Does anyone have a reputable source for the use of a greased, felt wad between ball and powder in cap and ball sixguns?
The late gun writer, Elmer Keith, was born in 1899 and spent his early years in Helena, Montana. In his books "Sixguns" and "Keith: An Autobiography" he wrote that he carried his first sixgun when he was 14, about 1913.
Keith writes that there were many Civil War veterans in the Helena area in those days, and they showed him how to load that first gun --- A Colt's Model 1851 Navy in .36 caliber.
Keith loaded his Navy with powder, then a stiff felt wad greased with tallow, followed by a round ball.
The old vets told him they much preferred the round ball to the conical bullet. The conical bullet tended to quickly zip through an adversary, while the flatter-faced ball apparently transferred all of its energy and "took all the fight out of them."
Keith suggests punching the felt wads from an old hat, then soaking them in tallow (lard).
Anyway, approximately 1913 is the earliest reference I've found to the use of greased felt wads in cap and ball sixguns.
I'd be interested to learn if earlier accounts mention it, or if any old loaded gun has had its loads pulled and the remnants of a greased wad found the ball. Of couse, this would be very difficult to date.
I use a felt wad, greased with a very old mixture of paraffin, mutton tallow and beeswax, in my own cap and ball revolvers. This gives outstanding results: minimal fouling and excellent accuracy at 25 and 50 yards.
The old Colts, and their modern reproductions, are generally sighted to hit dead-on at 75 to 100 yards. In the hands of an experienced pistolero, a man can be easily hit at this range --- and a man can be seriously worried out to 200 yards.
I know it sounds incredible, but I've shot my revolvers out to 200 yards or more at man-sized rocks and bushes. If I don't outright hit them, I get mighty close.
The larger .44s do better at long range than the .36 and .31 calibers.
Anyway, let me know if you have any references to greased felt wads earlier than 1913. I'd appreciate it.