homemade wads

[buttonbuck]

I bought a set of English made valley wad-gasget punches and was wondering what material you can use on the cheap as a substitute wonder wad, I considered duro felt but the price is kind of high for me now with having stocked up on a melter, powder a new mould and putting in some goat pasture on my one acre homestead.

 

[Herb]

I have used split leather (the part split off the main leather), just because I could get it. Also a wool sweater, thick but shrunk down to be unwearable. Probably felt weather stripping has sythetic stuff in it, instead of felt. Maybe felt insole liners. Thick hard cardboard, as in the backs of tablets or pizza boxes? You should get a lot of help on this one.

 

[bwhoffman]

wool (beaver!) cowboy hats from trift stores work well and are cheap!

 

[Many Klatch]

Overpowder wads can be cut out of the covers of old 3-ring binders. Overshot wads can be cut out of old manila folders. Cushion wads can be made from 1/2" Celotex board. You can probably scrounge all the items and get your wads for free.

Many Klatch

 

[Poor Private]

I use felted hats from discoount store such as Salvation Army, and Goodwill. They usually only cost a couple of bucks and you get a few hundred wads from them. I then drop them in a ziplock typ bag with what ever lube I will be using and slosh them around till soaked throughly through. Let them dry then, Take them out place in smaller ziplock bags and label what size they are.

 

[MSW]

i use the felt hat route... works great! for overshot wads, try paper milk carton material.

make good smoke!

 

[paulvallandigham]

I don't know the source of your manila folders, but mine are thinner than card stock! I would recommend using Shirt Backs for the OS cards, as they are the proper thickness. The thin manila folder paper was okay for use in cartridges in roll top crimps( small gauges), but they are just too thin to use in a MLer( Small AND large gauges), IMHO. Perhaps if you glued two of them together, you might get closer, but gluing anything is a major hassle.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I totally understand the concepts of both frugality and self reliance but when I can buy wads from "Circle Fly" at $8.00 per 1000 my inherent laziness overcomes my natural cheapness! :haha:

 

[sproulman]

lowes or any hardware store sells wool felt insulation for around doors.

you can get THOUSANDS of bore buttons from a roll.

rolls are about 1 inch wide and come in different lengths ,like 10 ft ,25 ft of it.

i use 1/2 inch punch for .50 cal and 9/16 punch for a .54 cal.

you can use the .54 cal ones in the .50 cal.

i dont lube them but you can if you want, i shoot them dry.

 

[sproulman]

bore buttons here in my area sell them for 9 dollars for 100.

thats why i punch my own.

 

[BenKolb]

Right now is the best time to get the good free stuff. I sewed a back pocket on my possibles bag and keep it stuffed full of EMPTY wasp and hornet nests. Pinch off about the size of a dip of snuff, tamp it down over powder then seat your prb (I use .440 ball in my .45 with .018 w--mart ticking) wasp nests are easier to find but hornets nests last about all year long. we write down where they are along the road when were driving then when they are gone just look underneath the tree. No punches no lubes no money and lots of fun for the kids to collect.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

bore buttons here in my area sell them for 9 dollars for 100.

thats why i punch my own.

http://www.circlefly.com/html/products.html

Circle Fly is THE source of wads for shotgun, revolver and BP cartridge guns. I'd recommend their pre-lubed fiber wads, 1/2 or 3/8" thick at $18.00 per 500. You can then slice them in half and get 1000 wads. Or buy them dry and add your own lube to bring the cost down to $9.00 per 1000.
The old saying "you get what you pay for" assumes no one is running a rip-off. It's a fact of life that some folks will take advantage.
The best one I've heard, the operator of a large and well known blackpowder retail store is buying Walmart's windshield washer fluid, repackaging it in his own bottles and getting five dollars for three ounces! :haha:

 

[sproulman]

thanks for that site.

i think i did order from him years ago.

punch 1/2 inch i bought was 2 dollars .

i think the wool insulation i bought was 4 dollars and i can punch out thousands of bore buttons on a roll.

i dont use them lubed,wool will not burn so i see no reason to lube them .

but there may be reason to lube them.i did try T/C #13 patch lube on them today ,i have bottle from 35 years ago, thought i would use it up on bore buttons and cleaning muzz at range.

thats same thing that OX-YOKE is facing too.

the factory is 10 minutes from me.

they said 2 people are using their patches for sale and OX-YOKE patent etc.

they said they dont have money to go after them ,lawyers would just cost to much.

 

[oldwolf]

I use a 45/70 casing chucked up in my drill press to cut out 20 wads in a series (for my .45's). When the casing is full I stick a nail down the primer hole and push them out. The rotating casing cuts nice and clean through my felt.

 

[David Snellen]

Gentlemen,
I just looked up circle fly, but I dodn't see anything for pistol wads.
Do y'all think the wonder wad is safer than topping off the top with crisco?
David

 

[R.M.]

I don't know if it's any safer, but it sure is a lot messier using grease.

 

[David Snellen]

I know that is true. I always used to grease the top, then went to the wads. Didn't have misfires on the 2nd cylinder with the wads- nor did I have to "cap off" before loadingagain as with grease. But, I am looking at what is safe and cheap.
Any idea as to where to get a punch for .44's if I go the hat route?
David

 

[sproulman]

you know, you have great idea there using a empty rifle shell in a drill press.

i wonder what size shell would work with a .50cal

WHAT A NEAT IDEA. :hatsoff:

 

[buttonbuck]

cool ideas how about the 500 smith and wesson case or browning machine gun only you would need a huge drill press chuck or a means to attach a bit shank to the case. Well anyway I need to find some hats or just go to menards and get some wool insulation.

 

[sproulman]

wool insulation is cheap and comes in rolls about 1 inch wide.

i just put tc # 13 on my bore buttons.

i usually use them dry but playing around with this patch lube.

it seems to work on buttons ok as lube,the button puff up a little when dry.

some use 2 of these wool buttons instead of 1.

ones i bought from RMC are as hard as rock, mine are sort of soft.

maybe their bore butter made the buttons hard, dont know.