Part of the self-sufficiency aspect of shooting cap and ball revolvers is making your own lubed wads to sit between the powder and the round ball in each of your cylinder’s chambers.
The best material to use for black powder revolver wads is 1/8″ 100% hard wool felt. You soak it in your preferred lube and punch out the disks when the lube hardens.
What size punch is needed for your black powder revolver?
The correct punch size for making your own cap and ball revolver wads are 5/16″ for .31 caliber, 3/8″ for .36 caliber, and either the 7/16″ or 15/32″ punch for .44 caliber models.
Punch Sizes for Cap and Ball Revolver Wads
| Caliber | Punch Size | Diameter |
|---|---|---|
| .31 | 5/16" | .3123" |
| .36 | 3/8" | .375" |
| .44 | 7/16" | .4375" |
| .44 | 15/32" | .46875" |
Where to Find Punches for Cap and Ball Revolver Wads?
If you’re looking for a robust hollow punch that is now going to break or let you down, I highly recommend checking out trackofthewolf.com and seeing what they have available. They have punches for the .36 and .44 caliber revolvers (the last time I checked). Keep in mind that they are pretty pricey for the cost of a single punch, but “buy once, cry once”, right?
I went with the middle-of-the-road option by buying this single punch from Amazon. It hasn’t failed me yet, but I fully expect it to have a quality above generic set of punches from a less than reputable brand and below the ones offered by Track of the Wolf. Remember to select your desired size.
Since black powder shooting can be an expensive hobby to get into at the onset, you might be looking to save some money by buying a complete set of punches like these from Amazon.
Just remember to have your backstop for the punch be something soft like a pine board or a thick piece of hard rubber or you’ll risk dulling or chipping the punch.
I would also personally avoid any punch that has a handle shaped like a “Y” that leads to a punch on top of the “Y”. The welds seem to break on many customer reviews at the top of the “Y” and the actual punch separates from the handle.
Where to Find Felt for Cap and Ball Revolver Wads?
I, like most other black powder enthusiasts, recommend DuroFelt products. I went with the second option which is 36″x24″. A little pricey, but I doubt I’ll ever have to buy felt again for a very long time since I prefer to shoot .36 caliber.
According to their site, you can get 1500 wads of .44 caliber or 2,100 wads of .36 caliber out of a single 36″x12″ sheet. I doubled the square footage and maybe I’ll even make some wads to sell on Ebay… Hmm…
What Lube Recipe Should I use for Cap and Ball Revolver Wads?
Remember, you can use your wads dry (without lube) if you prefer, and that might be the best option for long-term loading so that your lubricant in the wad won’t leach out and dampen the powder.
If, however, you’re looking to be shooting at the range for a while, then it is certainly better to use a lubed wad for cleaning up fouling, seasoning the barrel, and making cleanup a much easier process.
I have a dedicated article to the subject of making the proper black powder lube and I highly recommend you check it out to see what ratios work best in different environments.