report! homemade wads worked perfect...

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midland man

midland man

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wow! I was given some 44c 1/8th inch wads cut from durofelt hard felt wool, and I soaked them in my homemade bore butter and in my 51' navy 44c steel frame, fantasy revolver using max charge of 35gr of goex 3f blackpowder this gun shot super accurate groups! I couldn't believe the difference bein that I've been using cornmeal as a filler and it was leaving dry hard stuff in the bore. but with the lubed wads I was getting lube all the way thru the bore in which it made it easy to clean. but the difference was different from daylight to dark plus very fast to load with the wads and wasn't as messy, which is much better!! so I learned something new and now my blackpowder revolver shoots as accurate as my modern 45 colt revolver, and my colt ran smooth on the cylinder pin no binding!! :)
 
I've been meaning to try felt wads as filler and have eyed various felts that Durofelt offers. Guess I'm going to have to try it!

I was given a bottle with some sort of filler by my father and tried it but didn't really notice a difference. I did notice how tedious it became, and how a good breeze could have you topping it back off. A felt wad is so much easier and consistent...
 
yep durofelt is about to get an order from me this week! I couldn't believe how good this pistol shoots with these wads soaked in lard/beeswax mix! I took the wads out of the hot melted lube and placed them on wax paper to harden up so it made my pistol shoot like really tight groups with the 35grs goex 3f powder! I wonder if I buy a another 1851 navy in the period correct 36 caliber and used durofelt with my homemade bore butter if it would perform the same way?
 
I did the same thing, Durofelt wads and sheep tallow w/ beeswax for lube. Nice groups and the barrel was VERY easy to clean. It's the best thing for BP revolvers IMHO, much cheaper and even better than store bought wads as well.

Get you a 7/16" hollow punch and start stamping! :D
 
Colt never recommended cereal or wads for loading their revolvers. Many of the Top Guns at SAS do not use these fillers. I have found that a properly fitting ball in a perc revolver does not need grease,fillers and wads. They do not lead smooth even bores and do not affect the velocity. Fingers McGee BP revolver expert only uses fillers in Blanks.
 
Dog Soldier said:
Colt never recommended cereal or wads for loading their revolvers. Many of the Top Guns at SAS do not use these fillers. I have found that a properly fitting ball in a perc revolver does not need grease,fillers and wads. They do not lead smooth even bores and do not affect the velocity. Fingers McGee BP revolver expert only uses fillers in Blanks.
Click to expand...
I use a .454 dia ball in mine but did find the lube really kept the burnt powder very soft and had lube thru and thru on the barrel with no leading from the ball.
 
Midland, If it works for you keep it. In shooting matches that require combat techniques the grease is a mess to contend with. It is a mess in a fine leather holster and grease on you hands makes drawing and holding difficult.
P.S. I will get your shipment out this week.:)
 
I believe some sell a dedicated .45 wad punch but most just use the 7/16" one, I'd try that before buying the expensive .45 one. I made mine for a '51 Navy and used a 3/8" punch that worked superbly. I still think it's not a bad idea to use wads between powder n' ball.
 
Dog Soldier said:
Midland, If it works for you keep it. In shooting matches that require combat techniques the grease is a mess to contend with. It is a mess in a fine leather holster and grease on you hands makes drawing and holding difficult.
P.S. I will get your shipment out this week.:)
Click to expand...
I can understand that in matches as being the nature of the performance needed but I am just shooting for fun at my range but I do plan on carryin out in the woods and like to try out some hog hunting with my bp rifle and my bp pistol as a backup :) but I just wanted more accuracy in which it was very much an improvement...
 
My punches are "custom" and cost $10 + shipping from a retired machinist on another forum. He claims it best to oversize them slightly.
 
Dog Soldier said:
Colt never recommended cereal or wads for loading their revolvers. Many of the Top Guns at SAS do not use these fillers. I have found that a properly fitting ball in a perc revolver does not need grease,fillers and wads. They do not lead smooth even bores and do not affect the velocity. Fingers McGee BP revolver expert only uses fillers in Blanks.
Click to expand...

