Buffalo Arms .44 Wad Punch

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Hawg

New member
I bought a cheap set from Harbor Freight. Nine punches for five bucks. May be a little more now.
 
M

Model12Win

Moderator
Hmm... I would say probably not. You want one thats about .450" or better, for a nice snug fit.

What many have done is take a 7/16" punch and ream/polish out the inside to both make the punch sharper and increase the diameter. Worth a shot if you can find a respectable 7/16" punch.
 
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BlackPowderBen

New member
Santa didn't want to give me one.
I went over to harbor freight and bought the punch set. If I can find cardboard egg cartons, (of course mine are plastic) and I get some felt, I'll see how they work.
 
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BlackPowderBen

New member
Well I tried the punch out on some cardboard and egg cartons.

First I used the punch with a hammer on a piece of 2x4, I noticed the top of the punch was getting deformed so I got a brass hammer and a block of cedar wood instead of the 2x4. After I punched out a bunch of wads I melted some crisco and put the wads in the mix and then laid them out on a sheet.

Now I need to try them out!
 

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M

Model12Win

Moderator
OP, are you using egg crate and cardboard for the wads themselves?

Not so sure that's the best way if you are. Look here:

http://www.durofelt.com/image_26.html

If I were you, I'd order you up some of this 1/8" hard felt. Then, look up "Gatofeo #1 lube" recipe. This is a great wad lube and is a mix of beeswax, mutton tallow, and paraffin wax. You can also omit the paraffin if you want and still have a good lube. You should melt up some of that lube and then moisten the felt with it. Then, punch your wads. You'll be rewarded with an extremely easy clean up and excellent accuracy. Your gun will run cylinder after cylinder.

Crisco might work okay during the winter, but when it gets warm it will run all over. With the felt wad, you'll get a wiping effect of the bore with each shot, and with the mentioned lube recipe you'll get a nice deposit of lube on the bore with each shot, which really loosens up powder fouling.

Just a thought, it's more work, but the results will be worth it, and it's part of the fun of black powder!

PS: The wads you make with the above method will be about 1/4 the cost of store bought wads. Far cheaper, and every bit as good if not better than Ox-Yoke brand wads.
 
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Hawg

New member
It will work better if you get a piece of 4X4 and use the end of it. I soak mine in olive oil and then set them out to dry.
 
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B.L.E.

New member
^^What Hawg said. Use a block of end grain wood for your cutting anvil and those punches work a lot better.
 
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BlackPowderBen

New member
Duro Felt is good because they have felt the exact size and density for wads. I could get a sheet that will make 1500 wads for $20. I noticed grainger hardware online had wool felt, anyone use theirs?
 
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BlackPowderBen

New member
I got some felt from durofelt along with some tallow, also I went to my local Michaels and got a pound of beeswax and made some wads. I went with a 2:1 mix of Tallow/Beeswax. I punched some wads out tonight and they came out great but the piece of wood i was using would get splinters on some of the wads.
It's pretty easy to do and it's these kind of procedures that makes black powder more fun.
 
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