Shooting patch size

[mustanger]

I expect most of you already know this, but some may get themselves caught up like I did, so I'm going to relate my experience.
I bought some .54-.58 cal. shooting patches for my .54. Obviously they were tooooooo big for the .32, so I bought some .32-.36 patches. The .54-.56 patches were close enough for the .50, but too be correct I purchased some .50 cal. shooting patches. (yeh, you know were I'm going). Any way some familiarities were kinda noticeable. So I compared them. I laid the .50s on top of the .54-58 patches, some old .45 on top of them, and the .32-.36 on top of them. All four sizes are exacly the same. I did a lot of driving and surching the get the correct size, and ended up with what I already had. I thought it was important to have the right size, because, I read that too large a patch would interfere with the flight of the ball. That's why I went through all the trouble.
It doesn't stop there.
I then went out and bought some pillow ticking. Then I sat down with the barrels, the balls for them and figured out an appropriate size for each. Went looking for punches to cut my own patches. Could not find anything that would work. So I bought some water pipe nipples in the sizes I wanted, (I.D.). Put them on the grinder, and then sat down with a file. Moral of the story: water pipe nipples do not sharpen up enough, with only a moderate amount of work. They felt sharp, but did not cut cleanly. Had to finish up each patch with a sissors. I cut against the side of a 2x6, then the end grain. End grain worked best, but still.... Ended up for the .32 I cut strips. and then cut for lenth and then cut the corners off for more of an octagon shape. I cut up a half yard of ticking, (3/4 "-.32 cal. , 1 " for .50 cal. ) The .54 gets the factory patches ( 1 1/4 ") The patches look the right size. They wrap around to the front of the ball without the edges meeting.
After doing all that. I read that a shooting patch should be 3 times the dia. of the ball. Oh well, I think these will work. Didn't expect this to get so long. Sorry.

 

[mykeal]

Way, way too much effort. And too much concern. And way too much faith in what you read. 3 times the ball diameter? Does that mean a .490 ball needs a patch exactly 1.470" square? Would 1.500" work just as well? And a .570 ball needs a patch 1.710" square?

Uh, no (although 3 diameters is a good approximation for a rule of thumb).

Do this: before cutting up the pillow ticking, wash it twice in clean water (no soap). This is to remove the sizing in the ticking. When it's dry, cut it into strips 1 1/4" wide. Apply your favorite lube to each strip, then roll each one up into a coil. When you are ready to load the ball, place the end of the strip over the muzzle, place the ball on top and then start the ball down the bore. Stop when the top of the ball passes the end of the muzzle. Gather up the patch material that's still outside the bore and cut it off cleanly even with the muzzle. Then finish seating the ball/patch combination.

How big is the piece of material once it's cut? Who knows? Who cares? It's worked for hundreds of years and continues to work for plinkers and championship match shooters alike. And it will work for you, and remove the mental distress in the bargain.

One bit of advice. This requires a sharp, and I do mean really sharp, patch knife. A small investment but well worth the price.

 

[ThorinNNY]

If you can get a blade from an old-fashioned straight razor, you can make a really good, sharp patch knife from it.

 

[mustanger]

Thor: Excellent idea. I have two, gonna dig one out and get it sharpened up.

mykeal: I know. one thing led to another, and there I was accomplishing nothing, with a lot of doing. The patches one buys are round, yet square patches work fine. I thought of the strips for the .32, much easier to handle that those itty bitty ones ( 3/4"), I cut. Then, I thought of, " do I lube the strips (messy), or do I lube as I go (messy and time consuming during shooting situations). I put the patches in a plastic film canister, and lubed them as i put them in there. Then I have everything nearby (not actually where I'm shooting) and take the patches out of the canister with a tweezer and put it on the barrel (not so messy). Works good.
Okey, so here's what I didn't think of. "Am I going to use a tweezer while hunting????"
Oh dear, Oh dear. All my smart ideas, aren't so smart lol.
I tend to overthink some things, and underthink others. lol
The strips you were talking about, do you prelube them or lube as you go?

 

[arcticap]

After lubing the factory dry patches by hand with Bore Butter, I overlay each patch off-center in a straight line so that they will fit into a Zip Loc bag.
They end up in layers of off-center patches that can be easily separated.
At the range, a layer of patches can be easily peeled off from which I remove single patches for loading.
I'll place some in the ball box so they're handy when reaching for a ball to load.
And the Zip Loc bags fold up flat which keeps the layered patches nice and flat during storage.

