Wads and patches

DD4lifeusmc · February 22, 2013, 07:46 AM

I am asking the following question at a couple forums.
I'm looking for input and information.
Do you all use wads and or patches in your BP revolvers (non cartridge) and muzzleloading rifles.
If so what caliber do you use dry/ lubed, buy local or online. If online Freight cost.

In patches for the rifle, do you buy precut, cut your own or cut from a rag in your pouch as you load?
Again if you buy, local or online and the average freight cost.

Some being more of a pureist in the sport would likely use the cut from rag.

While there is some indication of wads being available in the 1800's not sure how wide spread the usage was.

Thanks for your info.

Doc Hoy · February 22, 2013, 08:32 AM

...My habits are driven by the fact that I squeeze a nickel until the buffalo S __ __ Ts.

I buy 100% wool hats at thrift shops. I made a wad punch from a piece of steel round stock. (Had to do this because the Cheapo set from Horrible Freight doesn't have the right size.) One hat gives me about a billion wads.

I lube them with my Home Depot lube which (at least up to now) has been Crisco and Wax rings from toilets.

I don't generally use a wad under the ball in cap and ball but when I do, that is the way I do it. Now that I am loading cartridges in .45 LC, .357, and 45-70 I im thinking I need to get more serious with wads.

I also don't shoot muzzle loading long arms any more but when I did, I used old tee shirts with the patch cut slightly large and then trimmed with a sharp knife when the ball is pushed in just even with the crown of the muzzle. I used straight crisco for lube for those patches. That is how I did single shot pistols too.

I must close this post by telling you that 80% of the guys on this forum will cringe when they read my description. There are a hundred better waysw to approach wads, but there aren't many that are cheaper.

Roshi · February 22, 2013, 08:42 AM

Don't have time to make my own so I buy Ox Yoke lubed wads from Track of the Wolf and use them under the ball in my revolvers.

twobit · February 22, 2013, 08:48 AM

Patched balls for the rifle, and wads under the ball for revolvers.

Noz · February 22, 2013, 10:07 AM

Home made lubed was (Pearl Lube) made from durofelt.com felt and punched with an 11mm Harbor freight punch. These are placed under the round balls in my 1860 revolvers.
Wads in a cartridge rifle can have serious accuracy repercussions. I had wads sticking to the base of my bullets causing horrible accuracy at cowboy ranges.

woodnbow · February 22, 2013, 10:21 AM

Patched ball in rifles with or without wads depending on the rifle. RB or conical in revolvers with or without wads depending on the revolver. Every gun is a law unto itself, experiment until I find the load chain that best suits my objective with that gun...

Logan5579 · February 22, 2013, 10:56 AM

For my 44 cal 58 Remington revolvers I use a felt wad (felt purchased from durofelt and wads punched out with a 7/16 steel punch). The wads are soaked in a lube mix of melted beeswax and lard and allowed to dry. If I'm gonna have the gun loaded for more than a few minutes I use a vegetable fiber card "wad" to separate the felt wad from the powder. If I'm just target shooting I skip the fiber card and just use the felt wad.

For my rifle, I just seat the projectile on top of the powder - no wad of any kind. For my inline I'm using a 354 grain semi-wad cutter type "conical" which is not really conical at all.

Pahoo · February 22, 2013, 11:10 AM

PRB's for Side-Cockers.
Wads over powder for C&B's
Wads over powder for In-line Sabots.

About the only thing I make along these lilnes, is run my own lead ....

Be Safe !!!

g.willikers · February 22, 2013, 05:48 PM

Home made wads, not lubed, from auto parts store thick gasket paper - for revolver and 777 powder.
Might not work as well with dirtier powders, though.
Patched round ball loads for rifle, using pillow ticking.
Best accuracy is when the ticking stripes go right to left, instead of up and down.

Hawg · February 22, 2013, 05:53 PM

I Use wads for revolvers and patched round balls for rifles. I cut my patches at the muzzle. Its hard to get a precut patch centered in the muzzle and if its not it affects accuracy.

brazosdave · February 22, 2013, 07:17 PM

I used patched round balls for my single shot pistols and rifle, moistened with olive oil. If i'm shooting pyrodex, I use homemade felt wads moistened with olive oil, and if i'm shooting homemade b.p., I just put as much b.p. as I can get into the cylinders and ram a ball. No wad for that.

