Leather wads in a cap and ball?

[smoothshooter]

I suppose a good supply for the cork would be the gasket material from an auto parts store?

Sheets of it can be bought in craft stores.

 

[wb78963]

Smoothshooter,
That is good as long as it is 100% wool felt. If there is any synthetics in it they will melt and make a mess melted in the barrel..
I have made filler wads from auto store 1/8" cork gasket material. Worked just fine. used as spacers in shotgun shells.

brewer12345 ,
I am not sure if crisco will work since it is made from cotton seed oil mostly.. My suggestion is make a small batch and see what happens.
Usually the tallow used for my 40:60 mix is rendered from beef kidney fat which is very hard. It make a very hard tallow however it is a smelly outdoor project to boil down.

Generally speaking the lube wad is there to keep fouling soft and is less messy than lube over the ball. Perhaps it might prevent a chain fire but the one chain fire of one chamber I had I believe was caused by a malformed ball ( my bad) over a 1'8' thick heavenly lubricated wad. So go figure.
Very surprising.
Hold Center
Bunk

 

[brewer12345]

Smoothshooter,
That is good as long as it is 100% wool felt. If there is any synthetics in it they will melt and make a mess melted in the barrel..
I have made filler wads from auto store 1/8" cork gasket material. Worked just fine. used as spacers in shotgun shells.

brewer12345 ,
I am not sure if crisco will work since it is made from cotton seed oil mostly.. My suggestion is make a small batch and see what happens.
Usually the tallow used for my 40:60 mix is rendered from beef kidney fat which is very hard. It make a very hard tallow however it is a smelly outdoor project to boil down.

Generally speaking the lube wad is there to keep fouling soft and is less messy than lube over the ball. Perhaps it might prevent a chain fire but the one chain fire of one chamber I had I believe was caused by a malformed ball ( my bad) over a 1'8' thick heavenly lubricated wad. So go figure.
Very surprising.
Hold Center
Bunk

I use the crisco/beeswax lube for wads in a percussion rifle that only really likes to shoot round ball well with a wad over the powder. Works as well or better than the prelubed wonder wads, which is why I was thinking it might work in a revolver.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Yes, the 0.156 and 0.165 are diameters.

 

[M. De Land]

I am seriously considering buying a 36 cal revolver to target shoot with. I have not shot a cap and ball before, but my understanding is that over powder wads are usually used to help avoid chain fires. Can I punch my own out of scrap leather?

Yes, but I feel a better wad material is felt which soaks up melted lube really well. I like and use Dural felt bought in sheets and I punch out my own wads then soak them in melted Bees wax. The trouble I would think with using scrap leather would be a consistent thickness problem and I doubt it would soak up melted lube as well as felt.

 

[wb78963]

I use the crisco/beeswax lube for wads in a percussion rifle that only really likes to shoot round ball well with a wad over the powder. Works as well or better than the prelubed wonder wads, which is why I was thinking it might work in a revolver.
My suggestion is
GO TRY IT!!
There should be no down side. My home made wads are much "lubier" than wonder wads. I was using wonder wads in my.44 Piettas snubbies since all my stuff had not been unpacked since the move. They worked OK. but seemed a bit dry though there was no problems in100 or more shots
BunkQUOTE]

 

[arcticap]

Can I punch my own out of scrap leather?

I punch out over-powder cards from 1/2 gallon juice cartons.
Cards take up very little room in the chamber.
They help to seal the chamber and to keep any lube separate from the powder.

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Carbon,

gasket material can come 1/8" thick and that is plenty, for anyone wanting cork. I much prefer felt. Good felt that is.

 

[wb78963]

The 1/8" cork wads were used to space black powder shotgun shell loads which is outside the purvey of this forum.
Excuse me Mr. Moderator on this subject I will speak no more.
I would suspect that cork wads could be used as filler in a revolver, but corn meal would be much less expensive.
Could be used as a coushion in a rifle over the powder under the ball.
I may use some in my paper cartridges for the Sharps although that system seems not to be bothered by air space in the chamber..
More to follow
Bunk

 

[M. De Land]

The 1/8" cork wads were used to space black powder shotgun shell loads which is outside the purvey of this forum.
Excuse me Mr. Moderator on this subject I will speak no more.
I would suspect that cork wads could be used as filler in a revolver, but corn meal would be much less expensive.
Could be used as a coushion in a rifle over the powder under the ball.
I may use some in my paper cartridges for the Sharps although that system seems not to be bothered by air space in the chamber..
More to follow
Bunk

I really like these felt/bees wax wads because they seem to be just as accurate and not nearly as messy as the lube over ball shooting I have used for 40 plus years. Also with the lube over ball shooting the lube volume is being depleted off all the following shots with each new discharge where as with the over powder lubed wads the lube volume remains consistent shot to shot.
I have rendered some bear oil that I plan on adding to the lube in the future and test how that works in conjunction with the Bees wax melted into the 1/8 inch thick felt wads. Should be a bit softer I would think and soak in more thoroughly.
The bees wax wads do not contaminate the powder charge which I'm hoping the added bear oil will also not do.

