Making your own wonder wads?

[Poor Private]

In the vain of trying to save a few more bucks, I was wonder if anyone has some kind of idea of cutting your own wads, and what do you use material wise. I.E.- Cutter, material, where to buy, what do saturate your new wads with? Is it cost efective as buying?

 

[Swampman]

I've used a piece of conduit with an edge ground on it, the brim of an old wool felt hat, and olive oil with excellent results. You'll have to regrind the cutting edge on your conduit about every 10 wads.

 

[roundball]

In the vain of trying to save a few more bucks, I was wonder if anyone has some kind of idea of cutting your own wads, and what do you use material wise. I.E.- Cutter, material, where to buy, what do saturate your new wads with? Is it cost efective as buying?

If I was going to make my own wads I'd use felt from here:
http://www.durofelt.com/products.html

And if you Google up ARCH punches you'll be set for years

Not sure about the lube, maybe others with actual hands on experience & knowledge in impregnating felt with lube without them being messy will respond...a feature of Oxyoke's prelubed wads that is great...almost dry to the touch but the lube is inside thre material.

 

[Idaho Ron]

I went to a clothing store and got wool felt. I got a nasty looking burnt orange hunk for 4 dollars for a big piece. I use black iron nipples and saw off the threads. Then I grind them down to where they are sharp. A 3/8 nipple will give you a wad that is .505 and a 1/2 pipe will give you a .660 I like the .505 for my 45. They are a little snug going in but they do a great job of keeping the hot gas off the bullet. I use the .660 for my 50 cal's for the same reason. I have used the .505 in my 50's and they work good too. Ron

 

[roundball]

I like the next caliber size wad for that same reason...to get an even tighter gas seal...ie: a .58 in a .54 / .54 in a .50, etc...when I pick up an over size Oxyoke wad from the range, it has the appearance of tiny teeth marks around the edges where the pressure squeezed the wad out into the grooves some

 

[jtmattison]

I have always cut my own from 1/8" felt from durofelt.com. I have a 1/2" punch for .50 cal and 9/16" punch for .54 cal. I believe my punches are made by General Tool and I got them at Home Depot. I lube mine with melted olive oil/beeswax lube.

HD

 

[gun killer]

I've not made any wads, but have made over cards for bp cartrages out of waxed cartins (MILK, OJ). I used a pipe fiting sharpened about the size of 45 colt case. Dixie gun works has many tips in the back of there catalog, maby you can find something there.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I use DuroFelt to make wads for BP revolver and Percussion rifle. 1/16th for pistol and 1/8th for rifle.

 

[Little Wattsy]

I like the next caliber size wad for that same reason...to get an even tighter gas seal...ie: a .58 in a .54 / .54 in a .50, etc...when I pick up an over size Oxyoke wad from the range, it has the appearance of tiny teeth marks around the edges where the pressure squeezed the wad out into the grooves some

Im confirming the "one size up"....A .54 in a .50? Obviously its doable but how hard is it to get the wad to seat w/out folding in half or something?
Going to buy some this afternoon so just want to be sure of what Im doing.... :grin:

 

[rafterob]

Either you have one heck of a supply of old felt hats or one really big one :grin:

 

[roundball]

I've done it with hundreds of them...I just position one on the muzzle and gently compress it enough from both sides with thumbs & fingers so it goes in flat, then the seating jag keeps them flat while seating them down...not a problem

 

[mazo kid]

I've used a piece of conduit with an edge ground on it, the brim of an old wool felt hat, and olive oil with excellent results. You'll have to regrind the cutting edge on your conduit about every 10 wads.

Mark, I keep looking at garage sales, thrift shops, etc. and can never find felt hats for much under $10. I think maybe I'll go the DuraFelt method as I have several sizes of arch punches.

 

[n.h.schmidt]

Felt
Hi Guys
I have found long felt strips at several local hardware stores. Its sold for weather stripping. Its usually rolled up in a bag and 17' long. 1 1/2" wide and 3/16" thick. About $3.50 - $4 for the role.I have made it thicker by spraying glue on it and gluing two together. 3m and Duro make the spray adhesive.You can get it at the same hardware stores. For a punch I found a cheap set at harbor freight for $6 . The largest one will do up to a 50 cal and works for a 45 too. I reduced the shank small enough to fit in a electric hand drill. I can cut a lot of wads easily and quickly this way. For a lube I just use whatever I'm using to lube the patches with at the time. A lubed wad combined with the lubed patch can keep you shooting for a while.
n.h.schmidt

 

[buttonbuck]

got a really nice set off ebay of punches made by valley industries had to order from across the pond as the English say. I should take a machinist class at the community college and make some really cool stuff like wad punches out of old hardened steel car parts they are trying to train a new generation of machinists in central illinois most seem like they are 16 or 66 no in between we missed a generation or something it gives me hope for our children.

 

[Poor Private]

I started making my own after all the response from others.
Bought a set of punches from 3/8" to 3/4" cost $7.
Bought a tube of bore butter.
Found a old black civil war hat thats was 100% wool that was in bad shape.
cut the head band off the hat cut it into 1/4's, soaked the hat pieces in melted bore butter. Placed all the pieces in a plastic bag to soak into the felt. used the proper punches and now I have 400 wads for .36 and 150 wads for .45 all out of 1 felt hat.
Found out that you can buy cheap felt hats at the Salvation Army, and at Goodwill for a couple bucks.
total initial cost outlay is $15 for 550 wads, not bad.

 

[duke21]

i havent been using the wads on my long rifles, but i ahve on my 1858 remy revolver in 36cal. anyhow, i find it tricky to get the wad to start and stay in the correct orientation , it sometimes seems to start sideways. the over size wad idea rings a bell for me. any foreseeable issues in oversize for a revolver. i am ready to make some and try it out. i am using them, because i really dont like to mess with the grease on top of the ball.

duke21

 

[pondoro]

I put dry felt wads for my 1860 Colt into a Tupperware container, squirt in some Bore Butter, microwave for 30 seconds and then stir. Keep adding lube and microwaving until they are saturated. I found a bunch of bore butter on clearance and bought a lot so I have never been tempted to create my own lube. When the cheap bore butter runs out I will.

 

[flintlockmdj]

I took a machinist class at a local Tech and the training was good. I learned a lot but they were not very receptive to doing "home projects" they wanted you to do the work in the course.