1/8" wool felt powder wads for .50 cal............

[Svashtar]

I’ve had very good luck with felt and poly wads under big conicals. Buy some punches and make your own.

Yeah, just checked and every Duro Felt link for 1/8” and 1/4” felt wads gives a “404 Not Found” error, so buying anything from them to cut your own seems to be off the table. At $8.99 for 250 .54 cal from BP might be a better deal in that size anyway. I’ll keep looking, thanks.

 

[ElDiablo]

I’d

Yeah, just checked and every Duro Felt link for 1/8” and 1/4” felt wads gives a “404 Not Found” error, so buying anything from them to cut your own seems to be off the table. At $8.99 for 250 .54 cal from BP might be a better deal in that size anyway. I’ll keep looking, thanks.

Give Durofelt a call then. Must be a problem with their website. No, oversized is better, IMO. With felt you can go quite a bit over.

http://www.durofelt.com/products.html

 

[eekjellander]

Hi guys, first post here, just registered, and am loading minie and REAL bullets for the first time in my .50, .54 and .58 BP rifles, where I’ve always just used PRB. Sorry to dust off this year old thread, but it applies.

I stupidly assumed I did NOT need anything over the powder on any bullet with a hollow cavity base! But now I’m reading about these over powder wads which makes sense. A nitro card probably makes more sense but I can’t find any in the correct diameter for .50.Dura Felt is what you want and a Harbot

I can see cutting your own or buying the .50’s from TOTW, but for .54 if you go to Ballistic Products and just buy .28 gauge nitro cards they are .545-.550 diameter and should work fine. You might have to check sizes when buying felt wads from them as they’re meant to go inside shotshell plastic wads and you gave to buy a size under, so 20 gauge for 12 gauge AA wads, etc. Best deal is that you can get 250 of them for the same price that TOTW charges for 100. Just saying. In the meantime I need to rethink all my suppositions about felt wads or cards on top of powder when shooting these bullets instead of PRB. Thanks!

 

[edmehlig]

I’ve always used a 50cal felt wad for my 45cal ml and a 54 cal wad for the 50. No issues and I feel cant prove it but feel it gives a better seal.

 

[eekjellander]

Yeah, just checked and every Duro Felt link for 1/8” and 1/4” felt wads gives a “404 Not Found” error, so buying anything from them to cut your own seems to be off the table. At $8.99 for 250 .54 cal from BP might be a better deal in that size anyway. I’ll keep looking, thanks.

No it's not 'Harbor freight sells standard/metric Hole punch sets (CHEAP) and I punch my own out of Dura felt and I use a 9/16 for 50 cal always go bigger !

 

[Svashtar]

Give Durofelt a call then. Must be a problem with their website. No, oversized is better, IMO. With felt you can go quite a bit over.

http://www.durofelt.com/products.html

You’re absolutely right, I called and she says she has website problems, links not working, etc., etc. and will get it fixed Monday. In the meantime, I went ahead and placed an order for a large sheet of the 1/8 inch hard felt, and considering the number, I’ll get out of it you guys are right and it’s way more cost-effective. Like I say, I already have the harbor freight punches, so only need to experiment with diameters for the three calibers. Appreciate the information!

 

[Svashtar]

No it's not 'Harbor freight sells standard/metric Hole punch sets (CHEAP) and I punch my own out of Dura felt and I use a 9/16 for 50 cal always go bigger !

Got it, thanks! Only bullet I’m not sure needs it is the big .58 conical with band around the skirt.

I also see some people running the felt under a PRB? But I’ve always just used a properly fitted patch down on top of the powder with good results.

 

[ElDiablo]

Only bullet I’m not sure needs it is the big .58 conical with band around the skirt.

A 5/8” or 16mm punch should work.

 

[Svashtar]

No it's not 'Harbor freight sells standard/metric Hole punch sets (CHEAP) and I punch my own out of Dura felt and I use a 9/16 for 50 cal always go bigger !

Well 9/16” is .5625 so should work for both .50 and .54 I would think. For .58 I’d probably have to go to .625 or 5/8”.

Looks like my Harbor Freight set tops out at 1/2”, so would only work for.45 which I don’t have, but I see Amazon has some good punch sets for less than $20 that go up to 3/4”.

 

[Svashtar]

A 5/8” or 16mm punch should work.

Yes, thanks just saw that, .625” would be perfect. Looking on Amazon now as my HF set ends at 1/2”.

 

[eekjellander]

Yes, thanks just saw that, .625” would be perfect. Looking on Amazon now as my HF set ends at 1/2”.

Back to harbor ,they got bigger (I KNOW) I have them ,also metric/Ed

 

[Svashtar]

Back to harbor ,they got bigger (I KNOW) I have them ,also metric/Ed

I’ll check it out, thanks! I looked at HF online but only saw my set up to 1/2”. Really only need a 9/16” and 5/8” for my theee calibers I think.

 

[eekjellander]

I’ll check it out, thanks! I looked at HF online but only saw my set up to 1/2”. Really only need a 9/16” and 5/8” for my theee calibers I think.

I see a need for more sizes in your future !!!!!/Ed

 

[Svashtar]

No it's not 'Harbor freight sells standard/metric Hole punch sets (CHEAP) and I punch my own out of Dura felt and I use a 9/16 for 50 cal always go bigger !

I located a good set of punches up to 3/4”. Is there any reason though the 1/2” would NOT work for the .50? You think it would let gas blow by the round? In any case my plan is to try the 9/16” in both the .50 and .54.

 

[ElDiablo]

I located a good set of punches up to 3/4”. Is there any reason though the 1/2” would NOT work for the .50? You think it would let gas blow by the round? In any case my plan is to try the 9/16” in both the .50 and .54.

Oversized is the way to go. You need to fill the grooves.

 

[Svashtar]

Oversized is the way to go. You need to fill the grooves.

Got it. Hopefully the 9/16” at .5625” will also have enough diameter to handle the .54 bore. Thanks again for all the good info. I just assumed that all the hollow base bullets would expand to seal the bore, and I think they do to an extent, but these should help a lot.

 

[eekjellander]

Got it. Hopefully the 9/16” at .5625” will also have enough diameter to handle the .54 bore. Thanks again for all the good info. I just assumed that all the hollow base bullets would expand to seal the bore, and I think they do to an extent, but these should help a lot.

It's not ,reread previous posts !/Ed

 

[Hatchet Jack]

I use oversized 1/8'' wool wads under all my flat base, full bore conicals/bullets. I have never checked the difference of not using a wool wad with the chronograph, but for bullet grouping size it makes a big difference.
In my black powder sidelocks and in-lines I will use the lubed wads for target practice. For hunting I use the dry wads for fear of contaminating any of the powder.
Dry wool wads make a big accuracy difference in my smokeless muzzleloader as well.

 

[Ninering62]

Oversized is the way to go. You need to fill the grooves.

I told him the same thing. That oversized wad filling the entire groove depth instead of just to the lands makes for a far better seal over the powder charge. Numerous obvious benefits there.

 

[anonymouscowherd]

Got it, thanks! Only bullet I’m not sure needs it is the big .58 conical with band around the skirt.

I also see some people running the felt under a PRB? But I’ve always just used a properly fitted patch down on top of the powder with good results.

With PRB the patch is to act as the interface between ball and barrel. A wad between powder and PRB can provide extra protection to the patch from burn thru especially in heavier charge weights