revolver wad question

[toot]

cream of wheat...?!!?

I prefer corn meal

too each his own! I have used both of them!

 

[smoothshooter]

Go to Buffalo Arms web site and you will find sevaral sizes of hollow punches, TOTW also have them but somewhat more expensive. You can also get a cheap set ftom harbor freight but they are not the correct size. Good luck zulch.

The size and shape of the wads are not as important as almost everybody thinks it is. They just need to not be too big to press into the chambers. And they need to be of a fairly consistent size and shape, whatever that ends up being. Square or triangle shaped wads will work just fine too. .36 caliber wads work in .44’s ( who would have thought ! ). .44 wads cut in half work fine in .36. Try it if you don’t believe me. Remember, the wad is not a gas seal, and it does nothing to prevent chain-fires. It is a vehicle for the lube only.
I saturate my wads in a hot mixture of cooking oil of any type and beeswax. No specific ratio, but usually something around 1 part wax to 2 parts cooking oil. Experiment with the ratio to get what works for you and the weather conditions you shoot in. Dip the wads one at a time in the mix for 3 to 6 seconds with tweezers and lay them aside on a somewhat crumpled up sheet of aluminum foil about 8” square to dry.
More than once I have loaded a percussion revolver with clean and dry chambers and my lubed wads, left the gun loaded for 5 or 6 months, and fired off all 6 chambers. Recoil and point of impact was the same as if I had loaded up the gun 5 minutes prior to firing.
You will not get oil contamination of the powder unless you have too much oil in your mix. I also suspect that it is likely that if just a few granules of powder are contaminated the powder will still burn okay.

 

[Zulch]

The size and shape of the wads are not as important as almost everybody thinks they are. They just need to not be too big to press into the chambers. And they need to be of a fairly consistent size and shape, whatever that ends up being. Square or triangle shaped wads will work just fine too. .36 caliber wads work in .44’s ( who would have thought ! ). .44 wads cut in half work fine in .36. Try it if you don’t believe me. Remember, the wad is not a gas seal, and it does nothing to prevent chain-fires. It is a vehicle for the lube only.
I saturate my wads in a hot mixture of cooking oil of any type and beeswax. No specific ratio, but usually something around 1 part wax to 2 parts cooking oil. Experiment with the ratio to get what works for you and the weather conditions you shoot in. Dip the wads one at a time in the mix with tweezers and lay them aside on a somewhat crumpled up sheet of aluminum foil about 8” square to dry.
More than once I have loaded a percussion revolver with clean and dry chambers and my lubed wads, left the gun loaded for 5 or 6 months, and fired off all 6 chambers. Recoil and point of impact was the same as if I had loaded up the gun 5 minutes prior to firing.
You will not get oil contamination of the powder unless you have too much oil in your mix.

Smoothshooter. Thank you sir. The voice of experience

 

[smoothshooter]

Not a lot to add, in fact, zilch. I started shooting C&B revolvers in 1968, and still do, right up to yesterday. Apart from one messy experiment with some Ox-Yoke Wonder Wads, that is. The only 'wonder' is why the heck I bothered, especially at the ludicrous cost here in UK if I'd bothered to continue using them. Thankishly they were bought from Joe and Suzi in Springfield OR, where he allowed they might make a difference, and so might be worth a try.

IMO they were not.

Powder and ball is all.

Buying pre-lubed wads is the biggest waste of money related to percussion revolver shooting.
Making your own is money wisely spent.

 

[Woody Morgan]

Buying pre-lubed wads is the biggest waste of money related to percussion revolver shooting.
Making your own is money wisely spent.

Depends on how much you shoot. You still have to acquire felt, punches, lube of your choice, etc, etc.

wm

 

[smoothshooter]

Smoothshooter. Thank you sir. The voice of experience

I have been shooting and occasionally hunting with them since the early seventies, and carried them as “ working guns “ while cutting and splitting firewood, building fence, cutting brush, mowing, working cattle, etc. Many a copperhead has gotten a ball from my guns.

Depends on how much you shoot. You still have to acquire felt, punches, lube of your choice, etc, etc.

wm

Punches are cheap. Felt is cheap ( corrugated cardboard even cheaper, as in free ). Cooking oil is cheap. Most people already have it in the kitchen for cooking. Most people will have to buy the beeswax, but a quarter pound or less goes a long way.

 

[Woody Morgan]

I have been shooting and occasionally hunting with them since the early seventies, and carried them as “ working guns “ while cutting and splitting firewood, building fence, cutting brush, mowing, working cattle, etc. Many a copperhead has gotten a ball from my guns.

Punches are cheap. Felt is cheap ( corrugated cardboard even cheaper, as in free ). Cooking oil is cheap. Most people already have it in the kitchen for cooking. Most people will have to buy the beeswax, but a quarter pound or less goes a long way.

But for the amount one is shooting, is it worth the time, effort and cost to get set up to make your own wads?
The same question applies to casting one's own projectiles for that matter.

wm

 

[M. De Land]

Rather than greasing over the ball, I use a technique I read about where I smear some lube around the mouth of the chamber before ramming the ball down on top of the charge. I use cork disks on top of the powder to prevent contamination. The technique lets me shoot eight cylinders without punching the bore, with minimally detectable loss of accuracy.

Yeah, I can see how that would work ! I've been a grease over ball shooter for 40 years or so but decided to try some of my own felt grease wads and have come to prefer them. I have not seen any accuracy change to date but have not done and exhaustive test comparison either.

