Leather wads in a cap and ball?

[Dray Calhoun]

Praise be! Somebody that gets the amount of lube left on the ball doesn’t really matter! The thin coat does the job. The crevice at the base of the ogive of the ball still retains ample amount of lube to do quite nicely. Never thought about GOJO. Main ingredient is lanolin, which really makes sense. Cleans, lubes. Been doing this for 40+ years never even thought about it. Never too old to learn something new!

 

[Canute Rex]

I have used orange hand cleaner as a patch lube and it makes the bore easy to clean at the end of the day. It dries quickly, so only as a lube for range shooting. Also a bit acidic with the orange terpenes in it, so rinse well after using.

I make my own over-powder wads out of old wool liners for pack boots. The soles of them get beaten down after a while and they lose their insulating value, but the rest of the liner is nice thick wool felt. I pop out a bunch of them with an arch punch on the end of a log. Then I melt/mix about 2/3 beeswax and 1/3 olive oil, dump in the wads and fish them out with a fork into an aluminum pie pan. I use 9/16" ones in my 54 smoothie, but you could use 1/2" or 7/16" in your 44 revolver. Once they are soaked in the wax mix you can squish them or roll them to increase/decrease the diameter.

 

[arcticap]

Never thought about GOJO. Main ingredient is lanolin, which really makes sense. Cleans, lubes. Been doing this for 40+ years never even thought about it. Never too old to learn something new!

Gojo no longer contains lanolin.
The company makes a bunch of Gojo variations but their 2015 SDS doesn't list any. --->>> https://resources.cleanitsupply.com/MSDS/GOJ1115_SDS.PDF

 

[Dray Calhoun]

Did not know that. Wonder what they’re using now?

 

[Dray Calhoun]

Checked the SDS, yep, no lanolin. I suppose the mineral oil and petrolatum replaced it. It does have a flammability note. Still may try it as a patch lube on a limited test basis. It does list a polymer. If nothing else, may try it as a range bore wipe.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Try pure neatsfoot oil as a lubricant on 100% felt wads.

I read about using neatsfoot oil as a patch lube over on the American Longrifles forum, tried it in a couple of my rifles and worked really well. I then made up some revolver wads and tried them with excellent results. It kept the fouling soft and was easier to apply to the wads than melting my normal beeswax/mutton tallow mix.

 

[Carbon 6]

Checked the SDS,

When the MSDS requirement was changed to SDS the material requirement was removed. They only have to list hazardous chemicals. Lanolin is not hazardous.

 

[Eutycus]

Try pure neatsfoot oil as a lubricant on 100% felt wads.

I read about using neatsfoot oil as a patch lube over on the American Longrifles forum, tried it in a couple of my rifles and worked really well. I then made up some revolver wads and tried them with excellent results. It kept the fouling soft and was easier to apply to the wads than melting my normal beeswax/mutton tallow mix.

Notice the word "pure" in that post about neatsfoot oil. There are bottles of stuff on the shelves next to the real neatsfoot that are not the real deal. Make sure you buy the real stuff.

 

[smoothshooter]

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

Crafts supply store.
Corrugated cardboard, felt, and suede leather soaked in melted lube will work better than cork for lubrication.

 

[smoothshooter]

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

Only if it is pretty thick.

 

[arcticap]

When the MSDS requirement was changed to SDS the material requirement was removed. They only have to list hazardous chemicals. Lanolin is not hazardous.

A long tine ago, the original formula Gojo contained lanolin, but according to the company it no longer does.
At least two people asked about it on the company website and both were told that it no longer contains lanolin.
One 6 year old reply from the company states:
"The GOJO Original is still available, however we do not use lanolin as a direct ingredient in any of our products including the GOJO Original Formula."
https://www.gojo.com/product-catalog/product.aspx?sku=1115-06&sc_lang=en

 

[smoothshooter]

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?

Use 1/8” or a little thicker felt to make lubed wads. Corrugated cardboard is okay too.
Also, thinking outside the box, wads do not have to be round, or fit snugly in the chamber.
You can make them square, or even triangular, since all they do is hold lube.
Whichever shape is used, they do need to be of uniform size, so I make mine square or round, and use the same ones for both .36 and .44 if I run low on .44’s.

Who has the curiosity to make some non-round wads to try, and prove me wrong?
Anyone?

 

[M. De Land]

Felt and corrugated cardboard wads hold more lubricant than leather could.
Wads have no effect in regard to chain-fires. None at all.
Don’t understand the terror that the idea of a chain fire holds for people.
Startling, yes.
Dangerous, no.
Damaging to the gun, almost never. Remember, those balls leaving the adjacent chambers only have a velocity of somewhere between 150 to 200 feet per second.

How did you determine ball velocity from a chain fire ? How do you know an over size greased felt wad does not help prevent a chain fire from the front? It could be true but I keep hearing this stuff but never any verifiable (tested) proof of it. I understand that the wad takes on some of the shape of the back half of the ball but when the wad is pressed against the powder and compressed with the rammer then the ball is seated on top it still should seal off the chamber diameter behind the ball along with the grease seal help.

 

[smoothshooter]

How did you determine ball velocity from a chain fire ? How do you know an over size greased felt wad does not help prevent a chain fire from the front? It could be true but I keep hearing this stuff but never any verifiable (tested) proof of it. I understand that the wad takes on some of the shape of the back half of the ball but when the wad is pressed against the powder and compressed with the rammer then the ball is seated on top it still should seal off the chamber diameter behind the ball along with the grease seal help.

More than one Youtube video has been done using chronographs to check velocity.
The barrel and loading lever assembly are removed and a cross-key is installed in the arbor slot and shimmed with a stack of washers or a piece of metal tubing to hold the cylinder in place against the rear of the frame.
Almost no one uses “oversized” greased wads in their revolver. They buy or make wads that exactly fit the chambers.

How much of a powder burn do you think can be achieved before the ball can travel less than a half inch to the mouth of the chamber?

 

[M. De Land]

More than one Youtube video has been done using chronographs to check velocity.
The barrel and loading lever assembly are removed and a cross-key is installed in the arbor slot and shimmed with a stack of washers or a piece of metal tubing to hold the cylinder in place against the rear of the frame.
Almost no one uses “oversized” greased wads in their revolver. They buy or make wads that exactly fit the chambers.

How much of a powder burn do you think can be achieved before the ball can travel less than a half inch to the mouth of the chamber?

I make my own felt grease wads and seat them on to the powder with the rammer then seat the ball. I purposely made them roughly .010 over chamber diameter. Perhaps you could post a link of chronographed chain fire events as I would dearly love to view it!

 

[smoothshooter]

I make my own felt grease wads and seat them on to the powder with the rammer then seat the ball. I purposely made them roughly .010 over chamber diameter. Perhaps you could post a link of chronographed chain fire events as I would dearly love to view it!

I find myself using square wads more and more. They work just fine for lubrication purposes and are faster and easier to make.