need help on making felt wads

[grizzy adams]

I going to start makeing some felt wads ( bore buttons) for my 54 cal rifle , just wanted to know what people use for felt like what kind , how thick etc , I be useing felt wads under pillow ticking when using a round ball , if I use a stout load , the ticking burns threw sometimes, then accurcy goes south for the winter .

 

I use felt that I ordered from Durofelt, http://www.durofelt.com/image_26.html
They recommend the hard (F1) 1/8 inch felt for muzzleloading wads. A one-by-three foot piece is only $12 shipped, and makes a bunch of wads.

 

[zrifleman]

I second what Grizzly says. Asha at Durofelt has been very helpful to the blackpowder shooters.

 

[jdw276]

punch mine out of a piece of felt from Hobby Lobby, Michaels sells the same thing. A sheet is $1.29ish?

Tons get punched out for sure.....

 

[saber]

Just put a dry over powder patch works good and if you leave your gun loaded the patch lub will not run to the powder just in hot dry weather can also be a big forst fire starter I like paper from a big wasp nest best

 

[ohio ramrod]

I use scrap leather instead of felt because I have a lot of scrap leather. I make my own dies for cutting the wads and can punch a lot in a few minutes.If you are interested in a die drop me a p.m.

 

[Billnpatti]

Well, if you combine what Sjoe said with what Ohio Ramrod said, you will have a winning combination. It is exactly what I have done. I bought one of Ohio Ramrod's punches and then purchased some 1/8 inch thick rock hard felt from Duro Felt and have punched out a bunch of 28 ga. wads for my ML shotgun. The punch was made especially for me to my specific needs by Don and is a dandy. Don makes a quality product at an excellent price. He even ships it to you and lets you examine and use it before paying for it. :thumbsup: Does it get any better than that? I've never found a beter deal. :hatsoff:

 

[bwhoffman]

Scrap leather as mentioned above works well, I use veg tanned latigo.
felt hats(like 3x beaver stetsons abd resistol cowboy hats)
bought cheap at places like goodwill work real well for felt wads.

 

[roundball]

"...wanted to know what people use for felt like what kind, how thick, etc..."

DuraFelt using ARCH punches...have been using what DuraFelt calls their hard 1/8" material for rifles...punch out 100-200 then use the microwave to melt Natural Lube 1000 into them.

I've recently ordered some soft 1/16" and medium 1/8" material to experiment with wad combinations for shot loads in smoothbores.

 

[Fishhog]

Bill.you punching your own wads out for your 58 yet? If so what size arch punch..Might have to get a hold of Ohio ramrod and see what size punches he makes..Ray

 

[roundball]

I got into the habit of using the next caliber size wad in rifles based on the assumption that a larger wad would seal even better as pressure squeezed it out into the grooves some, so I use .62cal wads in the .58.

And that's of even greater benefit in my Rice .58cal...it has deep .016" round bottom grooves and the bore seems a little more spacious than a straight groove .58cal.

Google ARCH punches...I get mine from a place in Maine and they're in the mailbox 2-3 days later...excellent quality.

 

[Billnpatti]

Ohio Ramrod's custom made punches are a LOT less expensive than buying an arch punch and he will make them to whatever exact size that you want. If you buy an arch punch, you will have to take whatever size is closest to waht you need whereas Don will make one for you that it to the thousandth of an inch of what you want. Tell him what size punch you want, he will make it and sent it to you for your examination before you have to pay him for it. His punches run $5 plus actual postage. They're dandies. :thumbsup: