Patches out of a new barrel

[roundball]

SAMPLE PATCHES
Half dozen ball side / Half dozen fire side out of a new barrel, no cutting.

L. C. Rice 38” x .58cal barrel with .016" round bottom grooves, and a very well defined crown.

70grns Goex 2F plinking charge
.018" pillow ticking / NL1000 lube
Speer .570"

[Adam Helmer]

roundball,

Nice photo. Many of us old longhunters understand about "reading a patch." I hope some new folks come along and ask for more information, as needed.

Adam

[MtnMike2]

I'll bite. What about reading a patch? Read in Fadala's book about cutting but would like to know more. I'm getting a small hole in the .010" patches I use. What causes it and what can I do about it? Does it affect accuracy? I'm getting good accuracy I think...


Mike

[roundball]

Originally Posted by MtnMike2

I'll bite. What about reading a patch? Read in Fadala's book about cutting but would like to know more. I'm getting a small hole in the .010" patches I use. What causes it and what can I do about it? Does it affect accuracy? I'm getting good accuracy I think...


Mike

Personally I've never known of a successful application of wispy thin little .005" and .010" patches...to my knowledge they're only made in standard loose weave plain cotton...they're so thin they have no body and don't hold any lube to speak of, very often cut like in your case, and/or don't survive the fire.
A far better patch material is pillow ticking...by its design it has a higher thread count and tighter weave...much stronger, and if using at least a .015" patch they hold a little lube and are stronger...better yet are thicker .018" to .020" pillow ticking patches, and they usually tighten up groups some, result in less fouling, etc.

The stats for my patch photo are:

.580" bore
.570" ball
.018" pillow ticking prelubed with NL1000

At first glance, you'll do the math and think, hey, with the patch on both sides that's .036" of patching and it can't all fit...but of course it does...the material compresses to at least half its normal thickness, etc...and that tight wedge fit is what helps minimize fouling and tighten groups

[MtnMike2]

Thanks RB,
I'll give 'em a try. I was using the .010" to make it easier for repeat shots without swabbing. Been using Hoppes BP lube like you suggested and that has helped. I'll probably switch to NL1000 when I run out of T/C Bore Butter too.

Mike

[roundball]

Originally Posted by MtnMike2

Thanks RB,
I'll give 'em a try. I was using the .010" to make it easier for repeat shots without swabbing. Been using Hoppes BP lube like you suggested and that has helped. I'll probably switch to NL1000 when I run out of T/C Bore Butter too.

Mike

Well, terminology is a funny thing...the phrase "bore butter" is a generic phrase...T/C "bore butter" is really a slang term for T/C's Natural Lube 1000...any of the greasy waxy type lubes are casually referred to as a "bore butter" type lube.

And while I like it a lot, be aware that NL1000 patches are not wet enough to shoot repeatedly at the range without wiping between shots...unless there is very high humidity on the day that you're shooting.

[Catfish]

Many years back I was shooting a T/C Hawkins in .50 cal. and it shot very good with .010 patches. I built a .45 cal. with a Douglas barrel and since it had .013 deep riflings I though it would shoot better with .015 patches. Boy was I wrong. I tried .010 and .012 also and it still didn`t shoot. After one test sesion a friend drove up the lane just as I was getting ready to clean the gun, but he wanted to shoot it, and since all I had left at the time was some .007 cotton I had bought for cleaning I just loaded some with it. With the .007 pathing I was able to shoot smaller groups off hand than I could with any of the thicker patches from the bench. I shoot the .007 patches for years, even though they were often severly ripped. When the group started to open up I went to .015 patches and it was right back to a tack driver. My advice would be to try patches of different thicknesses and let the gun deside what it likes.