[BCRider]

And do they not get dirty when they are shot?

I'm asking because as I was retrieving my rifle brass yesterday and generally doing my bit by cleaning up more of the mess around me than I actually made I managed to sweep up about 8 or 10 obvious muzzle loader patches. They were about 1.5 inches square of some sort of fuzzy material with an obvious ball detent in the middle of them. But the odd thing was that they were all within a foot or two of the end of the shooting bench and were all completely clean other than for the dirt they had picked up from sitting on the ground or being stepped on. Do they normally shed that early and stay that clean or were these accidental attempts to double patch and they peeled off the second one after trying to start the ball and failing?

Obviously I'm still a virgin when it comes to muzzle loading.

[Ratdog68]

LOL Take at look at my .54 Renegade report. Those patches came from my muzzle and I'd picked them up approx. 15' from my muzzle on Saturday.

The part that's even more funny is... when I was out in the sticks to shoot the .45 Cherokee... for the life of me I couldn't locate one single patch. Go figure.

[sundance44s]

I`ve picked us a few myself and put in my shooting box for hard times .....no more than 10 yards from the shooting bench .

[DuncanSA]

Patches don't fly far. I can normally find those from my .50 Lyman within about 10 feet of the shooting bench.

[fyrfyter43]

Patches will go maybe 10-15 yards. If they looked clean, it is possible that they have been there a while and were washed clean by rain, since typically anything that would be on them is water soluble (powder fouling, lube).

[ArmedBear]

Does anyone collect them, throw them in a mesh bag in the washing machine, and reuse them?:D

[Ratdog68]

Does anyone collect them, throw them in a mesh bag in the washing machine, and reuse them?:D
I can't even imagine ANYONE being that CHEAP !!! Mesh bag ya say? Me thinks me has one of them floatin' 'round here... Hey? What are YOU laughin' at? :D

[Das Jaeger]

there just Round Ball diapers anyway , so I guess if you don't mind grinding dirt into your bore and on your BALLS , by all means re-use them :confused:
Would you re-use a condom too ? Wait , don't answer that , I don't want to know . :eek:


Das Jaeger . :D

[Ratdog68]

LMAO !!! Now, that's phunny.

[Iggy]

Reading patches is an art.

Knowing what the patch tells you can improve your accuracy immensely.

It is known as "lernin yure gun"

If you pay attention to what your gun has to tell you, you can become quite a team.


The old saying about "Beware of the man with only one gun, he probably knows how to use it" is quite true especially with front stuffers.

[DrLaw]

Try as I might, I cannot get my patches to fly at all. They just sit there. No matter how much I plead, yell, beg or shout, they just sit on the bench and do not fly at all.

And as far as reading them. Mine are either left over pajama's that I cut when the ball is in the barrel, or pillow ticking variety, or just plain white patches. I have never seen anything in the way of writing on them to read.

An occaisional sleepy duck or teddy bear on the left over pajama's, but nothing in writing.

The Doc is out now. :cool:

:neener:

[Das Jaeger]

I would prescribe medication for your conditon , to yourself of course :D
And while your writing prescriptions , please make my prescription out for a pair of see-thru X-Ray vision glasses . :D

Das Jaeger

[sundance44s]

I always pick mine up ....I wouldn`t want the wrong person reading them , my patches are private .

[Macgille]

Patches? We don't need no stinkin' patches.

[DrLaw]

Seriously now, though I do not really want to be, I seem to recall Dixie Gun Works having something in their catalog about being able to tell from the patches if the patch was too thick, thin, or just the right thickness.

Also, there was a book about Black Powder guns distributed by Stoger some years ago, I think, written by Sam Fadala, that also had a short section on looking at the patches and figuring out things from them.

I'll see if I can locate either.

The Doc is out now. :cool:

[BCRider]

Well, I'm glad I was able to provide so much comic relief to the masses.... :D

These were literally at the edge of the table so unless the wind blew them back they were not shot from the barrel. And we've had so little rain here recently that I'm thinking of changing my location description in the user CP so any powder stains were sure not washed out of the patches by rain. But the tell tale signs of balls being forced into the center of the patches was VERY clear. Including the wrinkles around the round depression. No signs of any farther out so either they were using a powder that did not stain the patches and they all blew into the area from the wind or these were double layers that they peeled off when they realized they'd need an elephant's foot to start the balls. OR.... Stuff like 777 or Pyrodex does not leave black stains on patches.

Actually some were rather grey but I just chalked that up to the dusty sand they were sitting in and having been stepped on. It was quite an even grey too but perhaps this is the way the patches look after being shot?

