wads cap and ball

[Bob in Revelstoke]

I have a remington cap and ball revolver. I want to use felt wads over the powder but they are not commercialy available (out of stock ect) Can I make them from felt insoles and if so, what, if any, kind of lube to use?

[smithnframe]

Yes you can…………….I’d dip them in melted bees wax and leave them dry!

[Nobade]

Go here...
http://durofelt.com/image_19.html

[Maven]

Beat me to it, Nobade!

[Bob in Revelstoke]

Thank you. That is what I was hoping for. I live in Canada and the north wind doth blow. My lube gets to hard and this would be much easier.

[DaveM]

If you aren't leaving the gun loaded, you can lubricate the felt wads with 100% pure neatsfoot oil (NOT neatsfoot oil compound). Just soak them in the oil and squeeze out the excess. They work well for keeping powder fouling soft and you don't have to melt or mix anything.

[Tar Heel]

I followed Mike's recipe specified in this video. It has been working for me just fine. Durofelt is the good stuff and is REAL felt. You can use lamb tallow from Dixie Gun Works and wax pearls or cake wax. The Beeswax is getting harder to find. I ended up purchasing a 36 and 44 caliber punch from Track of the Wolf to bang the wads out faster.

It's important to say that most "felt", isn't really felt. It's a synthetic goo that resembles felt but will completely melt and goop up your barrel. Ensure you use REAL felt like you can get from DuroFelt. Any tallow will work if it has NO SALT in it. My last batch was Bison Tallow I bought at one of the fancy grocery stores. Normally I use Lamb Tallow for the wads and my BP lube. For fun I add a little Wintergreen oil to the mix to make it smell like Ox Yoke Wonder Lube. That always brings back fond memories for me when I started shooting BP a few years ago. :-)

https://youtu.be/YgNVPC2wmWI

My wads: https://goo.gl/photos/ssqAH2c7XMJgMaHu6

[Red River Rick]

Bob:

I use equal parts of Bees Wax, Crisco Vegetable Shortening and Peanut Oil. The vegetable shortening won't go rancid and the peanut oil has the highest flashpoint of most cooking oils. You can stiffen it up by adding a bit more bees wax, if need. It is relatively soft and won't be rock hard like pure Bees Wax in cooler weather.

I soak my wads in this melted lube and use it in my P-H Whitworth muzzleloader, and for pan lubing my BPCR bullets.

FWIW.
RRR

[GregLaROCHE]

I soaked some .45 cal felt wads in melted lube once. They swelled up so much, that they wouldn’t fit into a 45/70 case. Maybe I let them soak up too much. Maybe the felt needs to be soaked before cutting the wads.

[bedbugbilly]

I punch wads out of leather scraps left from my leather work - approx 1/8" in thickness - then melt some of my home-made BP lube in a tupperware container in the microwave - dip them in and then pat between layers of newspaper to remove the excess lube - then use an Altoids tin to keep them in. An alternative to felt and they do the intended job just fine - have used them for years in 36 and 44.

durofelt is a good supplier for was felt. Old felt hats is another cheap source for felt for wads - sometimes you can find them cheap at Goodwill, etc.

If you don't have a punch for the 44 (36 cal. uses a 3/8" - .375 punch) - I made mine out of a arch punch that was close and honed the inside until I got it to .450.

[yeahbub]

Thanks to Red River Rick for another good formula. I didn't know that peanut oil has a high flash point. The ratios you use seem like it would be a pretty soft lube.

My current favorite is pretty similar, which is Emmert's, aka 541, or 5 parts beeswax, 4 parts vegetable shortening, 1 part veg oil, usually canola melted together, but no hotter than necessary - about 130-150 deg F. The ratios can be readily adjusted for changes in seasonal temperatures.Makes great lube cookies too, but needs an over-the-powder card wad in a C&B revolver to keep from squishing it into the powder. It works well in felt wads and is stiff enough to not be messy. A little dab makes good case lube too, when sizing just a handful.

Ever use yours for patch lube with RB's? I'm definitely looking for something better than bore butter or 1000 plus. They must have had a gorilla loading a thousand shots for their test run.

[Castaway]

I scrounge old wool hats from thrift stores and cut my wads. I soak them in Gato Feo lube and have never had a lube migration problem, even in Florida summer heat. Mutton tallow, paraffin, and beeswax, by weight, 2:2:1

[KCSO]

I made a punch and the local thrift shop saves old felt hats for me and this is what ai use for wads. if you cant make a wad punch you can use a 7.16 leather punch from Tandy's. My punch fits in the drill press and the wads drop through the bottom hole and into a tray.

[bimus]

The card board egg cartons work when punched and soaked in the lube of your choice .

[alamogunr]

Google Gatofeo(somewhere along someone separated his handle to Gato Feo). OR

https://imgur.com/a/wpRXPV6

Photos are accompanied by recipe and instructions.

Punches from Buffalo Arms work great.

[0verkill]

I don't know where Selkirk mountain is, but I'ma bit farther north than Florida and I use the same ingredients as CASTAWAY, just 2:1:2. Paraffin's cheaper though so that recipe's better.