Washing patching material

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One thing I've found, consistent with 3 different rifles is, when given the choice of "slightly thicker patching or slightly bigger diameter ball," I get slightly better accuracy with the bigger ball. It seems like they all "want" a specific tightness in the load. You can achieve that either way, but bigger ball gives my guns better groups. In the case of my flintlock, a .014 patch and a .495 ball shoots better than a .018 patch and a .490 ball.

My point is, thicker patching isn't always better. IME, it's usually not as good.

Jimbob said:
Forget Joann's. Buy army duck from Big Duck Canvas https://www.bigduckcanvas.com/ I use it in all my 45s and 50s. It's thick, tough 100% cotton canvas.
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Ben Meyer said:
Here's the specific fabric. When I got the rifle years ago, I tried lots of patch/lube/ball combinations and this patching drylubed with 7:1 Ballistol and water won.




I use a micrometer to measure thickness. Then i twist it pretty much as hard as i can to measure its compressed thickness. This 100% cotton is .014 thick and about .0035 compressed.View attachment 390014View attachment 390015View attachment 390016
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Is that 7 parts Balliistol? And let it dry on patch, or wet on patch?
 
I have found the opposite, think it matters the gun your using and maybe rifling depth or powder type and amount.

This in reference to Ben Meyers last message. I forgot to put the quote in. Sorry :doh:
 
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Did anyone mention ironing the washed and heat shrunk cotton to make cutting patches hassle free and consistent? Don't reintroduce sizing but iron on slightly dampened cloth. Besides pillow ticking, army duck and pocket drill, try tight weave linen. May have been more available in Colonial times. Too bad JoAnn's went bankrupt.
 
Ben Meyer said:
Here's the specific fabric. When I got the rifle years ago, I tried lots of patch/lube/ball combinations and this patching drylubed with 7:1 Ballistol and water won.




I use a micrometer to measure thickness. Then i twist it pretty much as hard as i can to measure its compressed thickness. This 100% cotton is .014 thick and about .0035 compressed.View attachment 390014View attachment 390015View attachment 390016
Click to expand...
What follows about measuring patch material thickness I have posted before.

I have found that if you can find one, a radius anvil micrometer works even better than a standard micrometer for compressed measurements of patch material. As an example, with normal pressure on a regular micrometer, a piece of denim may measure about .022” thick, however, this is NOT the important measurement. What is important, at least in my opinion and experience, is the compressed thickness. In this case, about .0155”. Also very important is how consistent you measure that thickness. I use a micrometer with a radius anvil and apply normal torque pressure as I measure. The radius anvil allows for a small area to be easily compressed. A standard flat anvil micrometer works also, you just have to be a bit more careful with how you apply pressure to compress the fabric to get consistent readings, at least in my opinion. Hope the following photographs help explain.
upload_2019-9-25_11-20-43.jpeg

upload_2019-9-25_11-21-30.jpeg

upload_2019-9-25_11-22-3.jpeg

Below are two more photographs showing measurements of a different lot of denim. Normal measurement is .018” thick. Compressed, .0085” thick. With .012” deep grooves in the bore I would expect it to fail spectacularly as a patch material.
upload_2019-9-25_11-25-1.jpeg

upload_2019-9-25_11-25-21.jpeg
 
beardedhorse said:
Did anyone mention ironing the washed and heat shrunk cotton to make cutting patches hassle free and consistent? Don't reintroduce sizing but iron on slightly dampened cloth. Besides pillow ticking, army duck and pocket drill, try tight weave linen. May have been more available in Colonial times. Too bad JoAnn's went bankrupt.
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I don’t cut patch material per se, I prefer to tear it into strips, then do any precutting or cutting at the muzzle. You can also partially cut across the strip and then just tear off individual square patches as you need them.
 
Grenadier1758 said:
And the sizing free material takes a bit more lubricant to keep fouling soft shot to shot.
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Yes, won some patching material last year and decided to give it a try in a pistol today so I just cut a few patches off the unwashed fabric. My water I used for lube wouldn’t hardly soak into it, probably wouldn’t get much of a thicker lube into it since water just beaded right up on it. It was really stiff too.
 
I 100% agree. Every rifle has "the load" that it likes best. It's a not insignificant time investiture to figure it out. Lots, hours of range time is the only way to do it. I've never tallied this up, but to come up with "the load" for my flintlock, I set up on a benchrest shooting 5 shot groups at 50 yds. 5 different patching materials, 4 different lubes, 2 different ball diameters, 3 different powders, then different powder charges from 50 to 100 grains moving up in 5 gr increments, taking measurements and notes throughout the process. Close to 200 shots, just to see what grouped best. Then I filed the front sight and tapped the rear sight to center the group. All that for ONE gun, and all that time means nothing for the next gun. Every parameter but two are different for my percussion Hawken vs my flintlock SMR. Not everyone has that amount of time, commitment, or patience to do all that. I didn't know I even had it! It became sort of a quest; good thing I like shooting!

But where does it end? There are plenty of additional patching/lube combos I haven't tried. They could shoot even better groups!

flatcreek said:
I have found the opposite, think it matters the gun your using and maybe rifling depth or powder type and amount.
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11th corps said:
Since our ancestors probably did not have a micrometer is the issue of patch thickness really necessary?
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No it’s not. Our ancestors also didn’t have the internet and probably owned one gun that they probably knew inside and out as it was a critical tool for their survival in many cases. I believe for most here our guns and their use are a hobby.
 
jeff b said:
@ 12$ shipping . I'll pass
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What does it cost to drive to multiple Joann Fabric stores to purchase inflated ‘going out of business’ priced material, if you can find it? It’s an ugly world out there.

Last time I ordered from Big Duck Canvas caught some sale items with free shipping and got a multiple yards each of a three different materials. Worst case, figured cleaning patches…. Turns out I had no reason to worry.

I will probably order multiple yards of various materials when I see the next shipping/sale deal.

Price a package of 100 ‘muzzleloader’ patches for comparison. You will get over 500 2”x2” square patches out of a 60” wide yard of material. All the same thickness. The downside, it’s not pre-lubed. The BIG upside, is it’s not pre-lubed. For whatever reason, I have found lubes degrade cotton patch material over time.

The only constant I have found over time is that prices are going up. Pay now or pay more later.
 


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