Gatofeo
Member
Tons of good info here.
I first posted my lubricant recipe about 2000, near as I recall. Perhaps in 1999. I have so much of it now, and it works so well, I haven't felt compelled to change.
I also bought a 3X4-foot sheet of 1/8-inch felt years ago. Hardly touched it, considering that a square inch will make four .36 or .44 wads.
I can make a few hundred wads in one evening, sitting in front of the TV with a hammer and small log. I glued a piece of cutting board on the end of the little log. Keeps sawdust and wood chips out of the felt wads and never splits or chips.
I don't own a drill press. If I did, I'd probably try your method. But I can punch out a few hundred wads in one sitting, which is a good supply. A concentrated effort in the winter months keep me supplied for years.
The 7/16th wad punch is too small for the .44/.45 cap and balls, but a good fit for the .44-40, .44 Special, .44 Magnum, etc.
I use 7/16ths lubricated wads twixt bullet and black powder in my 1873 Winchester repro, in .44/40 caliber. The extra lubricant augments the Lyman 427098 bullet's lubricant.
Incidentally, I use Gatofeo No. 1 Bullet Lubricant for wads and bullets, especially bullets that will be used with black powder but it works fine with light smokeless loads too.
I also cut waxed cardboard wads from milk cartons or Whoppers malted milk ball candy cartons. If you have concerns about a lubricated wad affecting the black powder or primer, you can put one of these waxed wads between the black powder and greased wad.
Opinions vary greatly on the use of wads with smokeless powder. Most seem to agree that the wad should be right up against the bullet's base, never down on the powder or anywhere between the smokeless powder and bullet's base.
About 30 years ago, complaints began surfacing of chambers getting ringed by the use of such wads.
Now, I know that shooters have used light wads down on the smokeless powder charge in the past, and no such reports surfaced, but it came to a head in the early 80s as I recall.
Since then, the practice has been both praised and damned by reloaders, many of them with long experience.
When it comes to using a wad in a cartridge case loaded with smokeless powder, you'll have to decide. But those that do recommend it almost universally say that the wad should be firmly against the bullet's base, without a gap.
The use of Kapok or tissue to hold powder against the primer, in light loads, has also been praised and damned.
I dont' use such wads, Kapok or tissue with smokeless powder. I use wads only with black powder. The black powder fills the case and is firmly compressed by the bullet's seating.
This leaves no gaps between bullet, wad or powder.
I noticed that you transfer your wads to Zip-Loc bags after melting the lubricant in a pet food can. Years ago, I adopted a different method.
I leave the wads in the can and snap a plastic pet food cover on the can, after it's cooled of course. Then I just label the can with a wide marker. The cans stack upon each other on the shelf.
In my range bag, I keep wads in the Altoid Sour Candy can. The pet food can is rather large for this purpose. The round Altoid sour candy can seals completely. Open it with a press on one side. An old shoe polish can is good too, as long as you can open it easily with greasy fingers.
The Altoid mint cans that open with a hinge are not as good. They let moisture escape through the opening cut for the hinges.
An Altoid sour candy tin will hold 100 .44/.45 wads, while you can get about 150 .36 caliber wads in -- plenty for the day's shooting.
But hey, Zip-Locs work too. Whatever works is fine.
Years ago, a company made plastic disks of .44 and .36 caliber, with a shallow indentation on both sides, for cap and ball revolvers.
Frankly, they looked like oversized red blood cells!
The instructions said to fill the concave sides with grease, then load the plastic disk between ball and powder.
"Only a tiny amount of lubricant is needed," I recall the instructions coaching.
I picked up some .36 caliber ones: failure! They simply would not hold enough lubricant. to keep fouling soft. I still have some in my shooting box. They'd be good for making shot loads in my .36 revolvers, but that's about it.
Too many shooters seem to forget that the greased felt wad is not only a barrier against multiple ignition (though I personally don't believe in the theory that flame gets past the ball and ignites adjacent chambers), but its lubricant keeps fouling soft.
When black powder combusts, it leaves behind 56 percent in solids. The remaining 44 percent is gas, comprised of carbon dixoide, nitrogen and other gases.
Obviously, with a propellant that leaves 56 percent solids behind, you need plenty of lubricant to keep it soft for easy removal. That's where the lubricated wad comes in.
I also believe -- but cannot prove, though others state it as fact -- that a hard felt wad helps to scrape fouling from the bore with each shot. I've noticed for a long time that the bores of my revolvers stay much cleaner with a greased felt wad between ball and powder, than if I put grease over the seated ball as is commonly recommended.
It seems against reason that a greased wad behind the ball would keep the bore cleaner, compared to grease ahead of the ball, but I've seen it for so long to accept it as fact.
There are certain facts in the Cosmos that are irrefutable:
1. Speed of light is 186,000 miles per second.
2. Women will never understand the concept of a 4-Way stop sign.
3. A greased felt wad between ball and powder keeps the bore cleaner than putting grease over the ball.
Sorry for rambling on so much but thought some of you would find it valuable.
