Shotgun information search

[lrdg]

Back in the 1960s I shot a lot of dove and quail with my father's ML shotgun. I finally inherited the gun a year or two ago and would like to shoot it a bit again. Here's my dilemma. Back then we used to raid the carpet store's dumpster for under carpet felt which we would glue a cardboard to and cut out over powder wads. Do they even use felt under carpets anymore? I've got to believe you more active shooters have something else and perhaps something better. The gun is a 14 gauge which compounds the problem. I didn't find the punch we used to use but can build something, if I must, to cut the wads.

Any ideas?

[DIRT Farmer]

Carpet felt is getting hard to find. I use fiber and card wads from one of the dealers, Mike makes 14 ga and keeps them in stock. I can get you contact info

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Sounds like a great project ! Shooting dove out in Arizona with a muzzle loader would be a fun day.
One son lives out in the valley and we make excursions out to the open zones when we are out there.

In a pinch you can take 16 gauge wads and bevel the edge to get them started. Grease the edges well and they will slide down but snugly. For some time in the 16 used a wad of newspaper also. Neither is the best but will work and sure beats not getting to use a fine old family muzzle loader. Then there are the staple up ceiling squares that were popular 40 years ago. Still can find those at older hardware stores. Good stiff compressed paper fiber that hole punches well.
Mike in Peru

[MyFlatline]

They sometimes use felt underlayment for laminate floors.

Hope that helps.

[trapper9260]

Can you use cork in place of the felt? The farm fleet store sell it for gasket maken

[jdfoxinc]

For sales contact Flintlocks Inc.
6929 Beech Tree Rd.
Nineveh, IN 46164
Phone 317-933-3441

Mike's quality black powder shotgun wads.

[arcticap]

Pure wool felt for muzzle loading wads can purchased from the DuroFelt factory in sheet form, prices including shipping:--->>> http://durofelt.com/image_26.html
They also offer odd sizes and thicker 1/4" dense felt at a discount such as 8 foot strips:--->>> http://durofelt.com/image_16.html
Any other type of "modern felt" may contain synthetic fibers that could melt inside the barrel of the gun.
Call them when they reopen in Feb. to make sure that you buy the right density if you have any questions.

Home page: http://durofelt.com/index.html


There's companies that sell arch punches in different sizes, by the fraction of an inch or by millimeters.
The US made ones can be more expensive, but may be higher quality.
Just enter "arch punches" into the Google searchbox.

[lrdg]

Thanks so much guys! I knew there were folks out there that would have some answers.

With regard to punches, Should the wads be a bit large, small or the same size as the bore?


Happy New Year All!

[arcticap]

Thanks so much guys! I knew there were folks out there that would have some answers.

With regard to punches, Should the wads be a bit large, small or the same size as the bore?


Happy New Year All!

Shotguns can have a fixed choke where the muzzle has a constriction which is smaller than the rest of the "bore" which is larger.

Whereas other bores can have a muzzle that's an open choke and be the same size as the rest of the bore.

It's probably better to have wads slightly over the bore size at the muzzle so they have enough friction to hold them level as they're rammed.

You wouldn't want the wad to fall into the bore crooked, but to fit the bore snug.

Plus since wool wads can be flexible, they can be punched out to be a little bit larger.

If a punch were too small then it can usually be enlarged by grinding some off if it since they are usually coned shaped.
-----
As a side note, you can always try the shotgun out by using highly compressed newspaper as wadding.

Form 2 or 3 bore size balls of newspaper and then ram them down on top of the powder and tightly tamp them down to compress them using the ramrod.

Then compress some more newspaper wadding on top of the shot.

At least you'll be able to fire the gun to try it out and see how it shoots.

[KCSO]

Track has them in all sizes by decimal. They are cheap. Just a tip when I fix up my bag for a percussion gun I glue the hard card to the cushion wad to save a step and then load a paper ctg with the shot.

[dondiego]

Track has them in all sizes by decimal. They are cheap. Just a tip when I fix up my bag for a percussion gun I glue the hard card to the cushion wad to save a step and then load a paper ctg with the shot.

What type of paper do you use for the shot cartridge?

[Newtire]

Check out the sticky on V.M. Starr muzzleloader tips. Every one does things differently but I had good luck using just hard cards over the powder and now (thanks to advice from here) a .135" nitro card sliced into 3-thin wads over the shot. The thing I found out is that there isn't supposed to be a little pile of shot lying at your foot. The thin cards I used didn't have enough friction to hold them in. I just buy the wads from Track after I saw what they get for an arch punch.