 

[ThorinNNY]

lubing strips

There`s lots of different approaches,all of which seem to work. Perhaps the simplest is to use spit to lubricate a patch.Okay for target shooting, but it might dry out before you fire if you`re hunting.
You can buy teflon lubed patch strips .Seem to work well, but are more costly.
I know someone who uses a mix of Formula 409, Murrphy`s Oil Soap, rubbing alcohol,a little water.Works well for him, just dampens the parch.
You could always use Crisco.
Right now I`ve got some TC Bore Butter .It`s acceptable as patch lube.
According to the Bevel Bros (used to write for Muzzle Blasts) urine , plain tap water, GoJo or Goop hand cleaner w/o abrasives,petroleum jelly all will work.
Beeswax was used a lot during colonial times.
I suggest you try some easily available lubes , see waht works for you, before ordering teflon lubed patching materials.
Have fun and good luck.

 

[mykeal]

ThorinNNY's right, lots of things work. Good ol' spit lube is a traditional favorite, along with bear fat and sperm whale oil...

Personally, I use a dry lube: I mix Ballistol with water (6 parts water to 1 part Ballistol), moisten the strip with the mixture and then lay the strips out to dry (do NOT hang them up; it'll concentrate the lube at the bottom). Once dry, coil them up and stick 'em in your possible bag or your pocket or the wife's purse - won't harm a thing. The lube is dry and impregnated in the material and it works just as well as (IMNSHO better than) Bore Butter or sperm whale oil or mink oil or whatever.

Credit for that dry lube goes to Dutch Schoultz and his Black Powder Rifle Accuracy System. Best $20 I ever spent on anything related to black powder. I highly recommend it.

 

[Pancho]

Mykeal, I won't hi-jack this thread but I sent you a PM and the forum doesn't flag anymore.

 

[mustanger]

A lot of the formulas include beeswax, expecially for the felt pad, to go between the ball and powder in a c&b revolver. Most of what I have seen include both beeswax and parafin. What does the beeswax do that parafin doesn't? Is it "nessaccery?" I mixed parafin and CVA lube patch for a batch of felt for my .36 navey. I use Hoppes 9 plus, for my rifles. I am looking for ballistal locally. Will probably have to include it in my next Track of the Wolf order. I like your "dry" mix. I wonder if CLP will dry up and still lube.

 

[Pancho]

The "classic" formula for lube championed by Gatofeo consists of tallow, beeswax, and parafin. Parafin being stiffer than beeswax and tallow the least stiff. The suggested ratios are merely suggestions and the magic of the formula is that it can be altered to suit the ambient temperature. What works in Texas doesn't work in Minn. TC bore-butter can be soupy in the summer and too stiff in the winter around southwestern Ohio.

 

[junkman_01]

I and most of the shooters in our monthly BP match use Armor-all to lube our pillow ticking patches, cut at the muzzle. It's clean, easy to do and works great!

 

[[email protected]]

I use J&J Baby Powder. Don't knock it till you try it

 

[junkman_01]

Phil,

Does Baby Powder keep the fouling soft?

 

[swoter]

I bought a set of cheap hole saws and ground the teeth off so they were fairly sharp. Then took pillow ticking, folded it over several times, and used a drill press to run the hole saws through the ticking with a board backing. You get a lot of round patches very quickly. I usually spit patch, so would just shove some in my pocket or pouch before going out. I've been using the same cutters for several years now. As long as you already have a drill press and grinder, its not expensive.

 

[Zeke/PA]

When I need patch material, I go to the local Fabric Shop with a Dial Thickness Gauge and search throught the offerings till I find .013" thick stuff.
I use a 1" dia. arch punch for .50 cal. patches and a 3/4" diameter for.36 cal. patches.
For lube, I'm still using some genuine Bear Grease that a friend gave me several years ago.

 

[arcticap]

I then went out and bought some pillow ticking.

Pillow ticking isn't the best material to use with every size ball and gun.
Joann's Fabrics sells #40 Drill Cloth which may also be found elsewhere.
It's good to have a selection of thicknesses on hand to experiment with.

 

[mustanger]

I cut up a half yard of pillow ticking, now I learn I should cut up a half yard of this and a half yard of that, whew, thats a lot of shooting. I wonder if I am up to it? lol Oh yeh, then there is the different lubes to try too. A shooter's work (fun) is never done.

 

[mykeal]

I cut up a half yard of pillow ticking, now I learn I should cut up a half yard of this and a half yard of that, whew, thats a lot of shooting. I wonder if I am up to it? lol Oh yeh, then there is the different lubes to try too. A shooter's work (fun) is never done.

Uh, no.

You're not supposed to do everything everyone else does - goodness me, you'd never finish cleaning one gun if you did ALL the different methods. What you should do is get a small sample of various thickness materials and try them, and select a few recipes for lube and try those, until you hit on the ones you like, or better yet, your gun likes.

I say again: Dutch Schoultz's Black Powder Rifle Accuracy System. Get it. It'll save you a lot of grief and you'll have lots of fun.

 

[alsask]

I cut the patch flush with the muzzle after seating the ball with the starter. Pre-cut patches are just for convenience I think.

As far as lube goes I use Crisco when hunting and Hoppes Plus when plinking or target shooting.