I first posted my lubricant recipe about 2000, near as I recall. Perhaps in 1999. I have so much of it now, and it works so well, I haven't felt compelled to change.
I also bought a 3X4-foot sheet of 1/8-inch felt years ago. Hardly touched it, considering that a square inch will make four .36 or .44 wads.
I can make a few hundred wads in one evening, sitting in front of the TV with a hammer and small log. I glued a piece of cutting board on the end of the little log. Keeps sawdust and wood chips out of the felt wads and never splits or chips.
I don't own a drill press. If I did, I'd probably try your method. But I can punch out a few hundred wads in one sitting, which is a good supply. A concentrated effort in the winter months keep me supplied for years.
The 7/16th wad punch is too small for the .44/.45 cap and balls, but a good fit for the .44-40, .44 Special, .44 Magnum, etc.
I use 7/16ths lubricated wads twixt bullet and black powder in my 1873 Winchester repro, in .44/40 caliber. The extra lubricant augments the Lyman 427098 bullet's lubricant.
Incidentally, I use Gatofeo No. 1 Bullet Lubricant for wads and bullets, especially bullets that will be used with black powder but it works fine with light smokeless loads too.
I also cut waxed cardboard wads from milk cartons or Whoppers malted milk ball candy cartons. If you have concerns about a lubricated wad affecting the black powder or primer, you can put one of these waxed wads between the black powder and greased wad.
Opinions vary greatly on the use of wads with smokeless powder. Most seem to agree that the wad should be right up against the bullet's base, never down on the powder or anywhere between the smokeless powder and bullet's base.
About 30 years ago, complaints began surfacing of chambers getting ringed by the use of such wads.
Now, I know that shooters have used light wads down on the smokeless powder charge in the past, and no such reports surfaced, but it came to a head in the early 80s as I recall.
Since then, the practice has been both praised and damned by reloaders, many of them with long experience.
When it comes to using a wad in a cartridge case loaded with smokeless powder, you'll have to decide. But those that do recommend it almost universally say that the wad should be firmly against the bullet's base, without a gap.
The use of Kapok or tissue to hold powder against the primer, in light loads, has also been praised and damned.
I dont' use such wads, Kapok or tissue with smokeless powder. I use wads only with black powder. The black powder fills the case and is firmly compressed by the bullet's seating.
This leaves no gaps between bullet, wad or powder.
I noticed that you transfer your wads to Zip-Loc bags after melting the lubricant in a pet food can. Years ago, I adopted a different method.
I leave the wads in the can and snap a plastic pet food cover on the can, after it's cooled of course. Then I just label the can with a wide marker. The cans stack upon each other on the shelf.
In my range bag, I keep wads in the Altoid Sour Candy can. The pet food can is rather large for this purpose. The round Altoid sour candy can seals completely. Open it with a press on one side. An old shoe polish can is good too, as long as you can open it easily with greasy fingers.
The Altoid mint cans that open with a hinge are not as good. They let moisture escape through the opening cut for the hinges.
An Altoid sour candy tin will hold 100 .44/.45 wads, while you can get about 150 .36 caliber wads in -- plenty for the day's shooting.
But hey, Zip-Locs work too. Whatever works is fine.
Years ago, a company made plastic disks of .44 and .36 caliber, with a shallow indentation on both sides, for cap and ball revolvers.
Frankly, they looked like oversized red blood cells!
The instructions said to fill the concave sides with grease, then load the plastic disk between ball and powder.
"Only a tiny amount of lubricant is needed," I recall the instructions coaching.
I picked up some .36 caliber ones: failure! They simply would not hold enough lubricant. to keep fouling soft. I still have some in my shooting box. They'd be good for making shot loads in my .36 revolvers, but that's about it.
Too many shooters seem to forget that the greased felt wad is not only a barrier against multiple ignition (though I personally don't believe in the theory that flame gets past the ball and ignites adjacent chambers), but its lubricant keeps fouling soft.
When black powder combusts, it leaves behind 56 percent in solids. The remaining 44 percent is gas, comprised of carbon dixoide, nitrogen and other gases.
Obviously, with a propellant that leaves 56 percent solids behind, you need plenty of lubricant to keep it soft for easy removal. That's where the lubricated wad comes in.
I also believe -- but cannot prove, though others state it as fact -- that a hard felt wad helps to scrape fouling from the bore with each shot. I've noticed for a long time that the bores of my revolvers stay much cleaner with a greased felt wad between ball and powder, than if I put grease over the seated ball as is commonly recommended.
It seems against reason that a greased wad behind the ball would keep the bore cleaner, compared to grease ahead of the ball, but I've seen it for so long to accept it as fact.
There are certain facts in the Cosmos that are irrefutable:
1. Speed of light is 186,000 miles per second.
2. Women will never understand the concept of a 4-Way stop sign.
3. A greased felt wad between ball and powder keeps the bore cleaner than putting grease over the ball.
Sorry for rambling on so much but thought some of you would find it valuable.