[Nobade]

After reading his article I tried using plain old cardboard from boxes cut into wads. Two over the powder and one over the shot. Found out I get better patterns with those than I ever managed with the normal wad stacks, and only need one kind in my pocket. It made me a believer! Plus they're free, just cut up old boxes. I made a cutter to spin in the drill press and it zips them out really fast.

[Newtire]

After reading his article I tried using plain old cardboard from boxes cut into wads. Two over the powder and one over the shot. Found out I get better patterns with those than I ever managed with the normal wad stacks, and only need one kind in my pocket. It made me a believer! Plus they're free, just cut up old boxes. I made a cutter to spin in the drill press and it zips them out really fast.
Might I ask, what did you make your cutter out of?

[Nobade]

Might I ask, what did you make your cutter out of?1144. Machines nice and heat treats well. Cheap too.

[Nobade]

A pic...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190103/ecfc8a49201910c1e60c7cfde012160c.jpg

[Newtire]

Cool. Looks like you put it in a drill press & cut them then. I got a set from HF but much smaller. Works good for cap & ball wads. You ought to put those for sale on fleabay.

[Nobade]

Cool. Looks like you put it in a drill press & cut them then. I got a set from HF but much smaller. Works good for cap & ball wads. You ought to put those for sale on fleabay.I probably could sell them but I have plenty of other stuff to sell that I make. And yes, spin it in a drill press and cut wads on a scrap of 2x4. I also did something similar with a hole saw for cutting cloth patches for loading roundballs. Just grind the teeth off one and sharpen it and they zip through cloth.

[Newtire]

I probably could sell them but I have plenty of other stuff to sell that I make. And yes, spin it in a drill press and cut wads on a scrap of 2x4. I also did something similar with a hole saw for cutting cloth patches for loading roundballs. Just grind the teeth off one and sharpen it and they zip through cloth.

Thanks Nobade. Only thing left is about the lube. Ox-Yoke used to sell a patch that had some kind of a "linement" smell to it. Using Pyrodex P, I once shot 70 or so shots without wiping the bore out of an old .40 rifle. Does anyone have info on a lube you could make up that duplicates that? I have some fabric but don't have any specific formula for some homemade lube yet. I don't know if they still sell the same lube they did back in the 1990's.

[Nobade]

Are we still talking about shotguns or rifles? I may be lost...
If it's shotguns, what Mr. Starr said works for me. I just spit down the barrel after loading the shot and before the overshot wad. No other lube needed, and you can keep shooting until you get tired of it. Just have to keep a water bottle handy.

[Newtire]

Are we still talking about shotguns or rifles? I may be lost...
If it's shotguns, what Mr. Starr said works for me. I just spit down the barrel after loading the shot and before the overshot wad. No other lube needed, and you can keep shooting until you get tired of it. Just have to keep a water bottle handy.
Lots of topics here, so I was referring to rifles.

[Nobade]

Lots of topics here, so I was referring to rifles.Ah. Ballistol and water mixed. Soak your patches, and let them dry. Works great!

[arcticap]

Thanks Nobade. Only thing left is about the lube. Ox-Yoke used to sell a patch that had some kind of a "linement" smell to it. Using Pyrodex P, I once shot 70 or so shots without wiping the bore out of an old .40 rifle. Does anyone have info on a lube you could make up that duplicates that? I have some fabric but don't have any specific formula for some homemade lube yet. I don't know if they still sell the same lube they did back in the 1990's.

There's 2 almost identical yellow patch lubes that are the most popular, TC Bore Butter and Wonderlube. The smell that you remember is tincture of Wintergreen.
I rub the Bore Butter paste into each dry cut patch by hand which melts it into the fabric and then store them in a zip lock bag:--->>> https://gnarlygorilla.com/natural-lube-1000-plus-bore-butter-in-a-tube-5-oz/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI04qP-pjm3wIVFYzICh02FQv7EAYYBSABEgLzs_D_BwE

duelist1954 shows how to make revolver wads that are similar to Wonder Wads, but I don't think that it would work the same on patches as TC Bore Butter does.
One or 2 tubes of Bore Butter should last a very long time.
The duelist1954 wad recipe contains mutton tallow and bees wax which are harder to find than TC Bore Butter:--->>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgNVPC2wmWI

[waksupi]

Go to the stickies in this section, and read the muzzleloading shot gun topic.