Leading isn't the issue. It's about fouling. There's a fellow who asked for input on the nastiest powders and showed it didn't matter when you used a good lube.

I had quite using lubed wads behind a ball, but then I was shooting T7...
 
Cooldill said:
I believe some sell a dedicated .45 wad punch but most just use the 7/16" one, I'd try that before buying the expensive .45 one. I made mine for a '51 Navy and used a 3/8" punch that worked superbly. I still think it's not a bad idea to use wads between powder n' ball.
Click to expand...
Check out the Harbor Freight metric set. There is an 11 mm that is perfect for 44 caliber wads.
 
Most of my revolver shooting is done at 12 yards, no comments please, and wad strikes, as I call them are occasionally seen on the target. My wads are 1/8 or1/4 felt with the standard 50/50 mix of beeswax and Crisco. They are hard and recovered ones are for the most part undamaged , though I never reuse them. I lube an entire sheet before cutting out the wads on a drill press using a harbor freight set of short cutters.

About the 12 yard target, its what the public range has, the next is 25, then 50. Figure had I ever the need to start shooting at a target 25 yards away in self defense it may take a bit of explaining. That's my excuse anyway, really I just like the groups I get, wad strikes and all.:)
 
Blackpowdershooter44 said:
Are these for sale to the general public? That's a good price.
Click to expand...

He does. He's a member of muszleloadingforum.com and is ohioramrod. I can get his email address from him if you need it. He's done that for another who was interested.

I have two. Nothing fancy but they work well and he sends them with a few thick leather disks he punches to ensure it's sharp.
 
In Black Powder revolvers bore residue is usually the lesser of problems. The residue forced into the arbor and locking the cylinder to the base pin shuts the gun down. All the wads and grease will not suffice for the lack of a "Boss" or seal in front of the cylinder.
The Roger & Spencer revolver which never made it to the Civil War and was sold off for salvage addressed this problem. The Ruger Engineers improved on the R&S design and developed the ROA. Ruger did keep the .457 caliber bullet and .452-.454 forcing cones. This allowed a longer pressure resistant bearing surface after forcing the larger projectile into a smaller caliber.:thumbup:
 
rodwha said:
He does. He's a member of muszleloadingforum.com and is ohioramrod. I can get his email address from him if you need it. He's done that for another who was interested.

I have two. Nothing fancy but they work well and he sends them with a few thick leather disks he punches to ensure it's sharp.
Click to expand...
I just joined over there, thanks for the info.
 
whughett said:
Most of my revolver shooting is done at 12 yards, no comments please, and wad strikes, as I call them are occasionally seen on the target. My wads are 1/8 or1/4 felt with the standard 50/50 mix of beeswax and Crisco. They are hard and recovered ones are for the most part undamaged , though I never reuse them. I lube an entire sheet before cutting out the wads on a drill press using a harbor freight set of short cutters.

About the 12 yard target, its what the public range has, the next is 25, then 50. Figure had I ever the need to start shooting at a target 25 yards away in self defense it may take a bit of explaining. That's my excuse anyway, really I just like the groups I get, wad strikes and all.:)
Click to expand...
I found that to be the best way, lube the sheet and cut the wads, I use a drill press and can knock out an large bag full in a very short time.
 
Cooldill said:
I did the same thing, Durofelt wads and sheep tallow w/ beeswax for lube. Nice groups and the barrel was VERY easy to clean. It's the best thing for BP revolvers IMHO, much cheaper and even better than store bought wads as well.

Get you a 7/16" hollow punch and start stamping! :D
Click to expand...
Used same ingredients. It helped with better groups and keeps fouling down.
I got information on wad lube and felt from duelist 1954 post on u - tube. WFH
 
ordered the durofelt material today so looking forward to receiving this fine hard felt wool 1/8th in thickness so soon be stamping out wads for my fine colt revolvers!! :):)
 
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