Cap 'n ball wads

[Papa Irish]

Anyone make their own felt wads for their Cap'n ball guns?  What do you lube them with? Do you soak them first?

[Mako]

Yep, they look like this...



Three wads on the right are as cut, the ones on the left are soaked in the melted lube.  Then you fish them out and place them on paper to dry.  I'm not sure what you mean by "soaking them first", just dunk a bunch and let them soak up the lube.


I use the classic mutton tallow mix all done by weight, others have their own favorites.

1 Part Mutton Tallow
1 Part Canning Paraffin
1/2 Part Beeswax

e.g.
4 Ounces of Mutton Tallow
4 Ounces of Paraffin
2 Ounces of Beeswax

There is lots of information on this forum about lubes, use your search function first and also look in the Dark Arts.  Always ask yourself, "am I the first one the ask this?"  If you search and still need answers then ask specific questions.

~Mako

[Dick Dastardly]

Howdy Papa Irish,

You'll be pleased to know that there are now bullets for your C&B guns that don't need wads, cookies, over ball smears or any other adjuncts.  They are the Big Lube®LLC designs for C&B guns.  These bullets haul so much lube that your guns never foul out.

Right now, there are two 44 Cal designs (45 Cal to you cartridge shooters).  They are the DD/PUK/ROA-II 210 grain conical and the EPP-UG 150 grain that emulates a round ball.  Soon, a smaller version of the original EPP-UG 45 will be available.  I'm calling it the EPP-36.

These designs have rebated heals for easy starting in C&B chambers.  They are made to sit proud, just inside the chamber ready to be rammed home on the powder charge.

With these bullets the lube grove is so large that ALL the lube you could ever want is hauled in the bullet grove and held captive in the chamber till the chamber is fired.  Then, all that lube splashes around wetting everything downstream all the way to the muzzle and leaves a nice lube star on the muzzle.

I lube/size these bullets to chamber size for a nice snug interference fit.  They load easy, hold secure, shoot accurate all day long and make clean up very easy.

DD-DLoS

[Paladin UK]

Fer PA.

Like Mako says  +1
That mix is right on the money for keeping yer smokepoles runnin right!! 

Paladin (What lurvs his opentops ) UK

[Lefty Dude]

With Mako's lube mixture can you substitute Lard, Beef Tallow for the Mutton Tallow ?

[Chuckwagon Chad]

I use a 50/50 mix of crisco and beeswax. Melt it and pour it into a shallow pan. Once it is dry I cut them out with a .45 cartridge using a nail through the drilled out primer pocket to poke the "cookie" free. They fit perfectly into my walker and my army, either behind the bullet or in front. Makes cleanup nice and easy and costs hardly anything to make. And it doesn't foul the powder if you use it behind the bullet.

[Wolfgang]

I have wads from "Circle Fly" that are meant for putting under the .45 caliber bullets in .45-70 so as to protect the base of the bullet from the heat of the burning powder.  They are a three "ply" wad.    I've found that spitting them into three thin wads they work great to keep the lube that is over the ball from leaking out.  That's what I've been doing for a while and works good for me.   Powder, ball, lube  (  50/50 mix toilet bowl wax and olive oil ) thin over lube wad.  

[Mako]

With Mako's lube mixture can you substitute Lard, Beef Tallow for the Mutton Tallow ?

The advantage of Mutton Tallow is that it resists oxidation and therefore doesn't go rancid as quickly.  There are other tallows that have these properties, one of them is Deer tallow.  Beef Tallow goes bad quickly, lard is better, but it is often salted.  But even the Porcine Tallow goes rancid more quickly than Mutton Tallow.

There are also some fundamental differences in the fatty acids which in the case of saturated animal fats act as emulsifiers and give them their semi solid characteristics.  The three primary acids in Mutton Tallow are Oleic acid, Palmitic acid and Stearic Acid. Unless hydrogenated, a lot of tallows separate and you get an oily top film, this means it's breaking down.  Mutton tallow doesn't do that for many years.  The tallows you normally buy are not going to be hydrogenated, and if they were you'd pay a lot more for them.

I actually have some Mutton Tallow that is over 3 years old and it is NOT stored in an air-conditioned environment, it looks as good and smells the same as 6 pounds of Mutton Tallow I bought a couple of months ago.



Old tallow on the left, new on the right.

~Mako

[Papa Irish]

Thanks y'all

[hellgate]

Get a cheap hole punch set and use the 3/8" for the 36cal and the 7/16" for the 44. I chuck the hole punch  into a drill press at slow speed and cut  them out over a hardwood block. After I have a pile then I soak them in melted lube. I've used 50/50 beeswax & lard, beeswax & olive oil, beeswax & deer tallow, and straight deer tallow. I buy automotive felt 1/8" thick F-1 wool felt as floor scraps at a discount to the standard 3 ft wide rolls.

[Fox Creek Kid]

...

1 Part Mutton Tallow
1 Part Canning Paraffin
1/2 Part Beeswax

e.g.
4 Ounces of Mutton Tallow
4 Ounces of Paraffin
2 Ounces of Beeswax...

One cup of mutton tallow will weigh about 205 grams. There are 454 grams to a pound. So two cups plus about 4 fluid ounces should do it as far as a pound of the stuff goes, i.e., 20 fl. oz. I make mine in the larger (and for me simpler) formula of 1 lb. paraffin, 20 fl. oz. melted mutton tallow (1 lb.) & 1/2 lb. beeswax. Lot simpler math for me as I only like to make it once every several years as like all large mammals I am inherently sedentary. 

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I punch out wads from a pulp egg carton, & lube them as mentioned above.  Seem to work well and much cheaper than wonder-wads!

[cpt dan blodgett]

Mako

Where did you get 6lbs of mutton tallow?

[Mako]

Mako

Where did you get 6lbs of mutton tallow?

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/advanced_search_result.php?osCsid=25453bc95bd5da8bbc92b8af370eabf1&keywords=tallow&x=0&y=0

They were out for a long time, get it while you can.  They were having trouble getting it because it is used a lot in animal feed and the "mad cow" scare had processing plants not providing it (this is according to Dixie).

~Mako

[cpt dan blodgett]

They seem to be the only game in town.  Thought you may have had a real "Bulk" source. 

Just finished submitting my order.  Thought I might try thier synthetic Sperm Oil (Ahab turning over in his watery grave at the thought of synthetic not withstanding)

[Fox Creek Kid]

They seem to be the only game in town.  Thought you may have had a real "Bulk" source. 

Just finished submitting my order.  Thought I might try thier synthetic Sperm Oil (Ahab turning over in his watery grave at the thought of synthetic not withstanding)

Synthetic sperm whale oil is merely jojoba.

[cpt dan blodgett]

Jojoba - Living in Arizona I should just go out gather seed pods and squeeze my own.

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Jojoba - Living in Arizona I should just go out gather seed pods and squeeze my own.

Truer words may have never been spoken.  All you would need is a good press and other assorted sundries.

[Drayton Calhoun]

Besides, I've heard that the animal rights activists are hot on the trail of synthetic sperm whale poachers...after failing to save the skeet.

[TwoWalks Baldridge]

Besides, I've heard that the animal rights activists are hot on the trail of synthetic sperm whale poachers...after failing to save the skeet.

Last week got a notice they are trying to eliminate snipe hunting as well.