I bought my felt weather stripping at a True Value hardware. I've never seen it at Home Depot.
The weather stripping is, I recall, 17 feet long and about 2 inches wide. It's made by Frost King, which has companies in Nevada and New Jersey.
Sorry, I'm at work and don't have access to a package right now.
You'll find it as a gray roll in a plastic package. Frost King uses yellow plastic packages.
Many black powder books say, "get an old felt hat ..."
Yeah. Right. Ever tried to find one? I looked in thrift shops for years for an old cowboy hat, fedora or crusher. Not a one. Until someone told me about the felt weather stripping, I was forced to buy Wonder Wads.
Here's how to load that revolver:
1. Add a measured powder charge.
2. Push the well-lubricated felt wad into the chamber.
3. Use the rammer to seat the wad firmly on the powder but don't crush the powder.
4. Use an oversized ball. In the .44s this means balls of .454 or .457 inch. I know, I know ... the books say .451 inch but best accuracy will be with an even larger ball. The larger ball, when swaged into the chamber, creates a wider belt around the ball for the rifling to grip. It also creates a better seal and keeps the balls from moving with recoil.
For .36 caliber revolvers, use a .380 inch ball. Cast your own with a Lee or Lyman mould or purchase them from Warren Muzzleloading of Arkansas. See
www.warrenmuzzlelading.com5. Seat the ball firmly on the seated wad.
6. Use proper fitting caps. Your revolver will likely use No. 10 or 11 caps. Some of the older replicas of the Dragoon and Walker use No. 12 caps, which are very difficult to find.
Why do you seat the wad separately from the ball? A number of reasons:
a. If you forget to add powder, it's easier to remove a wad than a lead ball.
b. The amount of force required to seat the ball is reduced. Thus, the ball is not deformed and you get a better "feel" for how much force you're applying to the ball.
c. The wad, seated first, will keep powder from spilling from the other chambers as you seat the ball.
Careful loading of the cap and ball revolver will improve accuracy. Have fun!