I think the instruction to put the wad over the ball is a textual error that was never caught by a proof reader.loading instructions for my Traditions C&B pistol, an 1851 Navy. It went thru the whole process and at the end said to place a wad over the ball.
Well, this may throw a few of you for a loop. I remember back in
62, my dad used to load powder, then place a strip of leather over
the cylinder, place the ball on top and press the ball with the ram and
that would punch a perfect hole right through the leather. He'd do that
with a model 1863 Starr SA .44 cap & ball, (original).