Leather wads in a cap and ball?

[Eutycus]

I like the "fire-starter/dryer lint/felt strip" thing I suppose you could wad up the left over strips of felt and put them right into the dryer lint mix then drip some candles on the mix?

 

[TFoley]

I was given several square feet of scrap suede, would it work too?

Better to make yourself a nice pair of moccasins.

 

[TFoley]

These are diameter measurements?

Yes.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Eutycus, you can also use toilet paper tubes etc. and stuff them full of dryer lint and fill with melted candle/parafin to make fire starters. Now back to leather wads.

 

[flntlokr]

Why bother with wads? I shot thousands of rounds through my Ruger, everything from full-house to baby loads of about 10 gr. Never lubed, except Crisco on top of every second ball. Never found any lead fouling at all. I used corn meal for filler with the short loads, which I suspect may have wiped any residual Crisco out of the barrel with each shot.

 

[MSW]

fwiw, i use corn meal as a filler, thus:

powder charge
then paper board (think about twice the thickness of a hanging file folder)
then cornmeal
then another paper board circle
lube impregnated felt wad
roundball

if you're using the load for 'service' (i.e. anti- personnel) work, use more powder and less corn meal, otherwise, less powder and more cornmeal ...
the object of the exercise is to have the ball just shy of the mouth of the cylinder

have fun, be safe, and

Make Good Smoke

 

[wb78963]

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.

That is true, but my lard and beeswax or paraffin wax lube is not very expensive and easy to make. My method, in my opinion, is less labor intensive. This give me more time to shoot revolvers and my dreaded Sharps rifles.
Having said that what ever floats you boat go for it.
We are all in this nutty business together reinventing a 200 year old wheel.
But ain't it fun?
Best Regards
Bunk,
.

 

[M. De Land]

I like the "fire-starter/dryer lint/felt strip" thing I suppose you could wad up the left over strips of felt and put them right into the dryer lint mix then drip some candles on the mix?

I'm wondering what wool felt mixed with lube smells like burning in the fireplace.

 

[M. De Land]

Why bother with wads? I shot thousands of rounds through my Ruger, everything from full-house to baby loads of about 10 gr. Never lubed, except Crisco on top of every second ball. Never found any lead fouling at all. I used corn meal for filler with the short loads, which I suspect may have wiped any residual Crisco out of the barrel with each shot.

You might want to try a felt lubed wad and also try cream of wheat instead of corn meal. No oil in it and it's not spongy under compression as is cornmeal which makes load compression more uniform and accurate.

 

[wb78963]

fwiw, i use corn meal as a filler, thus:

powder charge
then paper board (think about twice the thickness of a hanging file folder)
then cornmeal
then another paper board circle
lube impregnated felt wad
roundball

if you're using the load for 'service' (i.e. anti- personnel) work, use more powder and less corn meal, otherwise, less powder and more cornmeal ...
the object of the exercise is to have the ball just shy of the mouth of the cylinder

have fun, be safe, and

Make Good Smoke

to my experience this is sort of killing a fly with a sledge hammer.
Powder, lube wad, ball, cap and shoot.
This has worked for me for a very very long time.
That is what I shot today and got a clink every time.
If you are loading for anti-personnel use get a shotgun or a (may I say it) a 1911. and don't fool around.
Load 'em heavy boys
they air a'comin'

 

[Eutycus]

I'm curious about the paper wad beween the powder and the cornmeal. Is a wad normally put there? Seems like the filler would stop any "lube contamination". Hey I'm new at this myself.

 

[M. De Land]

I'm curious about the paper wad beween the powder and the cornmeal. Is a wad normally put there? Seems like the filler would stop any "lube contamination". Hey I'm new at this myself.

The corn meal I tried one time was oily under compression and would tend to spring back . Cream of wheat is is dry and does not spring back after compression.

 

[jimhallam]

The M1851 ADAMS "self-cocking" revolver used projectiles (ball or bullet) with a spike on them. The Patent (Br.Pat 13527/1851) states that wads (felt, leather or card) are attached and the spike is bent over. The wads were larger diameter that the charge holes in the cylinder so the wads were supposed to retain the bullet/ball .. . but often didn't, due to the bumping up and down of the revolver in the saddle holster (especially the larger bores) -- so in the Crimean War a pot-shot at a Cossack sometimes resulted in just the "pop" of the cap. OOPS ;-(

"Dustbin cartridges" were often bought. [ "dustbin" is the British term for a trash can.] These had narrow copper tubes filled with powder, held in place by nitrated paper (like the touchpaper on fireworks) and a pull-off lid. Some were sold in boxes, the cartridge lid with a ring through which was threaded a wire so you just pulled the cartridge off its lid and thumbed it into the cylinder. Sometimes these bullets are found on the battlefields, still with the "dustbin" atttached.

As the system was likely to cause problems one can find M1851 revolvers fitted with an added rammer ... the user then bought larger diameter balls/bullets so the friction of the LEAD held it in.

The revolver pictured is a 34 bore retailed by Wilkinson -- showing the wad punch, kid leather bags for caps and bullets. The 5-ball coronet and "L" on the escutcheon indicates an EARL -- Lord Lucan, famous for the Charge of the Light Brigade.

 

[nkbj]

Nobody uses a thin hard card over the powder and then a dab of lube under the ball?
Really?

 

[wb78963]

I'm wondering what wool felt mixed with lube smells like burning in the fireplace.

I suspect it would smell like some one burning a sheep.
Sheep smell bad enough as it is anyway.
Bunk

 

[M. De Land]

I suspect it would smell like some one burning a sheep.
Sheep smell bad enough as it is anyway.
Bunk

I think I remember what a burning wool jacket smelled like and it ain't perfume and I think it was pretty fire resistant, more like smolder.

 

[wb78963]

Brewer the answer is yes. For felt wads a good hard lube that will not sweat out oil works a treat if you leave guns loaded.
Mine usually lay around loaded for as long as five minutes sometimes less.
Bunk

 

[FishDFly]

powder charge
then paper board (think about twice the thickness of a hanging file folder)
then cornmeal
then another paper board circle
lube impregnated felt wad
roundball

Surprised there is room for the ball.

 

[brewer12345]

Well, my felt showed up in the mail yesterday and today I cut 3 pieces and dipped them in my existing pan of 50/50 crisco/beeswax. I will punch out some wads tomorrow with a 3/8" punch. Haven't gotten the revolver from dixie yet or even a shipping confirmation, so all of this may prove to be a bit premature. No sense in not being prepared.

 

[FishDFly]

Well, my felt showed up in the mail yesterday and today I cut 3 pieces and dipped them in my existing pan of 50/50 crisco/beeswax. I will punch out some wads tomorrow with a 3/8" punch. Haven't gotten the revolver from dixie yet or even a shipping confirmation, so all of this may prove to be a bit premature. No sense in not being prepared.

Dixie told me Friday they are running 2 weeks behind in mailing stuff.