Lubing Lee REAL bullets?

[Coehorn]

I cant seem to find 1/8" thick 100% wool felt easily. Looks like I will need to source some wads just to try out. Should the wad be .05"-.06" overbore for best seal, i.e. 45 cal uses a 50 cal wad, and 50 cal uses a 56 cal wad?

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[Archeryrob]

Wider is better and it will compress to the rifling. I used 9/16? cutter for a 50 caliber shot. 1/2" for my 44

 

[guzma393]

Makes sense, I bought a HF hole punch set and the 1/2" is undersized for 50 cals, when I was attempting to punch out some card wads from cardboard. I also gave durofelt a call and they are still in business and have felt in stock. I'm just waiting for quotes but I'm looking forward to placing at order for some.

 

[John from MD]

Makes sense, I bought a HF hole punch set and the 1/2" is undersized for 50 cals, when I was attempting to punch out some card wads from cardboard. I also gave durofelt a call and they are still in business and have felt in stock. I'm just waiting for quotes but I'm looking forward to placing at order for some.

Where did you find their number? When I looked for them online I just drew blanks.

 

[guzma393]

Where did you find their number? When I looked for them online I just drew blanks.

Simply googling them:

 

[John from MD]

Oh, I was just using their web address which is dead. I guess it didn't bring in enough money for the cost of the site.

 

[guzma393]

Oh, I was just using their web address which is dead. I guess it didn't bring in enough money for the cost of the site.

They are working on getting their site back up. Good to know that they are still up and running.

 

[John from MD]

They are working on getting their site back up. Good to know that they are still up and running.

There was a woman working there who was from Pakistan or a nearby country and she really knew the ins and outs of felt. I spent some hours on the phone with her in years gone by.

 

[BFMIN]

I've been using the papier mache egg carton material for wad for years! NOT the expanded plastic.
I punch them out with a punch of the right diameter & drop them into hot (melted in a double boiler) beeswax & Crisco shortening not oil 50:50 fish em out & let em dry.

 

[guzma393]

There was a woman working there who was from Pakistan or a nearby country and she really knew the ins and outs of felt. I spent some hours on the phone with her in years gone by.

I just put an order today. I believe her name is Asha, and she definitely knows her felt. A 3' x 3' felt sheet should last me a long time.

 

[guzma393]

I've been using the papier mache egg carton material for wad for years! NOT the expanded plastic.
I punch them out with a punch of the right diameter & drop them into hot (melted in a double boiler) beeswax & Crisco shortening not oil 50:50 fish em out & let em dry.

Interesting, I been reading up on wad material, and I've heard of vegetable fiber wads and even wads made from wasp nests. Back in college days, there was a capstone in the ENST lab on algae scrubbers. A by-product of algae scrubbers, is, well...algae. The professor was producing fire starter pucks out of them by mixing dried algae with parrafin wax. Come to think of it (with my very limited knowledge of the subject matter...), dried up algae scrapings mixed with lube and pressed into wads might be something I will look into.

 

[John from MD]

I just put an order today. I believe her name is Asha, and she definitely knows her felt. A 3' x 3' felt sheet should last me a long time.

I shot hundreds of rounds of .44 cap and ball and I used a lubed felt wad over my powder. I used to sit in front of the tv and cut them out with a punch with the felt laying on a pine board. I tried the drill press method but standing by a drill press wasn't as comfortable as sitting in front of the tv while punching out a couple hundred wads.

 

[John from MD]

Interesting, I been reading up on wad material, and I've heard of vegetable fiber wads and even wads made from wasp nests. Back in college days, there was a capstone in the ENST lab on algae scrubbers. A by-product of algae scrubbers, is, well...algae. The professor was producing fire starter pucks out of them by mixing dried algae with parrafin wax. Come to think of it (with my very limited knowledge of the subject matter...), dried up algae scrapings mixed with lube and pressed into wads might be something I will look into.

You can almost use anything that will hold up to being compressed. As a kid, we used copy books and, when they were full, I cut off the end covers, which were compressed cardboard, and used them as wads.

When I practiced with my .44 Colt and Beals revolvers, I would use 17gns of 3F and fill with corn meal and then put a wad and ball over it. This used less powder and gave less recoil than the 25 to 30 grains usually used for full charges. When I hunted deer, I carried a .44 Remington Beals during BP season in case I needed to finish off a deer. I used to cram 40 grains of powder into it for those days. It sure was heavy to lug around though.

 

[guzma393]

You can almost use anything that will hold up to being compressed. As a kid, we used copy books and, when they were full, I cut off the end covers, which were compressed cardboard, and used them as wads.

When I practiced with my .44 Colt and Beals revolvers, I would use 17gns of 3F and fill with corn meal and then put a wad and ball over it. This used less powder and gave less recoil than the 25 to 30 grains usually used for full charges. When I hunted deer, I carried a .44 Remington Beals during BP season in case I needed to finish off a deer. I used to cram 40 grains of powder into it for those days. It sure was heavy to lug around though.

I think i saw some interesting 3d printed speed loaders that was essentially a tube that held bp, filler, and the lubed ball. I suppose the filler they were using was either cornmeal or cream of wheat. I need to get myself a bp revolver.

 

[John from MD]

I think i saw some interesting 3d printed speed loaders that was essentially a tube that held bp, filler, and the lubed ball. I suppose the filler they were using was either cornmeal or cream of wheat. I need to get myself a bp revolver.

I use corn meal because it is more forgiving. You can load up to the mouth and still compress a ball. If you use cream of wheat, you have to make sure you leave some room as it won't compress like corn meal.