What works better?

[musketman]

What do you think works better, pre-cut patches or patches from a strip of pillow ticking cut-at-the-barrel during loading?

Let's assume that both are made from the same material and have the same thickness and both are lubed identically.

The only difference is the way the patches are cut...

What works best for you?

I have tried both ways in my Brown Bess and I can see little evidence in recovered patches that the ball was not quite centered in the patch of the "cut-at-the-barrel" style.

The pre-cut patch is more convientant and less likely to pick up dirt and fowlings than the dangling strip of lubed ticking.

If the cut-at-the-barrel patch is cut uneven during the loading process, once the muzzleloader is fired the patch will not let go of the round ball symmetrically.

This A-symmetrical hold could effect your point of impact on some of your finer shooting rifles, it had little, or no effect on my smooth-bore.

Perhaps some of you members, with your tack-driving rifles can test this out for us...

Fire a 5 shot group with pre-cut patches and another 5 shot group with cut-at-the-barrel patches and post your results...

I would, but I have no tack-driving muzzleloader at this point in time.

 

[Claude Mathis]

It's very easy to get a pre-cut patch off center when loading.

If you cut your patch even with the top of the barrel, it will be perfectly centered. Only if you make a sloppy cut will it be off center.

Having said that, I've never noticed a difference in shooting either.

 

[tg]

I have seen no diffeence in accuracy between the two methods in rifles or smoothbores in general ofhand shooting, if one were bench rest peep sight shooting there may be, I have also found that pre cut square patches work as well as the round ones, if you check closely your cut at the barrel pathces are not really round, drive down a ball into a strip of patching and scribe a thin pencil line where the knife cut would be then pull the ball and strip of patching and see what shape it is.

 

[weasel]

I generally cut at the muzzle and usually shoot around 85% at woods walks not the best but i am happy with it some of the top shooters just cut off squares I never notice any difference from smooth bores or rifled barrels as long as there lubed good and ya hold thru most guns are more accurate than the shooter (at least all of mine are) weasel