Making a wad cutter for my ROA

[oldwolf]

Being the frugal man I am (my wife just says I am cheap), I want to make my own wad cutter.

I expect a Duro-Felt delivery soon and am getting my wad cutter tool ready.

My first attempt will be to flare a 45-70 casing to .460" and drill out the primer pocket so I can poke a rod through to clear the cut wads.

I realize the casing might be too soft for this intended purpose. Since I have never made my own wads before I fully expect this preliminary attempt to have a few difficulties.

Has anyone else made their own wad cutter and want to share ideas?

Thanks!

 

[guncobbler]

If you had a lathe you could make one the right way. Barring that find a piece of steel tubing of the correct ID and grind or file a sharp edge on it. If the tubing won't hold an edge well harden it with Casenite. Mounting the tube in a drill press is a good way to cut wads but you would want to cut a port on the side to allow the cut wads to pop out. Let us know how it works out. GC

 

[Wes/Tex]

If you want to use a .45-70 case, you can harden the brass a bit by heating and quenching like steel and iron. Any small torch will do the job.

 

[Zonie]

oldwolf:
I doubt that heating the case and quenching it will harden it. That is usually the way to soften brass and bronze.

Because of the high copper content usually the only way to harden brass or bronze is to "work harden" it by bending, crushing or expanding it.

If you want to use a .45-70 case go real easy with pounding on it. Every time I've tried something like that using brass tubing it ended up bending the cutting end. A worked hardened cartridge case might work, I haven't tried it.
zonie :hmm:

 

[oldwolf]

Once I get my 45/70 cartridge sized to .460", I will try punching wads using my loading press and also by tapping the case with a brass hammer on a block of wood.

 

[guncobbler]

Maybe you could use a steel 7.62 Russian or 8mm Mauser case as a punch. One of them may be the right size if you cut them off below the shoulder. GC

 

[Rebel]

Yea, and a lot of those use steel cases so you should be able to harden it and it should last longer than brass would.

 

[Zonie]

That sounds like a good idea but my cartridge conversion manual says a 7.62 X 39 case is only .441 diameter at the head.

A 8 x 51mm Mauser case is .467 at the head but that is the outside diameter so the inside may also be too small.

 

[Bubba45]

I made one from a 5/8" round of cold rolled steel,drilled the hole for punch,filed a taper on it then cross drilled about 1/4" hole above the taper so I could poke the wads out to the front with a wire. :grin:
I ended up hardening with kasenite to keep edge from rolling over.

 

[Mike 56]

Harbor fright has punch sets for 5.99 i use them for makeing wads for my 44s[url] http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=3838[/url]

Mike

 

[Blizzard of '93]

yeah use a 7/16 punch. it will do good on that duro-felt.

 

[oldwolf]

The 7/16 might be to small. It is only .4375 and I need .460.

 

[Zonie]

If you can find some punch for a 1/2 inch hole that would work. The felt will crush down .040 pretty easily.

 

[oldwolf]

Last night I picked up some steel casings from a 7.62x54R, I'll cut them down and try to flare them to .460".

 

[acronn]

I've had good luck using the metal shafts of golf clubs for different sized punches, real hard steel and they are all different sizes. Cheap too if you can get an old club for a buck.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

That sounds like a good idea but my cartridge conversion manual says a 7.62 X 39 case is only .441 diameter at the head.

He may be talking about 7.62x54R - .453" at the shoulder and .484" at the base.

Joel

 

[gmww]

Ever consider visiting your local scrap yard to see if they have some steel pipe in you size? Sharpen the edges and let the whacking begin.

 

[prowler]

I have been using wads cut with a 1/2" arc punch in all of my .44 caliber revolvers and well as the .45 ML and .50 ML for years. I only make one size. The felt will compress just fine. Depending upon what you lube them with, I use beeswax/olive oil, a light shaking with a bit of corn starch in a plastic bag after punching will keep them from sticking together.

 

[oldwolf]

Prowler - The cornstarch idea is a good one. I am going to try it.

I used the 7.62x54R steel case tonight. I cut it down, resized it and punched out 100 wads from Duro-Felt. It was a bit hard to punch them out, took 4 or 5 good whacks with my hammer, not sure how many whacks a regular punch would take though.

Tomorrow I will lube them, I guess with EVOO or Crisco, and sprinkle them with corn starch.

Prowler, Norther Hydraulics has a punch set for under $10 that includes a 1/2" sized one. I may end up with that set since they do compress pretty easily.

 

[oldwolf]

Range report-

The wads I cut worked perfectly. I lubricated them with Crisco, sprinkled with cornstarch once they were dry and hardened. Non of them stuck together in my baggie and the fouling stayed soft.