How long would you go when using spit patches without concern?

WonkyEye · Jun 4, 2024

I still consider myself a newbie and at 49 still wet behind the ears with this crowd. And I don't use spit patches, its immature and whatever, I don't care. I'm grossed out by it, there, I said it. But I'm interested in the discussion.

In my mind the patch and lube serve 4 purposes - 1) gas tight seal, 2)softening fouling, 3)keeping the patch from burning, 4) to make the prb slide down the barrel easier

I'd like to know why a frozen spit patch would be a bad thing?

I'd be more worried about a spot patch sitting in a barrel too long, powder wicking out the moisture, and the patch smouldering , especially if it's fire season. I've seen my own patches smouldering when I went too light with the lube.

shorthair · Jun 15, 2024

waksupi said:
For hunting bigger game, we ideally only shoot once. Why even lube the first patch?

I lube my hunting loads exactly as my target loads because I want the same point of impact.

oldwood · Jun 15, 2024

Many of the original rifles I have examined contained residue of grease in their patch boxes. W/o forensic analysis , it would be difficult to learn exactly how many different compounds were used for patch lube , besides spit. Animal grease , and bee's wax in the right proportions were a common frontier lube , as well as straight rendered animal fat. To compound the spit patch questions , did the empty , non patch lube residue empty patch boxes , only carry only unlubed spit patches??

ETipp · Jun 16, 2024

shorthair said:
I lube my hunting loads exactly as my target loads because I want the same point of impact.

Exactly!

oldwood · Jun 16, 2024

I never could use spit patches , not enough Spit. Always used sheep tallow , or some lube like it for competition , and hunting. No worries about leaving a load in the bore.

ronaldrothb49 · Jun 16, 2024

I always use a spit patch in competition or when practicing which is 99% of my shooting. It will at most be in the barrel for a couple minutes. If I am hunting I use a lubed patch because it might be in the barrel for a couple days or possibly a couple weeks depending on how lucky I get.

nhmoose · Jun 16, 2024

flconch53 said:
What would a frozen spit patch do?
While we are spitballing I thought I would throw tat out

Melt

M. De Land · Jun 17, 2024

WonkyEye said:
I still consider myself a newbie and at 49 still wet behind the ears with this crowd. And I don't use spit patches, its immature and whatever, I don't care. I'm grossed out by it, there, I said it. But I'm interested in the discussion.

In my mind the patch and lube serve 4 purposes - 1) gas tight seal, 2)softening fouling, 3)keeping the patch from burning, 4) to make the prb slide down the barrel easier

I'd like to know why a frozen spit patch would be a bad thing?

I'd be more worried about a spot patch sitting in a barrel too long, powder wicking out the moisture, and the patch smouldering , especially if it's fire season. I've seen my own patches smouldering when I went too light with the lube.

Spit patches work fine in mild weather and for match shooting but are not very good when left for long periods of time for several reasons.
1. spit will stay damp for a long time on a cotton patch and can rust a bore if left long enough with the trace of sodium in it.
2. spit can migrate into the powder from the patch and give you a reduced charge.
3. spit patches freeze and loose their pliability in really cold weather.
4. spit makes loading hard on the bare fingers in very cold weather.

2 shots · Jun 17, 2024

French Colonial said:
My personal opinion is a wet patch at the bottom of a 40 inch tube does not dry out very fast with no place for the moisture to go.

into the powder ? maybe.

longcruise · Jun 17, 2024

oldwood said:
. To compound the spit patch questions , did the empty , non patch lube residue empty patch boxes , only carry only unlubed spit patches??

I wonder about that too. Did some rifles never get used in the field as opposed to the local occasional shooting match? Or, maybe many of the old timey shooters/hunters never use the patch box at all.

One time when I forgot my capper I put a few caps loose in the patch box.

French Colonial · Jun 18, 2024

2 shots said:
into the powder ? maybe.

Yeah, I have read that opinion many times...

When shooting from a bench I have never noticed any degradation of the powder from moisture absorption but then, 1. I do not let the load set in the barrel for very long. 2. Perhaps any degradation would be approximately the same for each load and would also be in for the same as shooting offhand (which is really all I am interested in).

If I was serious about shooting ML benchrest, which I am not, I would wipe between shots with wet then dry patches and then load using a dry lubed patch. However, I want to duplicate within reason how our 18th century ancestors loaded when woods walking.

If I were to develop a benchrest/dry lube loading method the POI would (I assume) be different for my spit patches so it is not in my interest.

Buff1958 · Jun 18, 2024

I have always used pre-lubed patches. 50 years ago I made them myself now I buy them from October Country. I will leave an unfired rifle over night but If I have fired it during the day, It gets cleaned as soon as I leave the woods. May not be necessary but I have some really old guns that still look new on the inside of the barrel

Bucks Co · Jun 19, 2024

I often use spit (saliva) on my patches when target shooting or just having fun but always shoot them straight away. If I'm hunting then it's always a lubed patch - usually with ox-yoke. Never had any issues with rust

mtfishn · Jul 29, 2024

flconch53 said:
What would a frozen spit patch do?
While we are spitballing I thought I would throw tat out

I was shooting in a match in Fernie, BC about 35 years ago(?) It was below zero in US degrees. I had several spit lubed patches ...perhaps with a little too much "tag" left on them ...freeze to the brass end on my range rod and come right back out of the barrel like a popsicle! Only time I've had a problem with spit. I'm comfortable leaving it in for short periods between shots in a match or squirrel shooting, but have never tried leaving it longer than an hour or so. All my match shooting (with my .45 cal. rifle) is with spit lube and I never need to swab the bore 'till I'm done.

Celt5494 · Jul 29, 2024

I used to use spit patches some years ago in a rifled .50 longrifle and a smoothbore .69 pistol. No real reason why other than I wanted to try it out from lubed patches. I never had a real issue with them but I was shooting mainly on trail walks or targets so nothing stayed loaded any length of time. I don't suppose anything had enough time to cause any of the other issues discussed. I did however notice once one of the patches started smoldering in the very dry grass. Luckily my son was fleet of foot and got it stomped out quickly. After that I began using patch lube again. There are pro's and con's to both methods I suppose but you would have to judge it for yourself and come up with what works best for yourself.

Post Script: I do think using spit patch to swab out a barrel from time to time is pretty effective at getting at some of that fouling without spilling your drinking water all over the place and soaking to patch too much.

westrayer · Jul 30, 2024

Never. I use the OxYoke pre-lubed patches in all muzzleloaders. I am showing my age but I used to use patches soaked in Crisco before the per-lubed ones came out. Only problem was that I stored them in 35mm film cannisters and after a while they would develop mold.

How long would you go when using spit patches without concern?

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