Shotput79 · February 22, 2013, 09:46 PM

Wads for revolvers and patched round balls for rifles.

DD4lifeusmc · February 24, 2013, 09:16 AM

guys thanks for all the replies.
Those that make your own kudos. I'm a pureist at heart and try to use only what they likely had readily available back in the day.
I make my own lube from real beeswax and hog lard. Hog being the most readily available.
Backthen they may have had other lards depending on where they were at that were more available to them.
In my revolvers I went to paper cartridge no wads and home lubed hand cast conical.
Haven't noticed any big change in accuracy between them and RB.
Same with my 50 cal rifle. Went to lube conicals.
.....................................
For those that responded that they buy their wads. I also asked what caliber, cost and freight.
These are what I am really looking for.
Also when you buy, how much do you buy at a time to offset the freight cost or do buy something else.
I'm interested in the prices you are paying around the country at local stores, and online sites.
Thanks

deerslayer303 · February 24, 2013, 10:03 AM

Lots of good info in this thread. I am wanting to start cutting my patches at the muzzle. Its very true that centering a precut patch is a pita. I would imagine the knife has to be very sharp. A Razor blade would zip through it, but thats not exactly correct. One of these days I'll get a possibles bag and all together.

Doc Hoy · February 24, 2013, 11:04 AM

Pretty sharp but not necessarily like a razor.

deerslayer303 · February 24, 2013, 11:10 AM

I like this little dude right here. You just gotta love TRACK!
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Catego.../KNIFE-PATCH-T

Hawg · February 24, 2013, 11:24 AM

I've got a couple of patch knives but I usually use my pocket knife. A patch knife doesn't have to be all that sharp but it doesn't need to be dull either.

Pahoo · February 24, 2013, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Its very true that centering a precut patch is a pita.

Not really that much of a problem and a muzzle cut patch could present more of a problem if you don't cut it short enough. Excess patch material can get in the way of the flight. ...

Recently bought another .45 Seneca that had a scored muzzle. Dealer said he could not figure out why or how it got that way. I told him how and he thought that was pretty neat. There are a bunch of scored muzzles out there. ..

Slayer, I know how you like to tinker and in time, you will make you own accutriments. (spelling) !! I have made most of mine, including patch knives. I routinley wear mine at outdoor shows, sheathed and hanging from my neck...

Be Safe !!!

Hawg · February 24, 2013, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Not really that much of a problem and a muzzle cut patch could present more of a problem if you don't cut it short enough. Excess patch material can get in the way of the flight.

Centering a patch may not be much of a problem for most folk but it is for me. I drive mine down with the short starter button and cut it off there. Some short starters may have buttons too long tho. If the patch is overlapping the ball face its cut too long.

deerslayer303 · February 24, 2013, 11:34 AM

Even though my GPR will drive nails, I can pick up the fired patch and it looks as if only one side of the patch is dark, like I always have more material on one side of the ball. I have to run up town tomorrow so I'm gonna go by the fabric store and get some ticking. Now when you measure the thickness, do you pinch the material real tight between the jaws of the caliper? I'm gonna try to get around .010. Well at least with a .535 ball and .010" precut patch she does good. Then I will cut a 2" strip of the ticking and put it in a pot of melted beez and tallow. Then pull it out and hang it up to dry. Does this all sound about right?

troutcreek · February 24, 2013, 11:59 AM

DS303

I use mostly pillow ticking as patch material cut at the muzzle. The ticking is measured with a dial micrometer by using the thumb wheel at the end. When the jaws are snug that is the measurement that I use. I just measured some ticking using a dial micrometer and caliper. I got the same reading but had to use firm thumb pressure on the caliper to do so. The caliper squeezes on a broader area and the mic on a smaller one. From my test use good firm thumb pressure on the wheel of your caliper and you will have a good measurement.
I too buy ticking in bulk from fabric stores. Look for ticking that has minimal (or best no) sizing on the back. You can tell sized fabric because it is shiny and kind of slick on the back. Wash the ticking prior to use then cut in 2” strips. I roll up the strips and bind with rubber bands.
Your plan for lubrication is fine, although you may have to scrape off excess lube. Because I’m storing the ticking for future use I’m careful not to pick up grit. This is much more of a problem if I prelube the material. Normally when shooting at the range I lube the ticking with some homemade soluble oil. Any commercial lubricant should work well as will spit.
Cutting patches at the muzzle ensures that the ball will be centered within the patch. From doing it both ways I don’t see a significant difference but this does remove a variable.
I know that I don’t need to say this but.....Sharp knives are used to cut patches at the muzzle (a straight razor is a great patch knife), use caution when cutting patches and cut away from your body.
Take care and have fun,

deerslayer303 · February 24, 2013, 12:29 PM

Thanks Trout,
My main reason for going this way is I'm running out of precut, lubed patches that I bought when I first got started, And I can get a ton of shots out of a yard of material. That and doing things the old way, peaks my interest very much.