 

[wb78963]

Good Morning (here in Texas) M. De Land,
I have been ranting about lube over ball for a long time. You are correct after a couple of shots the over ball lube is all over the gun and Crisco is the worst of all.
I did a test using a .44 Pietta with a very hard lube over the ball. after three shots the last three were for all intents bare and the gun was a mess. Unfortunately I did not take pictures.
My mix is beef kidney fat tallow and bees wax in a 40:60 mix which is pretty much an all weather lube here.
In the past I tried both olive or mineral oil in the mix but it would sweat out. I was doing something wrong, don't know what, but the mix I use works and that is what counts.
Respectfully
Bunk

 

[M. De Land]

Good Morning (here in Texas) M. De Land,
I have been ranting about lube over ball for a long time. You are correct after a couple of shots the over ball lube is all over the gun and Crisco is the worst of all.
I did a test using a .44 Pietta with a very hard lube over the ball. after three shots the last three were for all intents bare and the gun was a mess. Unfortunately I did not take pictures.
My mix is beef kidney fat tallow and bees wax in a 40:60 mix which is pretty much an all weather lube here.
In the past I tried both olive or mineral oil in the mix but it would sweat out. I was doing something wrong, don't know what, but the mix I use works and that is what counts.
Respectfully
Bunk

Try some felt wads with your lube mix melted in Bunk. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. They do restrict some powder capacity but with ball shooting their is still plenty of room.

 

[wb78963]

Try some felt wads with your lube mix melted in Bunk. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. They do restrict some powder capacity but with ball shooting their is still plenty of room.

Since the Comanches have been pretty quiet as of late maximum loads are not necessary.
My .44's get 20 grains of FFFg and the .36's get 15 grains of Mr. Du Pont's best so there is plenty of space for the 1/8" thick wad.
My method is pretty much like Beliveau except the pan with wad and lube go back in the microwave to get about 30 seconds or so to be sure the lube completely saturates completely through. That also makes them hot enough to let excess drain out. Then they are laid flat on a piece of aluminum to harden
They are ready for wads to be punched out.
Even with my snubbies there is a good grease ring around the muzzle.
Regards
Bunk

 

[brewer12345]

OK, so I ordered some felt. You usually punch the wads and dip them in lube, or lube the felt, let it dry, then punch the wads?

 

[wb78963]

making a sheet of lubed material then punching out the wads is easier that dipping little wads in melted lube.
Just be sure to have the wet sheet hot enough to drain off the excess lube.
Enjoy
Bunk

 

[Bill Edick]

I have always used felt wads that I lube with 50% bees wax to 50% Crisco and they work fine. I have had one chain fire in over fifteen years and found a hair line crack in the cylinder which I think caused it. Two cylinders firing at the same time does get your attention. Lubed wads seem to make cleaning up a lot easier as well. Never tried leather or filler when shooting.

 

[M. De Land]

I've used both methods and am really getting to like the greased wads over powder loads. They seem just as accurate in offhand shooting and far less messy. I do need to bench test both loads to be sure of accuracy comparison.

 

[M. De Land]

Since the Comanches have been pretty quiet as of late maximum loads are not necessary.
My .44's get 20 grains of FFFg and the .36's get 15 grains of Mr. Du Pont's best so there is plenty of space for the 1/8" thick wad.
My method is pretty much like Beliveau except the pan with wad and lube go back in the microwave to get about 30 seconds or so to be sure the lube completely saturates completely through. That also makes them hot enough to let excess drain out. Then they are laid flat on a piece of aluminum to harden
They are ready for wads to be punched out.
Even with my snubbies there is a good grease ring around the muzzle.
Regards
Bunk

Well being the tight wad that I am I punch them out dry, dump them into melted lube then when they are saturated I fish them out with medical forceps to congeal on wax paper. The felt that you throw out between wads will absorb a surprising amount of lube that then gets tossed out too.

 

[Kansas Jake]

M. De Land, I punch mine out real close and do end up with some narrow strips. I just cut them up and use to help start fires, in the fireplace etc. I'm cheap that way and have a hard time throwing out anything that might be used for something else.

 

[M. De Land]

M. De Land, I punch mine out real close and do end up with some narrow strips. I just cut them up and use to help start fires, in the fireplace etc. I'm cheap that way and have a hard time throwing out anything that might be used for something else.

Great idea! I save the lint out of our dryer trap, pack it into empty egg cartons and melt old candles into the compartments to make fire starters for the fire place. They will burn for five minutes or so by themselves and light very easily.