Rolling Rounds

Step # 1

The first step in making your rounds is to cut out the paper for the tubes. At the bottom of the page is a link to a template which you can print. You then trace and cut the template out of cardboard or thin wood. Use this template to cut out the paper. (Dimensions are on the template.) The best way to cut the paper is a razor knife. The best paper to use is newspaper print type paper. This can be found at any art supply store. Do not use newspaper that has print on it ... not very period! Other light weight paper maybe used if it is off white. Regular printer paper is too heavy and will not work too well.

If you do not want to make tubes, you can purchase pre-rolled tubes from sutlers or other sources. You can buy them from this site too! See our company store. -  Company Store

Step # 2

Assemble The Gear

Once you have your round paper cut, you are ready to put together the rest of your tools for making rounds. One good trick is to buy a cheep, large plastic tool box and keep all your round rolling gear in one place. All the items that you use around the black powder need to be made of plastic or brass. YOU WANT NO CHANCE OF SPARKS! Here is what you are going to need:

Black Powder - FF (Double F) power is the best and most period. Goex or White Elephant are common brands. You can use FFF (Triple F) but steer away from F (Single F) because it is much too coarse. Do NOT use smokeless powder, Pyrodex, or any other type of accelerant that is available for modern black powder shooting. Only use straight black powder. One pound of black powder should make between 100 - 120 rounds depending on how many grains you use per round.

Brass or Plastic Powder Spouts - These are spouts that fasten onto the powder can that allow you to pour powder into your powder measure.

String - Kite sting or light twine to tie your round packages. Cut them into 12-14” lengths.

Round Holder - Although you can roll rounds without one, round holders make the job easier. There are different kinds and most are home made. The most common is a 3/4 “ thick board with holes drilled into it to hold the rounds once they are poured and folded. Check with the veterans in the unit to see what they are using.

Tissue Paper - Toilet paper that has been torn into single sheets. This is going to be used as wadding to replace the space in your round where the lead bullet would normally be. This helps keep the round the proper size.

Plastic Bowl - Pouring powder can get messy and you don’t want to dump it ion the floor or table.

Round Wrappers - These are paper sheets (you can use white or off white printer paper for these) you will package ten rounds in. You can take 8.5 x 11” sheets and cut them down to about 8 x 9”.

Round Papers - These are the papers you cut out in Step # 1.

Wood Dowel - This is a 1/2” dowel about 8” long. It helps to sand the dowel a little to give it a really smooth finish. You can also draw a line around the dowel to mark how far to slide the paper up when you are going to crimp or tie the end of it. (This mark will be about 4” from one end if you use the template given in Step# 1)

Round Labels - These are the labels that will be glued onto the outside of the label package. There is a link at the end of this page to print some labels.

Pencil, Scissors & Glue - A pencil is used to pack the wadding into the bottom of the tube. Scissors are for cutting the paper, string and labels. The Glue is to glue the labels onto the round packages.

Brass Funnel - This is used for pouring spilled powder from the plastic bowl back into the powder can or for poring powder into the rounds if you do not have a powder measure with a spout. NO METAL FUNNELS! Only brass or plastic.

Powder Measures - Powder measures are used to measure out the proper amount of black powder for your rounds. There are many different kinds of measures. You want at measure that will allow you to measure between 50 and 100 grains of powder. Most measures are adjustable. If you don’t have an adjustable measure, you can use a plastic teaspoon  and a funnel. NO METAL MEASURES! Only brass or plastic.

Step # 3

 Lay out the round paper as shown to the right. Then lay the wood dowel over the paper. Notice the orientation of the paper. This is important!

Step # 4

Start rolling the paper around the wooden dowel as shown. Keep it tight. Watch the right  edge of the paper to make sure it stays straight. Roll the paper all the way onto the dowel.

Step # 5

Slide the paper down the tube to the line you have drawn on the dowel. Lining the paper up with this line should give you about 1/2” of paper sticking out over the end of the dowel.

Step # 6

You should have about 1/2” of paper over the end of the wood dowel.

Step # 7

Twist the end of the paper down to the end of the dowel. Twist tight.

