Found!! Proper Felt to make wads by Gatofeo | ||
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In a firearms site a few months ago, a member posted Durofelt
as a good source for felt for making your own wads for cap and ball sixguns,
cartridge guns and related uses.
I can vouch for Durofelt’s excellence. Not only is it perfect, when the right felt is ordered from this Little Rock, Arkansas company but the price is right. I visited my brother in Little Rock during Christmas of 2004, so I made arrangements to visit DuroFelt. I have no affiliation with Duro-Felt Asha Sahita runs it out of her Little Rock home but it’s no fly-by-night business. She’s been selling felt products since 1996. Ms. Sahita, who is of Indian ancestry, said that a relative in India had a very successful felt-making business there. When he died, the family discussed selling the business but a family member stepped to forward and said he’d like to try running it. The family business continues to be successful in India but the business wanted to expand to other countries, including the U.S. He contacted his relative, Ms. Sahita, who agreed to begin selling the family’s felt products in the U.S. Until I met with Ms. Sahita, she said she hadn’t had much interest from the shooting community but I expect that will change when word gets out. She offers a variety of felt products: buffing wheels for polishing (gunsmiths take note), gaskets, polishing bobs, knife edge wheels, felt blocks, piano and organ felt strips, cones and felt with an adhesive gum on one side for various uses. I’ll stick with the topic at hand: sheet felt for making your own wads. To view all Duro-Felt products, visit its website at www.durofelt.com. Duro-Felt’s address is: No. 6 White Aspen Court, Little Rock,
AR, 72212-2032.
Now, on to the felt for wads. I ordered a sheet of felt 54 X 36 inches, 1/8 inch thick, and of Hard density (Item FM1836H). The cost was $27. The 1/8 inch is the right thickness for most black powder uses and the felt should be hard, to help scrape fouling from the bore. Felt in other thicknesses and densities is offered: 1/16th, ¼, ½, ¾ and 1 inch. Some thicknesses may only be obtained in certain densities, such as soft, extra soft, medium or hard. If you don’t find what you want contact Duro-Felt and specify what you need. ECONOMY OF MAKING YOUR OWN WADS
That’s a lifetime supply for $27 --- and plenty left over to sell to your buddies to recover your $27 if you wish. If you purchase Wonder Wads, at about $6 per 100, for $27 you’ll get a little over 400 wads. To purchase 7,776 Wonder Wads, at $6 per hundred, you’d need $467 --- compared to under $50 for a sheet of felt and a wad punch. Quite a price difference, eh? NOTES ON OX-YOKE’S “WONDER WAD”
Now, if I soak the felt wad in the lubricant I’ve enclosed here (See “Making The Best Lubricant” below) fouling is reduced even more and accuracy maintained all day. Using a felt wad with the enclosed recipe, I’ve shot more than 100 balls in one day and never had to swab the bore. Frankly, I’ve yet to find a lubricant as good as the one I’ve enclosed here, which was in a magazine more than 60 years ago. It’s not MY recipe, as some have reported, it’s an old factory recipe for lubricating heeled bullets (works great for that too). For me, greased wads work better than placing grease over the ball. It’s easier, not as messy and reduces fouling in the bore more. The downside is that wads take a little more time to load. If you’re plinking at the gravel pit, that doesn’t matter. If you’re shooting in a timed Cowboy Action Shooting event, it matters. But for most applications, greased felt wads are the best choice. YOU NEED A WAD PUNCH
If you plan to make shotgun wads, or large-bore rifle wads, punches can sometimes be found in 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 20, 24 and 28 gauge. Search the internet auction houses for these items. I see the more common-gauge wad punches offered regularly on Ebay. For 12 gauge shotgun, rifle and pistol calibers, see the Buffalo Arms website at http://www.buffaloarms.com. Buffalo Arms of Ponderay, Idaho offers a variety of wad punches. The drill-press mounted kind is $20, in calibers .38, .40, .44, .45 and .50. The hammer-struck wad punch is $18 each, in .32, .38, .40, .43, .44, .45, .50 rifle calibers. 38-40, 44-40 and 45 pistol calibers. The reloading press-mounted wad punch is made in calibers .25 to 12 gauge and costs $52 to $75, depending on size. The press-mounted wad punch will shell out hundreds of wads in an hour, if that’s what you want. MAKING WADS BY HAND
I place a piece of 2X8 inch board, about 18 inches long, across my lap. A piece of 8” diameter log, cut flat on both ends and about 8 inches long, is attached to the center of the board with long decking screws. It is easiest to cut wads if the cutter goes into the end-grain of wood, rather than 90 degrees to the grain. Your cutting surface will last longer too. A 12” long by 6” wide strip of felt is perfect for easy handling on the log. You’ll also want a piece of dowel, smaller than the diameter of your wad cutter, to push out any wads that resist traveling up the cutter and falling out. Watch your fingers around the sharp edges of that wad cutter, it will make a nasty cut! WAD CUTTER HAS MULTI USES
A good source of card paper, in varying thicknesses, are the scraps found in a picture-framing shop. Most owners are happy to be rid of the scraps or will sell you a bagful for a few bucks. Store cardboard or unlubricated felt wads in a small box, plastic tub (yogurt, margarine, cottage cheese, etc.), soup cans with a lid or --- my favorite --- small plastic, see-through jars. Plastic peanut butter jars are particularly good since they hold hundreds of wads and a quick glance often reveals the size. However, label the jar so you don’t confuse a 7/16 inch wad meant for the .44-40 with a .45-caliber wad, for example. LUBRICATE THOSE WADS
For black powder shooting, a proper lubricant is required. Avoid petroleum-based greases and oils. When mixed with black powder, petroleum greases and oils often create a hard, tarry fouling that affects accuracy and is more difficult to clean. Use a natural grease, wax or oil, made from animals or plants. Examples include lard, vegetable oils (canola, peanut, olive, etc.), Crisco, animal tallow, beeswax or carnauba wax, which is derived from palm trees (!). The best substance I’ve found, bar none, is mutton tallow. It’s been in use with black powder, by the British military and others, for more than 150 years and I don’t think it’s by coincidence. WHAT’S THE BEST WAD LUBRICANT?