Beagle333 · February 24, 2013, 12:55 PM

corn meal under the ball in the revolver, 50/50 lube on top.

Pre-cut, but homemade patch on the rifle ball, lubed with whatever the maker liked to lube with, normally I pick em up in trades and I haven't run out yet.

'Good for me!

But in the .56 Renegade smoothie..... and don't read this if you are squeamish about somebody not following the herd....

. . ..... but I just squish a wad of newspaper down onto the powder pretty hard, drop a .542 ball down there somewhere and squish another wad of newspaper down on top of it to hold it there.

And it works pretty darn good! Or at least at the distances I shoot my smoothie.

(and a big whoof of smoke followed by a string of flaming confetti is pretty interesting to watch too)

deerslayer303 · February 24, 2013, 12:59 PM

Quote:

and a big whoof of smoke followed by a string of flaming confetti is pretty interesting to watch too

^ Thats funny right there. Reminds me of the raining tin foil post, that Sureshot ( I think it was) posted.

DD4lifeusmc · February 24, 2013, 05:10 PM

back in the day, some carried a knife especially for cutting patches.
Oddly, today it is called a patch knife.
Good ones that look authentic are $30 and up.
One of the more authentic patch materials over the years has been Pillow ticking.
For those of you two young to remember, this was a heavy cotton weave material
in more or less blue/grey and white stripes.

February 22, 2013, 07:46 AM	#1
DD4lifeusmc Senior Member Join Date: October 12, 2012 Location: Wyoming Posts: 351	Wads and patches I am asking the following question at a couple forums. I'm looking for input and information. Do you all use wads and or patches in your BP revolvers (non cartridge) and muzzleloading rifles. If so what caliber do you use dry/ lubed, buy local or online. If online Freight cost. In patches for the rifle, do you buy precut, cut your own or cut from a rag in your pouch as you load? Again if you buy, local or online and the average freight cost. Some being more of a pureist in the sport would likely use the cut from rag. While there is some indication of wads being available in the 1800's not sure how wide spread the usage was. Thanks for your info.

February 22, 2013, 08:32 AM	#2
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, Fl Posts: 5,440	I am no purist by any stretch..... ...My habits are driven by the fact that I squeeze a nickel until the buffalo S __ __ Ts. I buy 100% wool hats at thrift shops. I made a wad punch from a piece of steel round stock. (Had to do this because the Cheapo set from Horrible Freight doesn't have the right size.) One hat gives me about a billion wads. I lube them with my Home Depot lube which (at least up to now) has been Crisco and Wax rings from toilets. I don't generally use a wad under the ball in cap and ball but when I do, that is the way I do it. Now that I am loading cartridges in .45 LC, .357, and 45-70 I im thinking I need to get more serious with wads. I also don't shoot muzzle loading long arms any more but when I did, I used old tee shirts with the patch cut slightly large and then trimmed with a sharp knife when the ball is pushed in just even with the crown of the muzzle. I used straight crisco for lube for those patches. That is how I did single shot pistols too. I must close this post by telling you that 80% of the guys on this forum will cringe when they read my description. There are a hundred better waysw to approach wads, but there aren't many that are cheaper. __________________ Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath.

February 22, 2013, 08:42 AM	#3
Roshi Senior Member Join Date: December 21, 2010 Location: Houston Posts: 223	I on the other hand Don't have time to make my own so I buy Ox Yoke lubed wads from Track of the Wolf and use them under the ball in my revolvers.

February 22, 2013, 08:48 AM	#4
twobit Senior Member Join Date: February 25, 2010 Location: Coyote Creak, SW Texas Posts: 597	Patched balls for the rifle, and wads under the ball for revolvers. __________________ Twobit, Strive to live up to the opinion that your dog has of you.

