Who makes or carries good quality wad punches?

[Trigger1212]

For those of you that have the Cornell press punch, what caliber holder do you have to use?

As stated earlier I have the Forester co-axe press, it does not have a traditional holder per se, it uses plates that slide in from the sides, couple different sizes covers most calibers. If I cannot make it work then I could just take the die to my brothers on my trip up there and use his RCBS and just set down for awhile and make a big bag full.

I've heard KW and another gent pipe up that they use the next smaller caliber for their wads, i.e. 38 in a .40 cal case. I can see that would be a hell of a lot easer to drop in.

1. Does the bit of unexposed bullet base ever cause a problem with wad sticking or is that area so small as it makes no difference as long as you have done a good job wiping the base of the bullet?

2. Do you put in a single piece of newspaper wad or 2? Better chance of separation with 2 of them or am I over thinking this? Probably am!

Thanks guys

Wade

[Coltsmoke]

Take the shell holder out of the ram, and install the punch. The bottom of the punch is shaped like the bottom of a shell holder. I use the same size wad in the case if I'm not sizing the case any, if I neck size or FL size then I use the next smaller size wad . Using the next size smaller will not cause any problems. I think one wad will do the job.

[Trigger1212]

Colt

Thanks for the visual on how the punch attaches to the ram. I was thinking it slid into a specific sized holder.

Will are all ram’s dimensions the same so this punch will work with any press?

If yes then I may pick up the cheapest used Lee press I can find on eBay and I should be good to go.

At $62 a copy want to make sure I choose the right one though. .40 or .38? Hate these deals, wish it was just one choice and go.

Wade

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Wade,

You misunderstood my post, I use the undersize wads for primer wads at the bottom of the case. They drop to the bottom of the case before I put in powder. Not on top of the powder wad.

Hope that clears up your misconceptions.

KW

[Coltsmoke]

I don't know if they are all the same or not, RCBS is the only one I've had.

[Coltsmoke]

If you are going to shoot a .40 and a .45, just to start with buy the .40 you can use it for both. Then you can decide if it is working for both, if not then you can either buy a .38 or the .45 depending on which way you want to go. The .40 may be all you need. If not the .40 will be one of the two punches you will have to have anyway.

[MikeT]

"Will are all ram’s dimensions the same so this punch will work with any press?"
Yes.

Keep on hav'n fun!
MikeT

[Trigger1212]

KW,

Got it, makes sense, I did initially miss the over primer part, thanks for the clarification! Having said that, DO you use a newspaper wad between your over powder wad and the base of the bullet? Starting out I'm not going to worry about the over primer wad, not shooting long range, per se, just BPCR to start. I CAN see where anything that would add consistency to your vertical at distance would be valued. Once upon a time, long ago, I was a member of the USMC National High Power Rifle Team. Was fortunate enough to win the National Long Range Championship of all branches of the service (Inter-Service Match) which was the agg between the 600 and 1,000 lines. M-14, irons. So I fully appreciate what it takes to compete at distance. Buuuut, that was many moons ago, young body with good eyes! Actually, I don't think the eyes/body will be the hardest part of getting back into this, reading the wind will be the ass-kicker, that is a VERY perishable skill, and even if your quite good at it you will be at your best if you can stick to one cartridge, get that ballistic drop/drift DOWN. Not gonna be pretty getting that figured out again!

One of the benefits of having a very very long rifle build gestation time, is that you forget about some of the odds-n-sods pieces you pick up as you go along. I'm setting here agonizing over ram punches, vs a quality hammer punch, vs what cal, blah blah. Then I think, crap, I don't have a powder compression die yet! Or a blow tube (relax, PP will come with time!). Went down stairs to do some reorganizing of a shooting box I picked up and started digging through my possibles box. Found a new 40-65 blow tube, new 38, 40, and 45 cal hammer punches by BACO and BACO expander and powder compression dies. By golly it IS Thanksgiving! just came from my bench and hammered out a zip lock bag of wads for each cal. Punches worked fantastic, grab your trusty BFH, good tap on a poly cutting board, perfect wads.

On top of all that I pulled out the Christmas lights, damn things all worked! Great leap forward when then went to LEDs but they still corrode and legs break off the LEDs killing whole sections of the lights. Who ever designed those lights should be horse whipped, then shot for good measure. I'd pay twice the amount if they would build them right so if one bulb goes, only one bulb goes, you go right to it and replace it and your good. Only light that was out was one clear screw in bulb on the cow at my nativity set, easy fix.

I should have bought a lotto ticket tonight.....

Wade

[Perentie]

The family I am schooling to shoot BP were impressed with my Cornell wad punches and tried to buy one off BACO but out of stock.
Is Fred still making them or is there another way to get one?
I dont really want to cut their patches too. They are using the hammer method still.
Keith

[steveu834]

Did they call BACO? It may say oos, but they may be like ordering a mould. Put the order in and a few weeks later a package arrives form them.

[bobw]

I've had a 44 cal Cornell punch backordered for close to 2 years now from Baco. Bobw

[Perentie]

Thanks. I will get them to order one anyway. See what happens.