9/16 punch for wads for a 54 cal?

[Hart]

Hi!

Been shooting roundballs and Great Plains Bullets in a percussion rifle, but I wanted to get into casting some Lee REALs.

I've read with some flat bottom boolits a wad can help accuracy, but I am having a hell of a time finding a wad punch for a 54 caliber rifle.

Does anybody know if a 9/16 punch will work? Is the exact size of the wad super critical or is their some wiggle room?

thanks in advance!

[Good Cheer]

I use a 9/16" gasket punch. How well your wads work will depend some on what you make them out of, how deep the rifling is, dry or lubed or soaked, all that jazz.
Something I've tried is that spongy paper stuff that egg cartons are made of. Sometimes it works and sometimes it don't, depending upon whether I figure it out. A dry layer over powder with a lube saturated one over it sometimes works. Sometimes I stack layers for a gas dam effect like the packing around a valve stem.

Oh, by the way, just something to look for... sometimes it's tough to keep a gas check base boolit from gas cutting because that step on the edge doesn't provide as much support for the wad as a flat base would.

RCBS 45-405 fired in .458 bore percussion

The REAL may behave that way with the beveled base. Or maybe not. Once again, the rifling depth and "fit" come into play.

[oldracer]

In my 50 caliber 1 in 48 twist muzzle loader I use both patched round balls and Lee REAL bullets I cast from pure lead. I both cases I wipe between shots, 1 damp and 1 dry patch and found the REAL seem a tad more accurate out to 200 yards. I do not use a wad although I tried several and accuracy was not quite as good. I use 80 grains of Goex FFG powder in both cases. This is one of those things that have to be tested such as my 45 caliber slug guns, 3 shoot a 540 grain pure lead bullet on top of a fiber wad and one (Pedersoli Gibbs) shoot much better with a 520 grain pure lead bullet and NO wad with the bullet just sitting lightly on the powder!

[Hart]

Thanks for the input!

[Fastleo]

I just recently worked with the 300 gr real. I shot dead soft lead with no wad and no leading and great accuracy I ended up using 110gr. I killed two deer with that load last week and it is very impressive

[Hanshi]

I have a couple of punch sets from Harbor Freight and they pretty much cover all the diameters. They were very inexpensive, too. Might try them.

[2152hq]

9/16 is .562
54cal M/L bbls are (generally) .540 BORE dia (accross the lands)
Add .010 to .020 for the groove dia of the bore.
So the average 54cal M/L bbl is in the range of .550 to .560 groove dia.

The 9/16 punched out wad would be perfect IMO for use under a bullet,,or even a patched round ball.

I use a punched out 1/2" thin cardboard wad (business card stock) over the powder,,under a lubed patched round ball on my .50cal flintlock.
I don't lube the wad with anything,,just dry. The patch is lubed as usual.
You can try both ways, you never know how the gun and load will react.
The bbl on mine is .500 bore dia and .515 groove dia (Green Mtn mfg).
For what ever reason the thin wad gives exceptional accuracy to the load I use for range use (55gr FFFG).
W/O the thin wad the accuracy is very good as well, but the wad tightens the 5 shot group considerably at 50m with usually 3 of the 5 rounds touching.

I tried a thicker wad also,,a 50cal cushion type filler wad 1/4" thick, same load, but that didn't do anything for the accuracy.

Each gun and load is a mystery in itself. Just like a cartridge gun and load.

[Duckdog]

I use wool felt for that type of wad. Lube it with wonderlube or the likes, and you 're gonna be cooking with gas! You can find wool felt at most fabric stores if you look for about $5 a yard.

[triggerhappy243]

i use wool felt for that type of wad. Lube it with wonderlube or the likes, and you 're gonna be cooking with gas! You can find wool felt at most fabric stores if you look for about $5 a yard.

dang it............. I knew i forgot somethin at the fabric store when i got some thinner patch material.

[Hart]

Perfect, thanks for the additional responses!