Cheapest way to get felt for making wads?

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Darth-Vang

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Hey everyone, been watching videos of blackpowder enthusiasts making paper cartridges and watching them making felt wads. Was wondering if it’s cheaper to get it from the fabric store or cheaper to get it from “Durofelt” company? I haven’t look around yet to compare prices but if someone can point me to in the right direction…also what paper is best for making paper cartridges? I’m going to try to make paper cartridges with water glass as the glue. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
 
I got mine from Durofelt. It wasn't super cheap, but I can't really imagine using it all up.

There's no real agreement on the "best" paper. I prefer curling papers, inexpensively available from Amazon. Other folks claim best results with cigarette papers, and there are a few folks loyal to coffee filter material.
 
You can get 1/8" thick hard felt from Duro-Felt. I doubt you can get that from a fabric store. Hair curling paper makes better paper cartridges than cigarette paper.
 
hawg said:
You can get 1/8" thick hard felt from Duro-Felt. I doubt you can get that from a fabric store. Hair curling paper makes better paper cartridges than cigarette paper.
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If that’s the case how much should I get? Which brass casing would be suitable for punching out wads for a .31 cal 1849 pocket?
 
hawg said:
Your best bet is to get a cheap hole punch set from Harbor Freight. A 36"X12" sheet of felt will make over 2100 .36 caliber wads so it should make close to 3000 .31 caliber wads.
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I appreciate the input and advice you gave me. I’ll go that route and order from Durofelt and get some punches. Though what would be the right size punch for .31 cal and .36 cal?
 
Darth-Vang said:
I appreciate the input and advice you gave me. I’ll go that route and order from Durofelt and get some punches. Though what would be the right size punch for .31 cal and .36 cal?
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I get my felt from the Goodwill Store. I buy the old wool felt hats and punch the wads with the aforementioned Harbor Freight hole punches.
 
Darth-Vang said:
I appreciate the input and advice you gave me. I’ll go that route and order from Durofelt and get some punches. Though what would be the right size punch for .31 cal and .36 cal?
Click to expand...

3/8" for .36 cal. I don't have a .31 cal but I would try the same punch for it. Better oversize than undersize. I use a 1/2" punch (50 cal) for 45 cal. Felt is a bit forgiving.
 
Fyrstyk said:
I get my felt from the Goodwill Store. I buy the old wool felt hats and punch the wads with the aforementioned Harbor Freight hole punches.
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Do you limit your purchase to wool felt hats or any type of felt hats?
 
Lyle said:
Do you limit your purchase to wool felt hats or any type of felt hats?
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I can't quite tell if this is a joke or not, but there is quite a bit of felt made with acrylic and other synthetics, at least some of which is liable to leave streaks of melted plastic in the bore. I bought from Durofelt so that could be reasonably sure of what I was getting.
 
I look for hats that have a label that says they are 100% wool. I found 4 hats in one store. Got the 4 for $6.00. Enough felt to last me the rest of my shooting life.
 
Fyrstyk said:
I get my felt from the Goodwill Store. I buy the old wool felt hats and punch the wads with the aforementioned Harbor Freight hole punches.
Click to expand...

You must have better Goodwill stores than we do. I've never seen a felt hat in one here.


Darth-Vang said:
I appreciate the input and advice you gave me. I’ll go that route and order from Durofelt and get some punches. Though what would be the right size punch for .31 cal and .36 cal?
Click to expand...

3/8 for .36 and I believe 5/16 for .31.
 
Not sure why one is using felt wads with paper cartridges. But the cheapest methods for obtaining felt are referenced above.
 
MSCdirect sells hard wool felt, but its likely more expensive than that other place. About any thickness is available.

On a similar note, i bought a roll of 100% copper flashing from Menards for making gas checks. It enough to make thousands of gas checks and was 17 dollars.
 
I use a Dremel tool to open up the HF punches a little bit. Keep in mind, the info in following post is over a decade old so prices have come up and Brandon ain't helping the situation.

Do-It-Yourself Felt Wad Making
 
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Roverguy said:
Not sure why one is using felt wads with paper cartridges. But the cheapest methods for obtaining felt are referenced above.
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Yup. Wads are of little benefit (if not negative benefit - except to the wad-seller). In days of yore, Colt did not recommend wads of any kind in any of their revolvers. Similarly; Colt did not recommend using filler.
 
crstrode said:
Yup. Wads are of little benefit (if not negative benefit - except to the wad-seller). In days of yore, Colt did not recommend wads of any kind in any of their revolvers. Similarly; Colt did not recommend using filler.
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In days of yore people didn't go out and shoot for the fun of it. Lubed wads cut down on barrel fouling.
 
crstrode said:
Yup. Wads are of little benefit (if not negative benefit - except to the wad-seller). In days of yore, Colt did not recommend wads of any kind in any of their revolvers. Similarly; Colt did not recommend using filler.
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Right, because Colt had already figured everything out to perfection and 160 years later he would not recommend any changes including using modern alloy. Colt probably would not recommend that I shoot 60 grains of 3FFFg out of my Walker but, I do anyway. :D

I don't know that Colt used to target shoot 100+ rounds in one outing. If he did would he have recommended something different?
 
A list of what "Colt did not recommend" would be long and not very useful.

Sometimes I use filler to just take up chamber space - especially in brass framed revolvers. I use Duro-felt wads because they work well for the intended purpose.

Crstrode, what is a "negative benefit"?
 
Sam Colt recommended proper fitting cap and an oversized ball that shaved lead. No lube and now wax or tubing on the caps. He was confident enough in his system that he would load a cylinder, drop it in a bucket of water, talk to an audience for 1/4 to 1/2 hours, retrieve the cylinder, mount it in the revolver and shot six shots. Did he shoot 100 rounds a day? No, neither do I. A long day might be 4-5 cylinder and maybe 10 rounds with a rifle. Never been a big fan of shooting at paper unless in competition.

Kevin
 
This same topic thread was running elsewhere a couple of weeks ago.
I use DuroFelt and allowed as how many “felt” products are synthetic and not wool. Many of those used items from thrift shops could melt under the heat of the black powder. Felt hats even real wool ones are generally to thin for my liking.

Any way another member said he solved, the is it wool felt, question by carrying a bick lighter.
Melts, not wool, not melt, wool. :)
 
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