 

[M. De Land]

cream of wheat...?!!?

I prefer corn meal

Try a compression test of equal amounts of corn meal and cream of wheat. I think it will be and eye opener for you. I believe you will find Cream of Wheat is the preferred filler for revolvers at Friendship !
I was surprised at the amount of oil that could be squeezed out of compressed corn meal and then how much it wanted to spring back after compressing. Could be I just had an oily batch of corn meal but that is what I observed.

 

[torpedo]

But for the amount one is shooting, is it worth the time, effort and cost to get set up to make your own wads?
The same question applies to casting one's own projectiles for that matter.

wm

Not sure if it's worth it, but I just like making my own stuff. Like building my own arrows, tieing my own flies, casting my own balls, building my own guns, building my own powder horns, ect. All of this requires extra tools and product but it sure is fun.

 

[Zulch]

Not sure if it's worth it, but I just like making my own stuff. Like building my own arrows, tieing my own flies, casting my own balls, building my own guns, building my own powder horns, ect. All of this requires extra tools and product but it sure is fun.

Torpedo. Love your posts One thing that you didn’t mention . TIme? LOL where can one buy some time? Like your posts sincerely, a great satisfaction comes from making your own things, part of the fun thanks Tim

 

[smoothshooter]

But for the amount one is shooting, is it worth the time, effort and cost to get set up to make your own wads?
The same question applies to casting one's own projectiles for that matter.

wm

But for the amount one is shooting, is it worth the time, effort and cost to get set up to make your own wads?
The same question applies to casting one's own projectiles for that matter.

wm

The way I see it, the more you do to save money, the more you can afford to shoot. Getting started on the wad thing should cost less than $35.
Isn’t that about the price of only 3 bags of pre-lubed wads?
And, you will still have the punch. Pays for itself.

 

[smoothshooter]

I guess it depends on how self-sufficient you want to be.
I can’t make caps or powder, but I CAN make wads and bullets, which cuts my costs and dependency on others in half.

 

[MSW]

The size and shape of the wads are not as important as almost everybody thinks it is. They just need to not be too big to press into the chambers. And they need to be of a fairly consistent size and shape, whatever that ends up being. Square or triangle shaped wads will work just fine too. .36 caliber wads work in .44’s ( who would have thought ! ). .44 wads cut in half work fine in .36. Try it if you don’t believe me. Remember, the wad is not a gas seal, and it does nothing to prevent chain-fires. It is a vehicle for the lube only.
I saturate my wads in a hot mixture of cooking oil of any type and beeswax. No specific ratio, but usually something around 1 part wax to 2 parts cooking oil. Experiment with the ratio to get what works for you and the weather conditions you shoot in. Dip the wads one at a time in the mix for 3 to 6 seconds with tweezers and lay them aside on a somewhat crumpled up sheet of aluminum foil about 8” square to dry.
More than once I have loaded a percussion revolver with clean and dry chambers and my lubed wads, left the gun loaded for 5 or 6 months, and fired off all 6 chambers. Recoil and point of impact was the same as if I had loaded up the gun 5 minutes prior to firing.
You will not get oil contamination of the powder unless you have too much oil in your mix. I also suspect that it is likely that if just a few granules of powder are contaminated the powder will still burn okay.

smoothshooer, thanks for the post ... i had worried about that, and now i have actual voice of first- hand experience, to look to, and not some theories

 

[smoothshooter]

Go to Buffalo Arms web site and you will find sevaral sizes of hollow punches, TOTW also have them but somewhat more expensive. You can also get a cheap set ftom harbor freight but they are not the correct size. Good luck zulch.

Exact size is not important at all. Get the next smaller size if that’s a available and you will be fine.

 

[Bad Karma]

If I need a punch and the exact size isn’t available I’ll take the next larger size. Matter of fact I would if the exact size IS avaliable. .45 in 40, 50 in 45, 54 in 50. And so on. You get a better seal and wipe of the bore.

 

[appalichian hunter]

buffalo ear wax I heard is good, the buffs dont like it though when ya are a collecting it. Bees wax crisco and a dash of olive oil, this aint rocket science. Go too your local second hand store look for those all wool or felt hats that old ladies wear, them hats go there when them old ladies die, then go to harbor freight and buy a cheap set of punches, root around in the wood pile get ya piece of wood for punching out them old ladies hat wads and yer in business.

 

[Bad Karma]

buffalo ear wax I heard is good, the buffs dont like it though when ya are a collecting it. Bees wax crisco and a dash of olive oil, this aint rocket science. Go too your local second hand store look for those all wool or felt hats that old ladies wear, them hats go there when them old ladies die, then go to harbor freight and buy a cheap set of punches, root around in the wood pile get ya piece of wood for punching out them old ladies hat wads and yer in business.

A feller whut cain’t wrangle a cuppa ear wax out a buffler bull ain’t no kinda man a’tall… (kids these days…)

 

[Dobermans]

I punch out my own wads after soaking a sheet of felt in Emmerts with lanolin bullet lube. Never greased the mouths of the cylinder since the wads will scrub the bore on the way down and soften the fouling. Properly sized round balls in your cap and ball revolver will stop chain fires so using lube over the balls to prevent that is a waste, just use the right balls. Same with percussion caps. Properly fitting caps are necessary since almost every chain fire comes from the back of the cylinder, that is if you are using the right size balls..