February 22, 2013, 10:56 AM	#7
Logan5579 Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2013 Location: Tennessee Posts: 102	For my 44 cal 58 Remington revolvers I use a felt wad (felt purchased from durofelt and wads punched out with a 7/16 steel punch). The wads are soaked in a lube mix of melted beeswax and lard and allowed to dry. If I'm gonna have the gun loaded for more than a few minutes I use a vegetable fiber card "wad" to separate the felt wad from the powder. If I'm just target shooting I skip the fiber card and just use the felt wad. For my rifle, I just seat the projectile on top of the powder - no wad of any kind. For my inline I'm using a 354 grain semi-wad cutter type "conical" which is not really conical at all. __________________ Beware the man with one gun, he knows how to use it

February 22, 2013, 10:07 AM	#5
Noz Senior Member Join Date: February 25, 2009 Posts: 643	Home made lubed was (Pearl Lube) made from durofelt.com felt and punched with an 11mm Harbor freight punch. These are placed under the round balls in my 1860 revolvers. Wads in a cartridge rifle can have serious accuracy repercussions. I had wads sticking to the base of my bullets causing horrible accuracy at cowboy ranges.

February 22, 2013, 10:21 AM	#6
woodnbow Senior Member Join Date: December 2, 2012 Posts: 190	Patched ball in rifles with or without wads depending on the rifle. RB or conical in revolvers with or without wads depending on the revolver. Every gun is a law unto itself, experiment until I find the load chain that best suits my objective with that gun...

February 22, 2013, 11:10 AM	#8
Pahoo Senior Member Join Date: February 16, 2006 Location: IOWA Posts: 8,783	Works for me !!! PRB's for Side-Cockers. Wads over powder for C&B's Wads over powder for In-line Sabots. About the only thing I make along these lilnes, is run my own lead .... Be Safe !!! __________________ 'Fundamental truths' are easy to recognize because they are verified daily through simple observation and thus, require no testing.

February 22, 2013, 05:48 PM	#9
g.willikers Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2008 Posts: 10,442	Home made wads, not lubed, from auto parts store thick gasket paper - for revolver and 777 powder. Might not work as well with dirtier powders, though. Patched round ball loads for rifle, using pillow ticking. Best accuracy is when the ticking stripes go right to left, instead of up and down. __________________ Walt Kelly, alias Pogo, sez: “Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.”

February 22, 2013, 05:53 PM	#10
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,188	I Use wads for revolvers and patched round balls for rifles. I cut my patches at the muzzle. Its hard to get a precut patch centered in the muzzle and if its not it affects accuracy.

February 22, 2013, 07:17 PM	#11
brazosdave Senior Member Join Date: September 7, 2012 Location: Crockett, Texas Posts: 363	I used patched round balls for my single shot pistols and rifle, moistened with olive oil. If i'm shooting pyrodex, I use homemade felt wads moistened with olive oil, and if i'm shooting homemade b.p., I just put as much b.p. as I can get into the cylinders and ram a ball. No wad for that. __________________ "I'm your huckleberry, it's just my game"

February 22, 2013, 09:46 PM	#12
Shotput79 Senior Member Join Date: March 20, 2011 Location: NC Posts: 186	Wads for revolvers and patched round balls for rifles.

February 24, 2013, 09:16 AM	#13
DD4lifeusmc Senior Member Join Date: October 12, 2012 Location: Wyoming Posts: 351	wads etc guys thanks for all the replies. Those that make your own kudos. I'm a pureist at heart and try to use only what they likely had readily available back in the day. I make my own lube from real beeswax and hog lard. Hog being the most readily available. Backthen they may have had other lards depending on where they were at that were more available to them. In my revolvers I went to paper cartridge no wads and home lubed hand cast conical. Haven't noticed any big change in accuracy between them and RB. Same with my 50 cal rifle. Went to lube conicals. ..................................... For those that responded that they buy their wads. I also asked what caliber, cost and freight. These are what I am really looking for. Also when you buy, how much do you buy at a time to offset the freight cost or do buy something else. I'm interested in the prices you are paying around the country at local stores, and online sites. Thanks

February 24, 2013, 10:03 AM	#14
deerslayer303 Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2011 Location: Leesville SC Posts: 2,652	Lots of good info in this thread. I am wanting to start cutting my patches at the muzzle. Its very true that centering a precut patch is a pita. I would imagine the knife has to be very sharp. A Razor blade would zip through it, but thats not exactly correct. One of these days I'll get a possibles bag and all together. __________________ "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson

February 24, 2013, 11:04 AM	#15
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, Fl Posts: 5,440	Yeah.... Pretty sharp but not necessarily like a razor. __________________ Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath.

