Punching out 12 guage components questions.

[Jessegreenwood]

So, difficulty in getting 12 guage reloading components locally has made me experiment with making components. So I got a 19mm punch. I have a few questions;
1) how thick/what kind of cardboard for over powder cards. I am interested in both pyrodex/black, and smokeless. Have lots of corrugated or Cereal boxes.
2) what to use for fiber wads? Would asphalt coated “buffalo board” work? Perhaps with wax after cutting. I know cork works for the cushion, but don’t think it is the best gas seal.
3) is there a way to make felt wads from raw wool without making a sheet of felt first? I have bags and bags of raw sheep wool, and alpaca wool, but that is so much cleaner I would prefer to use the sheep.
4) what would make a good base wad for a paper shell. I have had success taking the high brass off shells, and these would be best if I wanted to load black powder shells(and just Fun) maybe hole saw 1/4” plywood or mdf? Maybe mdf after it is degraded by wetting and drying out?

Multiple experiments, mostly as research, would love to hear others results.

 

[mbogo3]

I've used thick 1/4" -1/2" felt used to make saddles as a cushion behind conicles in my muzzle loaders. No reason they wouldn't work in a shotgun.

 

[saskbooknut]

You need a strong over powder wad - 1/8 inch thick or so.
Gas that gets by your wad column destroys patterns.
Easiest cushion wad material is fibre ceiling tile.
Yes, wool needs to be felted to make good wads.

 

[tigrr]

Hummanson.com or Rusty Wood trading would have what you wanted.

 

[vagrantviking]

bilozir.net/ also has fiber and card wads as well as all brass hulls.
Track of the Wolf or Buffalo Arms are also suppliers.

Ten-test or "buffalo board" makes good wads but you want to find the stuff without tar. Used as sound deadening between walls.

 

[Ashcroft]

I’ve played in this arena.
The over powder wad needs to be quite sturdy to prevent burning through or crumbling but it also needs to be a snug bore fit and capable of expansion under pressure to fit the bore to prevent blow by. Cork works very well, craft stores like Michael’s are your friend. Multiple layers of solid cardboard from cereal boxes works.
Felt, Donnaconna (sp) , ceiling tile, are too fragile for overpowder wads but make great filler wads. I use felt inner soles.
And yes Bilozir is your friend here, he carries most components for built up loads in stock.

 

[Longwalker]

i have some experience with old style wads, and have made some of my own. Cereal boxes are Ok for over shot cards and a roll crimp. But my understanding is that they are almost useless as an over powder card. They are too thin to support the wad column without blow by of powder gasses. You need very stiff cardboard of 1/8" thickness, 0.125" - or thicker. Then your cushion wad on top of that, which can be fibre or cork or dense felt. Soft felt is OK to put in the bottom of a modern plastic shot cup to fill space but not so great as an actual tubular shaped wad.