So, you can read patches shot with black much like I read spark plugs from my motorcycles, eh? Does it tell me if they are burning lean or rich? :D

And Das Jeager, any more talk of prophyliatics and we'll assume you don't need your BP guns anymore and arrange a boarding party to rescue the whole lot.... :D Besides, these looked emminently reusable once cleaned. Times are tough ya know. And as a new retiree on a fixed income I gotta look at such options... :D Which reminds me, I need to grab some boxes of high priced disposable 12ga and head on out to the weekly old farts trap games.....

[JamesKelly]

Grampa told me when he & a friend were returning late one night from a shivaree someone took exception to their singing. The ball hit the fence between them & Grampa could see the patch fluttering down from the window . . . but that patch fluttered, did not fly

[BCRider]

There's critics everywhere ...... :D

I gather this was some time back if the critic shot a ball at them.

[Das Jaeger]

Sounds like your doin better than me if your shootin old Farts trap weekly my friend ! :D
Shiver me timbers !
I would at least wash my patches before stickin um back into the gun , just sayin :D That goes for prophys too :)
Bording my ship will only get you mass quantities of Kimber bullets , from the gals pistola , and from the front end of it . :D
Shiver me Timbers Jaeger says :)
You provided NO humor , we made our own at your expence is what it is , just can't help it , us darn Yankees you calls us can't help ourselves , really. :D

Cheers, Ale all around , Cider too !

Jaeger
.

[Iggy]

Originally I was going to elaborate a bit on reading patches, but in view of the responses, I can see I was wise in not doing so.
:rolleyes:

[BCRider]

NO, NO! DO TELL! It'll be a nice seguey to something more valuable than hearing about DJ washing his "delicates" :D

As you may be able to tell I didn't go out to the trap night. By the time I ran a couple of errands and then found out the traffic up that way was heavier than usual I decided to just sit down until the feeling went away. I'm actually only making it out to the trap nights about once a month so far thanks to other things going on as well as the heat wave we've had.

So... on to patch reading 101 please?

[Smokin_Gun]

My findins are like Sundance's about 10yds out...the patch tells the story of how smooth the bore is, if the crown of the barrel is good, how much powder is a good load...tears, holes burnt through, and grass fires are the track one must read following the trail to success of a patched round and the rifle... or if the shooter is blind or not :O)

[bellyup039]

hey BC rider

Thanks for the laughes. Everyone here at work is looking at me funny.

I keep hearing, "What are you reading?" And I respond, "Patches, just Patches."

Now they are like, WHAT? and I laugh some more.

[Black Toe Knives]

Well I use to washed my patches but the Wife kept finding them in her unmentionables. So she got me mini ball mold. Thank you Lee for saving our marriage.

[bonza]

I think the square patches you found close to the bench were cleaning patches, & that the "ball detent' was caused by the jag on the cleaning rod. The patches I shoot usually land 10-15 feet away & will usually be slightly 'cupped' shaped from having been formed around the ball. There should also be some noticeable scorching in the center of one side of the patch & signs of rifling impressions (if shot from a rifled bore).

[BCRider]

OK, I'm going with the cleaning patches option since that seems to make the most sense given where they were and the type of material. But it must be one heckuva bore for a ball end dent on the jag like that!


We now return you all to your regular merry making :D

[Carl N. Brown]

The ball patches fired from my muzzleloader end up several yards from the bench and pretty well sooted up. Thick pillowticking material soaked with borebutter. Cleaning patches would be near the bench, the first few would be plain cotton material, wetted with soapy water and very dirty, then a few dry with varying degrees of soot, finally a loading patch of 0.018 inch pillow ticking soaked with borebutter which would end up not so dirty (and which I would probably keep for a fouling shot before a match).

[DrLaw]

From a Dixie Gun Works Catalog.

"Black streaks and charred holes where patch lay in grooves. Caused by the patch too thin. Gas blowing by. Use a thicker patch or larger ball diameter.

Frayed holes worn through where patch contacted lands. Caused by rough or rusted lands tearing the cloth. Try stronger patch material or freshout or recut the bore.

Slits in cloth along contact of patch and land corners. Lands are too sharp, patch is cutting while loading. Scrub bore with steel wool or lap, try stronger or thinner cloth

Annualar (I don't know, look it up) slit cut part way round where the ball lay, some soiling from powder fouling. Muzzle too sharp, cuts patch when ball is started into bore. Chamber muzzle or try stronger cloth.

Black circle in center where ball lay, some soiling from powder fouling, minimum of burnt streaks at groove marks, cloth everywhere intact. Good lubrication, bore good, patch can't wear or be worn through. No cure needed, rifle should shoot accurately with correct powder charge."

The Doc is out now. :cool: