What Filler and Grease do you recommend for loading?

G

Gaz_in_NZ

New member
And finally the last question for today.... What filler and/or grease do you find works well for you?

Thanks once again
Gaz
 
Problem is with the Walker, it's best load for accuracy is 21grains of Goex fffg which leaves a lot of space in the cylinders that needs filling up with wads, this would take a lot of wads which is why I use filler, the only other alternative is to use 50 grains which for some reason is just as accurate (if a little higher of POI than the 21grain option) but this uses 300 grains of powder per cylinder full which can be a bit expensive after a couple of hours shooting.
I quite like the 50 grain load but I get complaints from the 9mm brigade who think it's noisy and smokey.

Cheers
Gaz
 
ahoy GAZ from Texas

I exercised my walker 3 weeks ago along with my 1851 navy and 1860 army. my walker was fed a variety of charges that day from 20 grns of pyrodex to 50-55 grns, to 30 grn pellets. I have ALWAYS used 1 felt wad (Oxyoke wounder wad) between the powder and the ball. I have never used filler either. (just don't see the need for it, although others do) So I don't see a need for more than 1 wad and have never heard anyone attest to doing so.
I have never had a chain fire after hundreds of balls (400+ in the walker alone) and have only capped the cylinders twice with lube. found it to be way to messy in the Texas heat and have stuck with the wads ever since. I am , however, very focused at my time of loading. checking for clean cylinder mouths after loading, etc.
so thats my two cents, for what its worth.
Here's my little honey in her custom box.

Everybody should have at least one dontcha think? :D
 
I use card wads w/o lube between powder & ball.
Quit using any grease over the ball. After a shot or two there isn't anymore
grease over the remaining balls & grease just makes a huge mess
& a slippery revolver.
25 grains 3fg seems to give best accuracy in my .44s and one 1/4"
punched card wad over powder brings the ball to the top if the cylinder
just about perfectly.
(really NICE Walker & box!)
 
Ditto ^^^ on the unlubed wads and load.
Like most folks, for years I followed the traditional wisdom of covering the ball with lots of sloppy stuff.
Then found out that a dry wad works just as well, home made from thick auto gasket paper.
25 grains and wads is also a good range load in my .44.
 
For voderladen waffen (front loading weapons) I use nothing but powder, patch and ball.

For revolvers, I use rancid stuff like cornmeal or farina (decades old).
 
I follow Sam Colt's instructions for loading my open top Colt clones. Power, balls and caps. No wads. No filler. No grease. No problems.
 
Thanks all, appreciate the replies.

With this adding filler thing, I was told it was because you didn't want any airspace with the Goex in the cylinder as this could produce unstable burning and possibly very high pressure.

I also got told it was there to keep the Goex in contact with the flash hole in the nipple to ensure proper and total ignition of the powder.

So then.... is it one of these reasons or is it something totally different?
It seems more and more to me that the actual real reasons for most of these things we end up doing that have become a "must do" today, have been lost somewhere in the annals of time.

Bushmaster,
Love that box... gotta make one for my Walker... then my son will want me to make one each for his and my 1858 Remy's.
Smokin'Joe I follow Sam Colt's instructions for loading my open top Colt clones. Power, balls and caps. No wads. No filler. No grease. No problems.
Click to expand...
I must admit Joe, it seems to have worked rather well like that for quite some years now... so if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I do use .457 balls in my Walker and the 1858 Remy's and they are quite a tight fit and always shave a ring off when being loaded and I'm always careful not to put the molding Spru Flat (if the ball has one) against the Cylinder wall as this can cause an air gap.

Cheers All
Gaz
 
I only shoot in competition and I and the others I shoot with use "Creme-of-wheat" as a filler to get the ball closer to the forcing cone for accuracy. Will be
heading to the Nationals at Friendship Indiana this comming weekend. I'm 71
now, so don't know it's going to go. I probably ought to retire. I guess I don't
know when to quit.
 
I use Cream of Wheat as a filler, and a 50/50 Beeswax/Crisco lube over the balls.

Lube is required in N-SSA competition. There is probably a belief that it helps reduce chain fires.

Steve
 
It seems more and more to me that the actual real reasons for most of these things we end up doing that have become a "must do" today, have been lost somewhere in the annals of time.
Click to expand...

Interesting.

If, in fact, there were actual real reasons lost to the annals of time, how would we recognize them if we found them? Are they engraved on brass tablets or something?

I think perhaps you're likely to endure the same fate as Diogenes in your search.
 
I really doubt any fillers were used back in the day. It is true that Colt advised against wads under the balls. It is known that Gen. Robert E Lee used a black waxy substance over the balls in his 51 navy but I suspect that was more for waterproofing than anything else. Methinks the modern use of lubes/wads etc is more to prolong a shooting session without having to clean than anything else.
 
.........Cream of Wheat as a filler, and a
50/50 Beeswax/Crisco lube over the balls.
Click to expand...
^^^^
*This*

I also used a small/mini grease gun filled w/ white litium grease during my N-SSA days.
Just squeezed it into the depressions on the side of the seated balls using the 4" extension
tube that came as part of the gun. Worked great.
 
I experimented Sunday with my 1851 Navy in .44 Steel frame. 6 shots each with 25 grains, 20 grains, and 17 grains with a greased wad and no filler. 17 grains held the tightest group.
 
Well

For filler, I use cream of wheat.

For lube I started with Crisco and found it was not stiff enough. I was shooting in Hawaii and Guam while on active duty in the Navy. It was always way to hot for pure Crisco. SO I started mixing it with the ring seals frorm toilets at about fifty/fifty.

I use this in cap and ball revolvers.

For cartridge (BP) I use a mix of either mutton tallow or lard along with beeswax.
 
I don't use fillers. For lube I use 50/50 Beeswax/Crisco with a dash of olive oil added. also works great as a bullet lube with the PRS bullets, for blackpowder handloads in .45 Colt
 
Another daft question... maybe.

Thanks all for the excellent replies and invaluable advice.

But here's a possibly daft question but:-
If you use 19grains (my Walker is quite accurate at 19grains), a wad and no filler then I am supposing the wad is tamped down on top of the powder first and the ball loaded on top of that...
What happens if there is an air gap between the wad and the ball?
Or can you get different thickness wads? I have seen some quite thick cork wads.
What's the exact process for using wads instead of filler?

Cheers
Gaz
 
With BP:

- No (no) air gap. period.

- Fill with sufficient/type of material that seating the ball pushes
the filler/wad down to put firm pressure on the powder.

- If you have to, use multiple wads to fill the gap.

Me? I just use a dipperful of cornmeal.
 
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