Step # 8

After twisting the end of the paper tube, fold it over. Slowly press your thumb into the end of the tube forcing the fold into the end of the tube. At the same time, rotate the dowel and pull it slowly out of the tube. You should end up with a nice crimp on the end of the tube. You should end up with the dowel out of the tube.

Step # 9

Roll up a single sheet of toilet paper to use as wadding. This is done to take the place of a bullet so that the rounds you make are about the same size as the rounds were during the Civil War. Cram the wad into the end of the paper tube. (If you are rolling rounds for a .69 cal musket or you are putting more than 70 grains of powder in your tubes, you may want to tear the wadding in half or eliminate all together. Try a few and experiment on how much wadding works the best for you.)

Step # 10

Use the end of your pencil to pack the wadding into the end of the tube. Be sure you set the end of the tube on a table or a hard surface so that you do not push out your crimped end.

Step # 11

A finished tube! The tube should be about 4” long or so. The end should be crimped down into the end of the tube for a good seal. The open end should be even. (If you are making rounds for living histories that are going to be displayed to the public, you can tie the end of the tube with string instead of twisting and crimping it. During the Civil War, the ends were tied with string.) You can see an example of the two types of rounds on our Equipment Page. Now we are ready for the black powder.

Step # 12

Set your powder measure to the correct grain setting. For most .58 cal muskets, between 60 - 70 grains is the standard load. Place the plastic or brass spout on the powder can and pour the black powder into your measure. Pour the powder over your plastic bowl so you don’t spill on the table or floor. Again, if you do not have a proper measure, a teaspoon of FF black powder is equal to about 70 grains.

Step # 13

Holding the paper tube over your bowl, pour the powder into the tube. If you are using a spoon, use your brass or plastic funnel to deliver powder into the tubs.

Step # 14

With both hands, pinch and fold the top of the tube as shown at the right. Then fold the end tail of the tube flat all the way down to the level of the powder.

Step # 15

Fold the tail over down the side of the tube. Crease it as much as possible.

Step # 16

As you fill and fold the tubes, place them in the round holder. This is a board with holes drilled in it to hold the rounds after they have been filled. This holder will hold them with the tabs down.

Step # 17

Once you get (10) rounds poured and folded, you are ready to make a package.

Step # 18

A - Place the round wrapper in your package  holder and crease the edges. (The round holder should have walls on it that are about 3” apart.) You will have to experiment a little to make sure you have the proper placement.

B - If you do not have a round holder, you can fold the round wrapper and lay it on the table. This is a little more difficult, but will work. Again, you will need to experiment to find out where the folds should be.

Step # 19

Start removing the rounds out of the holder and placing them in the paper wrapper as shown above. Stack them tightly with the tabs down to hold them shut.

Step # 20

Stack (5) rounds on the bottom and then (5) rounds on top of them. Stack them with the tails down to keep them from popping open.

Step # 21

After stacking the rounds into the wrapper, fold the wrapper over. Pull the sides tight to square up the packet.

Step # 22

Fold the ends of the packet as shown at the right.

Step # 23

Finish folding the ends over while pulling the rounds in tight as shown at the right.

Step # 24

Lay the string out on the table and place the round package on the string with the folded side down.

Step # 25

Twist the string around the package as shown at the right and flip it over. Tie a knot in the string on the back of the package.

Step # 26

Cut the excess string off the package.

Step # 27

Apply white glue or a glue stick to the back of a label. Clean up any glue around the edges.

Step # 28

Apply the label to the front of the round package.

Step # 29

This is the final product! Set the round package off to the side and let the glue dry. Store your rounds in a dry, safe place.

     This is a sheet of round labels. These labels are close reproductions of the labels that were used during the Civil War. Open this file, print it out, and photocopy it. Then cut out the labels and glue them to the round packages that you make. (PDF file - You must use the ‘BACK’ button to return to this site.)

     This is the template for the round papers. Print this sheet out, cut out the template. You can then trace and cut it out of cardboard or thin wood. (Word file - You must use the ‘BACK’ button to return to this site.)

Click on the printer for a printable version of this page. (Word file - You must use the ‘BACK’ button to return to this site.)