The article listed 10 pounds tallow, 10 pounds paraffin and 5 pounds beeswax as the factory recipe for outside-lubricated bullets. I’ve settled on more specific ingredients when I make it: mutton tallow, canning paraffin and beeswax. With these specific ingredients, you’ll make a black powder lubricant with a variety of uses: felt wads, patches, lead bullets in muzzleloaders and black powder cartridge guns, etc. Of course, you don’t need 25 pounds of lubricants. I use a kitchen scale to measure 200 grams of mutton tallow, 200 grams of canning paraffin and 100 grams of beeswax for the same ratio. BEESWAX
Raw beeswax will have fragments of the hive and dead bees in it. This can be a good deal if you’re willing to filter it a bit. Heat the raw beeswax at low heat in an old pan (thrift stores are good for old, knockabout pans) until the contaminants settle. Then, gently pour the clean, top beeswax through a paper coffee filter into mini-bread loaf pans or an old muffin pan, to make cakes. You won’t remove every last speck of contaminant but it will be plenty good for use in bullet lubricants. Or you can order unfiltered or filtered beeswax Beeswax from Beekepers in Minnesota at http://www.beeswaxfrombeekeepers.com or Stony Mountain Botanicals in Ohio at http://www.wildroots.com MUTTON TALLOW
It’s remarkable stuff. If kept well sealed and at room temperature, it doesn’t go rancid. CANNING PARAFFIN
MAKING THE BEST LUBRICANT
Place this amount in a wide mouth, one quart Mason jar. Place the jar into a pot containing four or five inches of boiling water for a double-boiler effect. This is the safest way to melt waxes and greases. Just in case of a fire, keep a box of Baking Powder handy --- but away from any flame area so you can get to it. When the ingredients are thoroughly melted, stir well with a clean stick or disposable chopstick. Remove from heat. Allow the lubricant to cool at room temperature. Hastening cooling by placing in the refrigerator may cause the ingredients to separate. When cool and hardened, screw the cap down tight on the jar and store in a cool, dry place. What makes this lubricant so good? I believe it’s not only the mutton tallow but the inclusion of paraffin, which stiffens the wad somewhat and makes it a more effective fouling scraper. I’ve tried other lubricants, commercial and homemade, and still
haven’t found one that works as well as this recipe. It works equally well
in other black powder applications. It doesn’t smell too bad, either. It’s
different, but it won’t stink up the kitchen like melting chassis grease
and other noxious ingredients often found in bullet lubricant
LUBRICATING WADS
Place the can on a cast iron skillet, or in a low pan of boiling water. You may also place the can directly on the burner, if it’s kept at low heat and you watch it like a hawk. Melt 2 Tablespoons of lubricant in the can. Add the wads. I can usually get 100 .36 to .45 caliber wads in a can, the larger ones if I cram them in a bit. Stir the wads into the lubricant until they’re thoroughly soaked. Add more lubricant if it looks like the wads are rather dry. You want a wad that is soaked with lubricant. No need to squeeze out the excess lubricant, simply remove the can from the heat and allow cooling with the wads and lubricant in it. When cool snap a plastic, pet food cover over the can and store the wads in a cool, dry place. Now, you have a container to take to the range. And when you run low on wads, simply reheat the can, add more lubricant and wads, and refill it. Cans may be marked “.36” or “.44” or whatever on the side with a large felt pen and stacked on top of each other for easy identification. WADS IN THE FIELD
1. Shoe polish tin, with the key on the side for easy opening. Elmer Keith recommended this container years ago and it’s still good. 2. Altoids Sour Candies tin. The Altoids mint tin may be difficult
to open with greasy fingers, but Altoids also sells a sour candy in a round
tin, in apple, citrus and orange flavors. This can’s lid has a dimple on
the side that, when pressed, pops the can open easily.
USING THE WADS
1. Should you forget to charge a chamber with powder, it will become apparent when you seat the wad. It’s a lot easier to remove a stuck wad than a stuck ball. 2. You get a better feel for how much pressure you’re applying to the wad with the rammer, when seated separately. 3. If you need to set the revolver down, for any reason, the felt wad will keep powder from spilling out of the chamber. 4. It’s easier to seat the ball if you don’t have to juggle a greased wad too. 5. You get a better feel for how much pressure you’re applying to the ball when you seat it on the wad. In a muzzleloading rifle, a greased felt wad on the powder will often improve accuracy. It will protect the patch on round ball loads, and the base of the bullet on conicals. WARNINGS ON WADS
NEVER place a wad over a solid projectile, no matter what type of gun you’re using. That wad may act as an obstruction in the bore as the bullet begins to move, raising pressures to catastrophic levels. An obvious exception is a muzzleloading shotgun, which requires a thin, paper top wad to keep the shot from rolling out. Economy and tailoring your wads and lubricant are the reasons
to make your own wads. There’s also a little satisfaction in making your
own. Myself, I love the idea that I no longer have to search for old felt
hats to make wads --- now that Duro-Felt is known
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