Semolina as wadding?

[Montenegrin]

Hi!
Is anyone of you using semolina (grits) instead of pre-lubed wads?I am using homemade cotton wads,but I ran out of suplies of cotton,and there are no wads in my country and they are expensive for shipping,so anyone had experience with this type of wadding?

 

[J-Bar]

I have used ground cornmeal and Cream of Wheat cereal in percussion revolvers with no problems. I have not used either one in black powder cartridges, however.

 

[BConklin]

I've used semolina in my BP cap and ball revolvers with no problems. In fact, the owner's manual that comes with new Piettas suggests using semolina to top off the powder charge.

 

[arcticap]

Is anyone of you using semolina (grits) instead of pre-lubed wads?

To clarify, semolina comes from wheat while grits comes from corn.

 

[Jaymo]

Grits are referred to as corn semolina, in some places.
Here in the states, semolina in the form of Cream of Wheat is known as farina. No, not Dennis Farina.

 

[Gatofeo]

Felt wads are soaked in lubricant so they also provide lubricant to keep the fouling softer. Semolina and other fillers without lubricant will, of course, not provide lubricant.
Lubricated felt wads, and lube pills, perform two functions: they provide lubricant and they take up space in the chamber with reduced loads.
Fillers such as Cream of Wheat, corn meal, semolina, grits, grass seed, etc. have one purpose: occupy room in the chamber. They do not contain lubricant; hence, they do not keep fouling soft.
It's an apples vs. oranges comparison.

 

[Cult of 1858]

I am new on here, but, used to shoot CAS. I have used Cream of Wheat, Semolina, etc because it was a lot cheaper than the store bought wads. One of my other hobbies is leathercrafting, and one day i noticed something that has saved me a LOT of cash.
7/16 round hole drive punch!
You can find them at most leather crafting stores, and sometimes at craft stores too.
7/16 = 0.4375
I have found that is nearly perfect for .44 and .45 and have used wads cut with this die for both Cartridge and Cap N Ball.
You can use that little darling to stamp wads out of anything, like:
Cardboard Soda boxes, Corrugated Cardboard, Felt (both dry and soaked in wax), Leather, Suede, etc. etc.
One of the most useful materials is a standard CORK tile, the ones you buy for corkboards, ceilings, etc.

You can also use an empty .45 cartridge. A normal .45 LC works nicely. The trick is to remove the spent primer first, then you have a hole that you can use to push out the card, etc you have stamped. This method works fantastically if you make your own wax sheets and stamp out your own lube pills.

Hope this was helpful

Cult

 

[4v50 Gary]

I've used USDA distrubed Farina that turned rancid for filler material. It's my way of feeding the insects.

 

[J.T. Gerrity]

Quaker Instant Grits is an excellent filler, as well.

 

[Busyhands94]

you can use almost anything organic like they used in the old days. leaves, grass, tobacco, sawdust, etc. i have used balled up newspaper with good results. seems to do the job well and plus you are recycling something you don't need into something you need. I do that all the time.