what size punch for bess wads??

[quinnconner]

I have a pedersoli bess,I cant get to the muzzleloader shop for 11 guage wads.What size punch should I buy to make my own? what material from lowes should I buy to make wads?

 

[musketman]

Wads can be made of many things, one of the easiest and cheepest being paper...

Get an old slab of scrap wood and drill it full of 3/4 inch holes, going all the way through it, then lay it on a flat surface and pack each hole with wet news paper and let dry...

Once dry, pop out your paper wads...

A punch can be made from an old pipe, ground to a tapered edge and used to cut out wads...

See the post Non-Wad Wads for other wad ideas...

 

BUY a 3/4" ARCH punch. You can get it from Track along with wads, if you want, or about any hardware store can get it if they don't have them in stock.
: Ordinary donacona fibreboard is what most shotgun wads are made from these days. Originally, they were horsehair, then pressed paper, not donacona. - available in 4'X 8' sheets.
: Wad size will have to punch large than .75, or perhaps 12 guage will work OK if the nose of the wad is ground out jsut a bit. That will cause it to cut a slightly larger than 3/4" wad fora snug fit. This is especially important for the heavy card wads needed for overpowder and thing "B" wad for over shot. The card, overpowder wad can be made from heavy card stock like a monopoly game board or others. Check yard sales for these for cheap. Lighter stuff, like tablet backing or cornflakes, etc, boxes are needed for oevershot wads.
: You can also scrounge plastic wads from the trap range, then use a card wad between the plastic and powder, then "B" wad over the shot- done - no cushion wad needed, BUT, you have to have a card wad between the powder and plastic to prevent coating the barrel with plastic.