[Daizee]

Hi Folks,

I was passing wally world today and stopped in to check on the ammo situation. Picked up some .22 at uninflated prices.

The fabric department is right across from the sporting goods counter, and it occurred to me to check for pillow ticking. Sure enough, it jumped out at me quickly and I bought a yard for $4 or so.

It mic's 0.017 dry.
Now cutting square patches is easy, but the patchbox on my Hawken is round. How do you guys cut these out round? Do you have some kind of a punch?
The only hole punches I have are for paper or leather belt holes.

btw, my mmp sabots arrived this week for the .54, but today's range trip was foiled by drain problems.

Thanks,

-Daizee

[mykeal]

Just cut a long strip, roll it up and put that in the patch box. When ready to load, unroll the end, place it over the muzzle, start the ball, then cut off the strip of cloth. The shape of the patch won't hurt a thing.

[Daizee]

Heh. what a practical answer, Mykeal. :-)

I tried the patch fabric today and it's too tihck for the .530 balls. I'll need to get smaller balls (*ahem*) or skip the ticking. However it's MUCH better as a cleaning patch. So much so I'm thinking about laying in a whole ton of it for general use and then maybe getting a .525 round mould to cast my own once the rest of these .530's are used up.

-Daizee

[Cpt. America]

Thats how they did it in the good ole days.

[scrat]

or you take a silver dollar out. give it to your kid with a pen and a pair of scissors and tell em to get to work. when the pile is about 4 inches high you tell them to keep the silver dollar

[arcticap]

Accuracy may be better using the .530 balls with patch material of the correct thickness.
There's other fabric shops that sell thinner bulk patch material. Just make sure that it's 100% cotton and only buy a small sample to try. One such fabric may be called cotton drill cloth.
Bring a micrometer along to measure it in the store. :)

[mykeal]

.017 is too thick for a .530 ball in a 54 cal rifle? You're not using the patch dry are you?

The patch needs some patch lube - one of the best is saliva - just soak the end of the strip in your mouth before you put it over the muzzle. There are many, many other 'secret' and commercial recipes for patch lube.

[Zeke/PA]

Determine the patch diameter the you require then purchase an Arch Punch of that size.
I use 1" diameter for my .50 cal, 3/4" for my .36 cal.
Available on line from MSC.
If the cost is prohibitive, a suitable tool can be made from a piece of steel tubing.

[Daizee]

.017 is too thick for a .530 ball in a 54 cal rifle? You're not using the patch dry are you?

I used a generous amount of Bore Butter on the patch and swab twice between shots.

yeah. too thick, like stuck at the top of the rifling and needed a ball-puller.
The T/C has this freebore section at the muzzle before the rifling. It was stiff there, and stopped dead at the lands. I was surprised.

Incidentally, the MMP red sabots around .452 hardcast ACP bullets loaded very smoothly and all the sabots dropped to the ground at 26 yards. Incredibly consistent. And they shot well to 50yds too.

However, I like the self-sufficiency of the round balls and fabric patches...


or you take a silver dollar out. give it to your kid...
*LOL*
Like Cpt. America said, "that's how they did it in the good ole days."


Hmm, I see on midway that the smallest ".54" ball mould is .530 anyway. Hm, I never mic'd those balls I have.


-Daizee

[BHP FAN]

My brother gave me a patch cutter for my birthday last year.It's a wooden ball handle a spring and a cutting face.You press down on the ball,and the cutter spins,cutting cotton sheets in a triple layer,or pillow ticking in a double thickness easily. Dixie Gunworks carries these.

[arcticap]

I always use a non-marring mallet when I load anyway.
Once a projectile is started, it's going to go all of the way down one way or another, either by gently tapping or really hammering it to swage it in.
With the gun having a section of false muzzle, you may want to use larger size patches so they'll stay centered down at the point where the rifling starts, or just cut it off flush with the muzzle once you find the right material.

Midsouth Shooter's Supply has .010 & .015 pre-cut patches on pages 1 & 3:

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/department.asp?dept=%4D%55%5A%5A%4C%45%4C%4F%41%44%49%4E%47&dept2=%4D%55%5A%5A%4C%45%4C%4F%41%44%49%4E%47%20%41%43%43%2E&dept3=%57%41%44%53%2C%50%41%54%43%48%45%53%20%26%20%4C%55%42%45&dept4=&NAV=1&vendors=

[BlackNet]

round patches? not a problem. This is what I use.
http://wetlands.simplyaquatics.com/d/29781-2/IMG_7362.JPG

They come in a wide range of sizes.