Thread: DIY Fibre wads?

Howdy,
I'm just about to start loading up some BP shotshells but am getting stuck trying to make some decent fibre wads, closest I've had to success so far is a 22mm hole saw into MDF (I think) giving me 18mm wads but they are very flaky and fell apart while measuring.

So, What do you use for wad material? and how are you cutting it?

I've seen mentions of pinex, cork and wool being used, but cutting it would still be my sticking point.

I used to use ceiling Pinex. Can you still get Pinex though? Mate had a special 12g cutter that you put in a drill press for making wads.

IIRC I had one thin stiff overpowder wad (cut with correct sized wad punch) followed by 2 Pinex wads, one dry and one lubed. I lubed the wads by dunking them in a hot sausepan of cooking oil (crisco?) of some sort.
Same thin stiff wad over the shot. I gave up roll crimping or folding and just ran a track of pva glue around the outside of the over shot wad. Although the pva doesn't stick well to plastic hulls I never had a wad come loose in the second barrel (and all the shot rolling out of the barrel) when firing the first barrel of a double barrel shotgun.

Seems like you can still buy pinex tiles (https://revivebuildingrecyclers.co.n...ts/pined-tiles) , I've got some board similar but its quite a pain to cut and comes out at 17mm with the same 22mm hole saw, so undersized for 12 gauge which should be a smidge over 18mm just converting the numbers from inches,
hopefully someone has a decent idea for cutting them.

I think I've got the overshot card sorted doing it like you described, just have to get some decent punches as the ones I brought wouldn't cut the cereal box I was using. was just stuck on the wads, maybe someone has a tool they wouldn't mind duplicating for me.

Yep, those tiles are thinner than the older original Pinex I used. Would need to put in maybe an extra wad. As far as using a 22mm hole saw it might work if the teeth are removed by grinding down leaving just a sharp ege. Pinex is too thick to wack with a wad punch unfortunately.

Wads need to be tight in the barrel so there's no blow past and destruction of the pattern, also the tight wads help to sweap the barrel of BP muck.

The stuff I've got laying around is 25mm thick which is what im using for experimenting have around 4 square meters of it, can always cut and/or stack wads where needed I guess,

Forgive my ignorance but why remove the teeth of the hole saw?

I have certainly had issues getting the wads out of the hole saw, I'll have a look around and see if theres a tool somewhere overseas that might work well, would be easier If I could just buy the pre made wads, much like the 12g brass though they seem to be unavailable

Originally Posted by zimmer

Yep, those tiles are thinner than the older original Pinex I used. Would need to put in maybe an extra wad. As far as using a 22mm hole saw it might work if the teeth are removed by grinding down leaving just a sharp ege. Pinex is too thick to wack with a wad punch unfortunately.

Wads need to be tight in the barrel so there's no blow past and destruction of the pattern, also the tight wads help to sweap the barrel of BP muck.

How about getting a shit load cut by a CNC laser cutter or water jet cutter?

May or may not work, and probably be worth it if a bunch of us chipped in for a big sack of em cut.

The cutter I used belonging to a mate was specially made to cut 12g wads. Back then those sorts of things were available. It had a sprung centre plunger that popped the wad out once cut. Even if successfully cutting them with a hole saw it would be a pain getting each wad out of the saw. And of course, hole saws never seem to exactly cut the hole to the size of the saw bloody things.

I think 25 mm is the old thick Pinex, not the Michelangelo version of ceiling tiles.

To make the holesaw into a knife rather than a messy ripping saw. Effectively a rotary wadcutter like my mate's.

That makes sense, Guess ill try that for now and see if I can make any useful wads that way.

I have never thought to use cushion wads without lube so I can't comment on pattern. The theory as handed down to me, is that it not only stops shot deformation, but also softens the fouling, which is then wiped by the following card wad.

You can also adjust your pattern by going either-side of the traditional powder/shot measure, though I should think it would be a nuisance trying to keep track of which shells represent which "choke" out of which barrel!

There's very little lathe work for the old scatter guns, all done by hand. And except in a case of neglect, soft metal, or cheap manufacture i would expect it would rattled off the face long before you'd worn out the tubes.

Sounds like I’ll have some experimenting to do with lubed and un-lubed wads
I’m aiming for some lighter loads, not quite cowboy level but still want to be able to shoot critters without issue.
The old shotguns got some rust putting down the barrels have given it a good scrubbing but still not great, was hoping to machine up some full length gauge adapters so it can still be used, locks up tight just not comfortable with barrel condition to use it, Damascus pattern has become indistinguishable so some work will need to be put in some time, just playing with other things at the moment.

Originally Posted by 11mms

I have never thought to use cushion wads without lube so I can't comment on pattern. The theory as handed down to me, is that it not only stops shot deformation, but also softens the fouling, which is then wiped by the following card wad.

You can also adjust your pattern by going either-side of the traditional powder/shot measure, though I should think it would be a nuisance trying to keep track of which shells represent which "choke" out of which barrel!

so thats with black powder..equal measure of shot and powder BY VOLUME ..less shot= faster n looser pattern less powder = slower and tighter
so IN THEORY if you dropped two measures of shot into your desired case,you can easily work out how much wad column height you need to make up...poke most of that between the two substances and the rest goes in as overshot wad/card
when using lead shot..and lets face it,why would you want to go steel n black powder other than a "take the micky load" to slip into mates gun on opening weekend...plastic wads are optional but not essential.I would happily reuse them for a lower pressure BP load...actually,ones picked up at gun club might be ideal as some already have short petals,not that its hard to snip them off anyway.

@NAKED_GOOSE Just found the remainder of my old wads. I'll photo a phot and dimensions.

Many thanks,
From what I've found I should be aiming for 0.710" for winchester hulls, but .750" for cheddite and then .760 for magtec brass (which I dont yet have)

Card, greased pinex then shot is my version the grease sort of glues the wad together and makes it much easier to load. Pin in the wad and a quick dip in beeswax /lard 1:1 then allow to harden .