patch material

[scottbauck]

I like to use Ox-Yoke, .10 patches in my .50 Kentucky.  I recently picked up 1-1/4" patch cutter to make my own patches.  What material are the Ox-Yoke patches made of? #40 Drill cloth?

[gunmaker]

Any 100% pure tight weave cotton will do.  Pillow ticking, osnaburg, even some canvas.  Take a dial caliper to the fabric store and get what you like...Tom

[wstrayer]

I cannot use anything that thin in my guns.  Tough to beat the pre-lubed Ox-Yoke patches.

[snake eyes]

Scott,
         Have you ever considered cutting your patch at the barrel. I did that for a few years
when I was heavy into range shooting. Used pillow ticking from Jo-Anns fabric .015 and
bore butter lube.You will need to micro the fabric as all is not the same. Sometimes
you can find ticking at Wal-Mart a bit less $$s than the fabric stores. Just a thought.

snake-eyes  

[scottbauck]

I was just reading a piece last night that suggested accuracy would be improved by cutting the patch at the barrel.  The ball is always centered in the patch....makes sense.  I will try that this weekend at the range.  Thanks for the response.

[Ron T.]

I use .016-inch denim cotton material for my patch... and cut the patch at the barrel using .490-inch Hornady swagged round balls in all three of my .50 caliber rifles, two older CVA Hawken cap-locks and my purchased-new (5 or 6 years ago) Traditions "Shenandoah" flintlock.

Using these items along with 47 grains of FFFg Swiss  black powder, all three rifles give very good accuracy often putting 3-shot groups in almost the same hole at 25 yards shooting off a bench-rest using an aluminum Lyman rifle rest with 3 sandbags, one under the rifle on the Lyman rifle rest and two at the stock's "toe" with the  rifle pulled up-tight against my shoulder.

I've just begun testing the same powder load using Goex FFFg rather than the Swiss FFFg and can't say the accuracy is any worse or better.  I need to do more testing and try this load at 50 yards using Goex in all three rifles rather than the Swiss powder, but I'm beginning to expect the Goex will be about as accurate as the Swiss black powder.

I haven't really noticed that the Swiss "shoots cleaner" than the Goex, but more testing is needed to make SURE of that determination.

Jus' my 2¢...


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

[Detached]

Please Describe cutting the patch at the barrel.

Grease piece of cloth, start ball, cut off excess flush with muzzle?

[Ron T.]

I use a mixture of bee's wax and liquid Crisco for patch lube... heated and melted together which forms a soft "solid" patch lube in the container once it's cooled down.

After dumping the load of FFFg Swiss or Goex black powder down the bore and running a thin vegetable over-powder wad down firmly on top of the powder load, I "swipe" my finger through the lube and smear a fair amount of it onto a 2-inch width by 30-inch long piece of my patching material (.016-inch cotton denim) .  I center the lubed area of the patching material over the bore, center the swagged .490 inch Hornady rifle ball in the middle of the lubricated part of the patch and hit it  kinda lightly once or twice with a rubber hammer to drive the patch & ball slightly below the the rifle's muzzle.

I "eye-ball" inspect the patched ball to insure it is SLIGHTLY below the muzzle-end of the rifle's muzzle and then, I gather up the lubed patch material slightly above the muzzle, but evenly around the rifle ball, and cut the patching material off with the very sharp knife using the rifle's muzzle as a "knife guide"... and cleanly cut off the patching material leaving a nice, round "hole" in the patching material.

I, then, hang that "hole" in the patching material over the spout of my powder container to insure I remember to put in the powder BEFORE attempting to seat the next patched ball load after I shoot the one I'm loading.

Ya see... I use to have a lotta trouble (especially if another shooter began talking to me during my loading process) remembering to add the powder before seating the patched rifle ball (that's called "dry-balling"), but hanging the hole in my patching material over the "screw-on" spout (available at Friendship, Ind. or possibly elsewhere) of my powder can "solved" my "dry-balling problem!  I haven't "dry-balled" any of my rifles since I began hanging the patching material over the powder can's spout... and that was a couple of years ago.  


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

[cunninmp]

Scott,
Many years ago I also bought .010 thin patches. The only reason I did that was for ease of loading. I was happy if I could cover the group with my hand. Then I went to a match and watched these "old" guys with their short starters ram round balls down the muzzle. When I saw their groups I was shocked. So I asked what they were patching with. Pillow ticking. It was about twice as thick as I was using. I was about 30yo at the time. Now I'm 70 and I've never bought "thin" patches since. In my .45 flinter with round groove rifling, it loves a .440 ball with .015/.016 patch. I'll take my calipers and generally get Joannes #40 drill for that. From the bench at 50 yards you can cover the group with a quarter. Hoppes #9 BP lube. My .40 flinter with a Colerain likes a thicker patch. So I use pillow ticking that measures .018/.019 for it. I use a .389 ball for paper punching and a .380 for loading out of the bag. Same lube. On paper the .389 will do much better then the .380, but not by much. Are these harder to load then my old thin patches, of course they are but not that much. Because of age and arthritis setting in, I now carry a small brass hammer in my bag to help in starting. I also cut at the muzzle whenever I can. I think it helps eliminate flyers. I think if you go to the range and try cutting at the muzzle and using pre-cut, you will see a difference. It might be small, but it's worth trying. If nothing else you'll have a fun day making smoke.
Whatever patch thickness works best for you, remember consistency is the key. Also what works for me in a specific barrel, might not be the best in your barrel. A good example would be my .45 flint pistol. A good friend of mine also built his. We both used Ed Rayl barrels. My groove diameter is about .002 deeper then his. His likes a .015/.016 patch with 30 grains of 3fff. Mine likes the .018 with 25 grains of 3fff. Thinking it was a fluke, we traded pistols and found our loads for each pistol were correct.
Hope this helps a little.
Mike C.
Groveland, CA

[RobD]

to each their own, as long as things work well.

i'll always use patch strips and patch knife over precut patches, for the reasons described above.  cotton or linen, and compress mic sized to properly work with the diameter ball(s) i'm using.

patch lube is another personal thing - i prefer dry lube at 6:1 (water:ballistol).

[scottbauck]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.  Shot at the local club month meet this past weekend with my 20 ga trade gun......575 ball and  heavy .018 ticking with dry lube cut at the barrel.  Didn't set the world on fire but the groups were better.  The next step is to try a larger ball size....the barrel is a Colerain measuring .615.  The 20 ga balls I ordered on line where .61....too tight....so I used what I had.  
We go live fire this weekend with a local pig hunt.  I'll be the one with the long gun and the powder horn in the middle of the ARs.....

[RobD]

... I'll be the one with the long gun and the powder horn in the middle of the ARs.....

priceless.