# felt wads for rifle



## fishfryer (Nov 5, 2010)

I've recently had a discussion with a gentleman on another forum about 32 caliber rifles.He says that he has a Hershel House made 32,that is extremely accurate with exactly 29 grains of 3F Goex and .310 round ball with .011 denim patch.He weighs each charge, and stores it in an index card tube, formed around a pencil and sealed with wax.Now the part that surprised Me,He puts a felt wad on top of powder,then seats his patched ball.I've used a felt wad on bp revolvers per Elmer Keith,but never in a rifle.Anybody ever done this? I intend to give it a test run soon.I need some thick felt,anyone know where to get some?


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## 7Mag Hunter (Nov 5, 2010)

Maybe the felt wad keeps the powder from being
contaminated by patch lube for less fouling ??????
Never heard of that....Maybe Nic will have the answer ???


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## Nicodemus (Nov 5, 2010)

I know of usin` a wad between the powder and shot, but never between powder and a ball. It sounds like he knows what he is doin` though, and if it shoots that good, I would stick with it. 

Wish I owned a H. House rifle.


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## fishfryer (Nov 5, 2010)

I'd settle for holding one.He also said he had a 50 caliber that Hershel built for his brother Frank.I'll tell you a secret Nic,that 4 years floating around on the big pond,the most exciting time,when the gunnersmates shot the 5 inch gun.Remember that's blackpowder in that thing,a heap of blackpowder! It smelled like a whole tribe of folks shooting at once,sounded real loud.


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## Nicodemus (Nov 5, 2010)

fishfryer said:


> I'd settle for holding one.He also said he had a 50 caliber that Hershel built for his brother Frank.I'll tell you a secret Nic,that 4 years floating around on the big pond,the most exciting time,when the gunnersmates shot the 5 inch gun.Remember that's blackpowder in that thing,a heap of blackpowder! It smelled like a whole tribe of folks shooting at once,sounded real loud.





I always wanted a Frank House knife too! I can only imagine 5 pounds of the good stuff goin` off at one time! The whole ship would be smellin` good!


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## tv_racin_fan (Nov 5, 2010)

Fish, I dunno where you heard about this and it aint really matter anywho...

I don't have any real experience with it but some guys I know of do and mostly they claim it reduces the deviation between shots and increases the internal pressue which results in a more complete burn and less fouling plus slightly more velocity. Some guys even use a lubed wad which they claim keeps the fouling soft making subsequent shots easier to load. Some guys use it only in their hunting loads as 7mag suggested to keep their powder from being fouled by patch lube (some of these guys swear by hornets/wasp nest or even just leaves). Some guys use the shot cards to hold the ball in their smoothies instead of patching them (they use one card over powder and another over the ball which is larger than patched ball size since it has no patch).

"Using OP wads in 20 ga. .40 cal., and 50 cal. rifles produces LOWER Standard Deviation in Velocity(SDV). Whether it improves accuracy depends on the shooter. It should. 

The wads also raise the pressure, and improve the combustion of FFg powder, so that there is no felt difference in the amount of residue left between FFFg and FFg powders, when wads are used with both of them."

I'd try the OP cards instead of the felt wads myself and from what I can gather you really really need to know the diameter of the bore to get the right size wad/card since the correct size seems to make all the difference in the world. Some of the guys punch their own cards/wads and some order them from Track of the Wolf (they seem to have the best selection but by no means are they the only place to find them). I personally haven't tried it yet BUT I got myself a shooting chrono so I can test out all the different stuff.


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## fishfryer (Nov 5, 2010)

racin fan,As I said in my opening a discussion, on another forum was where the idea came from.Sam Fadala used to really push the waspnest buffer,he thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.As far as the right size wad,I've got days and days to play with that problem.My forum man said he used Wonder Wads,I'd rather make something than buy it,making a punch, or finding one in my junk won't be much of a problem.I've got many accurate .22's,I want a super accurate smokepole.


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## tv_racin_fan (Nov 5, 2010)

I forgot this info sir.

http://www.durofelt.com/image_19.html


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## Whiteeagle (Nov 5, 2010)

Been using wonder wads under prb's for more years than I want to admit, with good accuracy in both .45 Kentucky and .50 CVA Mountain rifle. Stabilizes pressure and helps keep bore fouling to a minimum. Can't say how it works in an in-line since I never fired one, but it works wonders with percussion and flintlocks.


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## Bernard goldsmith (Nov 5, 2010)

I'll go along with whiteeagle, lot of our club members use them!!


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## killitgrillit (Nov 5, 2010)

Been using felt wads for years, in fact I have a fixture to make my own now. they are used between the powder and bullet to help seal the gas until the bullet has been obturated  into the lands. Some use a felt wad, some use a veggie wad, The old timers used hornet nesting material  either way they work.


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## killitgrillit (Nov 5, 2010)

http://www.sefelt.com/standard.htm

 Here's where to get your felt.


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## fishfryer (Nov 6, 2010)

Thanks for the kind replies,report later


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## FERAL ONE (Nov 9, 2010)

fryer, if i shoot a buffalo ball-et, i use a felt button and get good accuracy out of my 50. i just like the old round ball and a ticking patch so that is what i use mostly .


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## majg1234 (Nov 20, 2010)

I use a felt wad over the powder on Ole Smokey a 40cal TVN flinter and on my Bobby Christian smooth bore 20 gauge flinter.Ole smokey will shoot less than 1/2" @ 60yds and the Smoothy shoots 1-1 1/2 @ 60 yds.The 40 cal gets a wonder wad for a ruger old army the 20 gauge uses 20 gauge wonder wads over the powder and over the ball,the ball is NOT patched ...so yes it does work well posts  of results on another forum

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/250928/post/906245/hl//fromsearch/1

/http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/250927/post/906815/hl//fromsearch/1/#906815


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## fishfryer (Nov 21, 2010)

majg1234,Thanks for the nice reply.I printed out the information you included.In the coming months I'm going to try the wad theory for myself.Waspnest,cornmeal,etc..


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## Supercracker (Nov 22, 2010)

I got a 1/2" punch from harbor freight and punch .50 OPW wads from scrap leather. Lightly oil/lube and they make good wads.

That said, I've never done back to back groups with it, but my patches indicate that I'm getting a lot less blow by with the leather wads.


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