding.

 

[toot]

gathered in the fall when they weren't home!!

 

[jlatz]

Many different paper, cork or felt wads work. Avoid plastic. Pattern the gun with different wad combinations to find the best situation. I have found "square" loads work best. An ounce and one eighth shot dipper will pour 2 3/4 drams of powder. That means the same volume of shot and powder from the dipper.

 

[vintovka]

Used remington powerpistons for years with no problems or residue. Used them in the pedersoli double 12 and the 20 gauge Sharon made barrel for the TC hawkin. Both have bright shiny bores. Spent wads show no sign of melting and always found with the "wad wings" open like they should; The only time i had a problem was with the brilliant brain fart idea of trying to use scotch tap to pre load the wad cups. Total failure and fouled badly. I wonder/worry about the use of anything but lead in older guns and all doubles. Steel and other materials do not compress like lead and both under ribs and and attaching ribs on doubles are often just soft soldered on. I agree the use of shot cups in less than perfect bores may also be a problem. Plastic may "extrude " into pits and rough spots at the moment of firing and heat. Used cardboard over shots cut from milkcartons cut with a hand punch. The idea of chucking into a drill press is genius!!!!!

 

[recurvebill]

Pose a question , wait for an answer ! The number of responses i received was better and more enlightening than walking into my local gun shop !!!! Thanks to all , and maybe i can pay-it-forward someday !

 

[stank]

Since your new to smooth bore. There is a fire hazard when using some materials for wadding. I won’t use paper for that reason. Cardboard. Felt. Leather are ok. I use leather for a ridged over shot card. Check out the “ SkyChief” load. Works well for many shooters. Search for it on this forum. Have fun

 

[Jay Templin]

Somebody- Zonie, maybe - has mentioned using homemade paper shot cups. Check the Skychief Load thread- there’s a picture. I mostly use card wads, myself.
Jay

 

[toot]

HORNETS NEST, will not burn.

 

[hanshi]

I second Durofelt as a source for felt. Years ago I ended up with a couple of punch sets from, IIRC, Harbor Freight. I punch card wads out of cereal boxes and sometimes leather, etc.

 

[megasupermagnum]

I Guess that 3 over the powder wads isolate the heat from melting reg wads i assume?

No, those 3 over powder wads are the ONLY wads needed. I tried and failed originally to do a test to find what the minimum wadding needed is. I failed that day, but would like to give it a try again this weekend. Based on what I have seen, I recommend a minimum of 1/8" of hard card wads. This would either be an 1/8" nitro card or similar. I use thick paper board, .050" thick that I cut with a punch, 3/4" for 12 gauge. I use a minimum of 3 of those cards. 1 card is definitely not enough, and 2 is not as good as 3. I use 3 for target shooting, and 4 for hunting.

The good thing about using a card like I do, is that they go right past choke without issue. It is quite tough to push an 1/8" nitro card past a choke, and a plastic wad is near impossible. Some people carry a separate overshot card of something very thin like cereal box or similar. I keep things simple and prefer to use only one kind of wad for both under and over the shot. I do not use any lube when shooting, and do not see any need for it. If things start to get a little tough, I soak the wads in my mouth. I've even had luck spitting down the barrel on particularly tight fitting wads.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I have used leather for wads for over thirty years since I have a large supply of leather scraps, and as a retired tool and die maker making punches is no problem!

 

[hunter thompson]

Well iam going to use reg wads,,,there in reg shotgun shells getting burned,,but ill bore butter the bottoms and sides..i dont see any reason thats different from regular shotgun shells.