My method for making lubed felt wads to put over the powder and under the ball on my Ruger Old Army:
Buy some 1/8" felt from
http://durofelt.com/image_26.html. I bought part number FM1812OWH for $24. The piece that arrived was actually 7" x 62". I got 117 wads from a 4-3/8" x 7" piece. This felt is enough to make around 1560 wads.
I cut off a 4-3/8" x 7" piece from the larger piece so that it fit into a Weber aluminum pan that catches drippings under a BBQ. The pan is 6" x 8-3/4" x 1-1/2" deep.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Weber-10-Pa...ip-Pan/3047760.
The pan fits perfectly into my $15 garage toaster oven from Walmart.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays...k-Pan/54514797
I bought 8 oz of Lamb Tallow from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1.
You can also get tallow at Duro-Felt, but they are out of stock currently.
http://www.durofelt.com/image_73.html
I bought 1 pound of Beeswax pellets at Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1
Turn the oven on to about 200 deg F. (around water boiling, not too hot).
First melt 2 ounces by weight of the tallow in the Weber pan, then add 1 oz by weight of the beeswax pellets. Stir until mixed.
Pull the pan out of the oven and immerse the felt pad you cut into the liquid until it absorbs as much as it can take. Pull the pad out, drain briefly, and place on a piece of aluminum foil to cool and solidify. Store the pan, extra felt, beeswax and tallow in a bin for later. The cooled excess wax/tallow mixture will pop right off the Weber pan and can be reused, of course.
Buy a $7.20 (with 20% discount) Harbor Freight Hollow punch kit -- either the hammer-hit version (
https://www.harborfreight.com/9-piec...-set-3838.html ) or the drill press version (
https://www.harborfreight.com/6-piec...set-67030.html ). I used the drill press version because I have a drill press.
Open up the 7/16" punch by 1/64" to .453". I used a 29/64" drill, but I probably ruined the bit on the hard punch. Better to grind it open a bit with a Dremel tool.
You can also buy commercial punches at Dixie Gun Works.
https://www.dixiegunworks.com/index/...6%22+Wad+Punch
Now punch out the wads from the piece you just soaked in the wax/tallow mixture. Mine fit snugly in the Old Army cylinder.