February 24, 2013, 11:10 AM	#16
deerslayer303 Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2011 Location: Leesville SC Posts: 2,652	I like this little dude right here. You just gotta love TRACK! http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Catego.../KNIFE-PATCH-T __________________ "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson

February 24, 2013, 11:24 AM	#17
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,188	I've got a couple of patch knives but I usually use my pocket knife. A patch knife doesn't have to be all that sharp but it doesn't need to be dull either.

February 24, 2013, 11:34 AM	#20
deerslayer303 Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2011 Location: Leesville SC Posts: 2,652	Even though my GPR will drive nails, I can pick up the fired patch and it looks as if only one side of the patch is dark, like I always have more material on one side of the ball. I have to run up town tomorrow so I'm gonna go by the fabric store and get some ticking. Now when you measure the thickness, do you pinch the material real tight between the jaws of the caliper? I'm gonna try to get around .010. Well at least with a .535 ball and .010" precut patch she does good. Then I will cut a 2" strip of the ticking and put it in a pot of melted beez and tallow. Then pull it out and hang it up to dry. Does this all sound about right? __________________ "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson

February 24, 2013, 11:59 AM	#21
troutcreek Member Join Date: August 10, 2012 Location: Southern Washington on the Columbia River Posts: 80	Pillow Ticking DS303 I use mostly pillow ticking as patch material cut at the muzzle. The ticking is measured with a dial micrometer by using the thumb wheel at the end. When the jaws are snug that is the measurement that I use. I just measured some ticking using a dial micrometer and caliper. I got the same reading but had to use firm thumb pressure on the caliper to do so. The caliper squeezes on a broader area and the mic on a smaller one. From my test use good firm thumb pressure on the wheel of your caliper and you will have a good measurement. I too buy ticking in bulk from fabric stores. Look for ticking that has minimal (or best no) sizing on the back. You can tell sized fabric because it is shiny and kind of slick on the back. Wash the ticking prior to use then cut in 2” strips. I roll up the strips and bind with rubber bands. Your plan for lubrication is fine, although you may have to scrape off excess lube. Because I’m storing the ticking for future use I’m careful not to pick up grit. This is much more of a problem if I prelube the material. Normally when shooting at the range I lube the ticking with some homemade soluble oil. Any commercial lubricant should work well as will spit. Cutting patches at the muzzle ensures that the ball will be centered within the patch. From doing it both ways I don’t see a significant difference but this does remove a variable. I know that I don’t need to say this but.....Sharp knives are used to cut patches at the muzzle (a straight razor is a great patch knife), use caution when cutting patches and cut away from your body. Take care and have fun,

February 24, 2013, 12:29 PM	#22
deerslayer303 Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2011 Location: Leesville SC Posts: 2,652	Thanks Trout, My main reason for going this way is I'm running out of precut, lubed patches that I bought when I first got started, And I can get a ton of shots out of a yard of material. That and doing things the old way, peaks my interest very much. __________________ "I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson

February 24, 2013, 12:55 PM	#23
Beagle333 Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2012 Location: Auburn, AL. Posts: 2,332	corn meal under the ball in the revolver, 50/50 lube on top. Pre-cut, but homemade patch on the rifle ball, lubed with whatever the maker liked to lube with, normally I pick em up in trades and I haven't run out yet. 'Good for me! But in the .56 Renegade smoothie..... and don't read this if you are squeamish about somebody not following the herd.... . . ..... but I just squish a wad of newspaper down onto the powder pretty hard, drop a .542 ball down there somewhere and squish another wad of newspaper down on top of it to hold it there. And it works pretty darn good! Or at least at the distances I shoot my smoothie. (and a big whoof of smoke followed by a string of flaming confetti is pretty interesting to watch too) __________________ . . . Have a Colt and a smile.

February 24, 2013, 05:10 PM	#25
DD4lifeusmc Senior Member Join Date: October 12, 2012 Location: Wyoming Posts: 351	to deerslayer knives back in the day, some carried a knife especially for cutting patches. Oddly, today it is called a patch knife. Good ones that look authentic are $30 and up. One of the more authentic patch materials over the years has been Pillow ticking. For those of you two young to remember, this was a heavy cotton weave material in more or less blue/grey and white stripes.

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