Wool Felt Over Powder Wads (How, and Why i use them)
07-15-2019, 10:35 AM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: North Idaho
Posts: 422
Wool Felt Over Powder Wads (How, and Why i use them)
As the title says, This is about 1/8” Wool Felt Over Powder Wads, How and Why i use them. Believe me Folks, These things work!! 99% of the Bullets i shoot, You can count on there being an 1/8” Wool Felt Over Powder Wad behind it, Protecting My Bullet Bases, and Sealing the Gasses Behind my Bullets. Those of you that have seen my YouTube Videos and See my Targets, These 1/8” Wool Felt Wads are a MAJOR Player in my Target Shooting Success. I have tried every Wad material known, Cork, Vege Fiber, Nitro Cards, LDPE Poly, Milk Carton, Various thicknesses ranging from .015, .030, .060, and .135, I have Wad Punches from High end Press mounted, to Hammer Struck, I Make a LOT of my Own Wads. The 1 material that i can COUNT on Time after time is 1/8” Wool Felt, Wether it be Grease Groove Bullets, Paper Patch, Jacketed, Solid, It doesn’t matter? 1/8” Wool Felt works for me EVERYTIME! Every other Material has been Hit & Miss with me, I have a Good outing, then a Bad one?? 1/8” Wool felt is the Most Consistent Wad Material i have ever used! If i have a Bad outing with Wool Felt, i am Confident that the Problem is Elsewhere, NOT in the Wad. Try 1/8” Wool Felt, AWESOME Stuff Behind These Muzzleloader Bullets!!
Last edited by Idaholewis; 07-15-2019 at 10:41 AM.
07-15-2019, 11:23 AM
#2
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: North Idaho
Posts: 422
For those of you that like to be Self Sufficient like myself, You can make your Own Wads.
Here is an AWESOME source for Bulk 1/8 Wool Felt Material for Wad Making. Durofelt online is the best I know of
http://www.durofelt.com/products.html
Buffalo Arms “Hammer Struck” Wad Punches. These are made by Buffalo Arms and are VERY Caliber precise! FAR SUPERIOR to the Cheap Chinese kit type Hollow punches. These are actually designed specifically per Caliber, Note how they are Over .010, To create Seal. I have these punches in .40 Cal, .45 Cal Rifle, and .50 Cal Rifle
https://www.buffaloarms.com/reloadin...ck-wad-punches
And last, but not least, Fred Cornell Press Mounted Wad Punches. These are Expensive, and designed around “HIGH” Output, You can REALLY get on a Roll with these and Turn out a TON of Wads. But truth is, unless you are making Wads to Sell, Or just simply enjoy Tinkering and don’t mind spending the Extra money, these would take FOREVER and ANOTHER Forever to Pay for themselves for the average hobbyist that Shoots a Muzzleloader a couple times a year. I own them, and LOVE them, I bought them because I enjoy Tinkering with this stuff, They will likely never pay for themselves, wasn’t my intention when i got them. I wanted them, so i bought em
https://www.buffaloarms.com/reloadin...ed-wad-punches
A few pics of my Press mount punches. Again, these things can be HIGH Volume, that’s up to you
Here I made a Catch Pan, otherwise The Wads will start Falling out of the Die Top
Before i built the Catch Pan
Like i said, you can CRANK out a BUNCH of Wads in a HURRY with these Press Mounted Punches, Here you can see my Scrap that i made in Short order
Here is an AWESOME source for Bulk 1/8 Wool Felt Material for Wad Making. Durofelt online is the best I know of
http://www.durofelt.com/products.html
Buffalo Arms “Hammer Struck” Wad Punches. These are made by Buffalo Arms and are VERY Caliber precise! FAR SUPERIOR to the Cheap Chinese kit type Hollow punches. These are actually designed specifically per Caliber, Note how they are Over .010, To create Seal. I have these punches in .40 Cal, .45 Cal Rifle, and .50 Cal Rifle
https://www.buffaloarms.com/reloadin...ck-wad-punches
And last, but not least, Fred Cornell Press Mounted Wad Punches. These are Expensive, and designed around “HIGH” Output, You can REALLY get on a Roll with these and Turn out a TON of Wads. But truth is, unless you are making Wads to Sell, Or just simply enjoy Tinkering and don’t mind spending the Extra money, these would take FOREVER and ANOTHER Forever to Pay for themselves for the average hobbyist that Shoots a Muzzleloader a couple times a year. I own them, and LOVE them, I bought them because I enjoy Tinkering with this stuff, They will likely never pay for themselves, wasn’t my intention when i got them. I wanted them, so i bought em
https://www.buffaloarms.com/reloadin...ed-wad-punches
A few pics of my Press mount punches. Again, these things can be HIGH Volume, that’s up to you
Here I made a Catch Pan, otherwise The Wads will start Falling out of the Die Top
Before i built the Catch Pan
Like i said, you can CRANK out a BUNCH of Wads in a HURRY with these Press Mounted Punches, Here you can see my Scrap that i made in Short order
Last edited by Idaholewis; 07-15-2019 at 11:26 AM.
07-16-2019, 04:44 AM
#4
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: SE CT
Posts: 145
As a traditional muzzle loader shooter of patched round balls, I have had occasions, and guns, that I use felt wads over the powder on. I have found that if the area in front of the breech plug is eroded due to improper cleaning, the use of a felt wad will help maintain accuracy, and sometimes improve accuracy by providing a better gas seal. I also use an unlubed felt wad (of proper caliber) over the powder on my hunting loads where it is possible that the load may be in the gun for a week or more before the gun is fired or unloaded at the end of the season. The wad in this case protects the powder charge from lube bleeding from the patch.
