Ball And patching size
- Thread starter boker
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
jbwilliams3
45 Cal.
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2006
- Messages
- 689
- Reaction score
- 159
Yes, definitely start with a .44 ball.
kopfjaeger
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2012
- Messages
- 369
- Reaction score
- 4
I'd start with a .440 round ball and get .010 and .015 thickness patches to try. As far as powder I'd start out with 45 grains to begin with.
54ball
62 Cal.
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2004
- Messages
- 3,116
- Reaction score
- 1,029
boker said:
Shop rags will have too loose a weave. The white kind made from old sweat and T shirts can make good cleaning patches.
Carhart denim may do if it's not too thick.
Bed sheets are a fairly tight weave but sometimes they are just too thin.
Pillow ticking is good and so is some real linen fabric. Some cotton flannels do well. If you can find some thin enough...real lambskin shammys duplicate the old buckskin patch.
I prefer a ball that's easy to start. I thumb start my rifles and I'm happy with the accuracy. Loading should be a stress free affair for your ramrod.
Do not forget to grease your patches.
Go to a Wal-Mart and buy some pillow ticking. Get pure cotton and only about 1/4 yard to start. Cost will be minimal. Wash and rinse before use. Lube with yer favorite gunk. I'll ditto others, start with a .440 ball and later try .445 to see which meets your needs the best.
Billnpatti
Cannon
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2008
- Messages
- 7,340
- Reaction score
- 44
If it were me, I'd start with a .440 ball and a good patch material that will measure about .010 to .015. Rifleman1776 recommends pillow ticking and he is not alone in that choice. Pillow ticking has been one of the patching materials of choice for years. I have found a material that I like even better than pillow ticking and that is 100% cotton drill. It is often used to make pants pockets and some people call it "pocket drill". It's good stuff and think it gives a bit better seal than pillow ticking, but that is just my opinion. My advice is to try both and see which your rifle likes best. Then stick with that. As Rifleman said, washing your patching material before using it is very important. It removes the sizing and makes the material a bit "fluffier" and it will both seal better and absorb the lube better.
boker said:
Doesn't make any sense at all to start with a round ball that is larger than the caliber of the rifle. A .451 is 1000th of an inch larger than 45 caliber and is NOT 44 cal. A .440 ball, which is 44 caliber, with patch is a good starting point for a 45 caliber rifle.
As far as the patching material goes, it NEEDS to be 100% cotton. Any polyester blends will melt as you use them and are no good for patching. Linen is of course fine for patching material but pretty spendy. Easy thing to do is get some pillow-ticking and take along your calipers to measure the thickness. You won't know until you use it how thick you need for your rifle, but .015" and .018" are good places to start. I'd also recommend washing the pillow ticking before cutting it into patching strips to get rid of the sizing in it. The patch/ball combination should fit snugly in your rifle but you shouldn't have to hammer it down.
Welcome to the dark side.....
Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:
If it has an oversized bore than .451 would possibly work but not likely. Like everyone else stated try .440 and a ticker patch like .015 give or take and then adjust from there.
Send $20 to Dutch Schoultz [email protected]
and he will send you his System - all about balls, patching, lubes, powder, and consistency, consistency, and consistency.
Well worth the money, and he will help you become the best shot you can be. :wink:
and he will send you his System - all about balls, patching, lubes, powder, and consistency, consistency, and consistency.
Well worth the money, and he will help you become the best shot you can be. :wink:
If you were shooting one of the factory made .45's you could probably get away with a thin patch.
Because your rifle is a custom made gun it undoubtably is using a good barrel from one of the companies that specialize in muzzleloading barrels.
All of these companies use deep rifling grooves for their roundball barrels and the thin .005-.010 patches are thinner than the rifling grooves are deep.
That all boils down to thin patches not sealing the rifling so they get burned by the flame from the burning powder.
Once they are burned, they lose their grip on the rifling so accuracy goes to H in a handbag.
Because your rifle is a custom made gun it undoubtably is using a good barrel from one of the companies that specialize in muzzleloading barrels.
All of these companies use deep rifling grooves for their roundball barrels and the thin .005-.010 patches are thinner than the rifling grooves are deep.
That all boils down to thin patches not sealing the rifling so they get burned by the flame from the burning powder.
Once they are burned, they lose their grip on the rifling so accuracy goes to H in a handbag.
If you were shooting one of the factory made .45's you could probably get away with a thin patch.
Because your rifle is a custom made gun it undoubtably is using a good barrel from one of the companies that specialize in muzzleloading barrels.
All of these companies use deep rifling grooves for their roundball barrels and the thin .005-.010 patches are thinner than the rifling grooves are deep.
That all boils down to thin patches not sealing the rifling so they get burned by the flame from the burning powder.
Once they are burned, they lose their grip on the rifling so accuracy goes to H in a handbag.
Because your rifle is a custom made gun it undoubtably is using a good barrel from one of the companies that specialize in muzzleloading barrels.
All of these companies use deep rifling grooves for their roundball barrels and the thin .005-.010 patches are thinner than the rifling grooves are deep.
That all boils down to thin patches not sealing the rifling so they get burned by the flame from the burning powder.
Once they are burned, they lose their grip on the rifling so accuracy goes to H in a handbag.
Greenjoytj
54 Cal.
Lightly lube the bore with gun oil, then slide in a brass rod that's at least 6" long. Use an over sized unpatched ball and hammer it into the bore till its just flush with the muzzle ( further down is not required). Up end the rifle and shake it up and down, the brass rod acts as a slide hammer and will drive out the ball. This process is known as slugging the bore and results in a ball with your rifles lands ands and grooves swagged onto the balls circumference. Keep that ball! Its a measurable mould of the rifling dimensions. Use a a vernier caliper to measure and record the diameter across both the lands and grooves.
Choose an actual ball size five thou (0.005") smaller than the rifles land to land measurement taken from the slugged ball.
This size ball will give best accuracy but with harder starting into the bore and harder ramming down.
A ten thou smaller ball will start & ram easier but accuracy won't be as good (read that as larger group size).
The correct patch thickness will be a patch that when wraped around your ball and "slugged" into the bore (don't forget the brass rod) will show the cloth weave pattern umbossed onto the ball in a light an heavy pattern around the ball circumference.
I also like to use an over powder wad one bore size larger which may help if you need a thin patch.
Ball & patch size is a compromise between ease & speed of loading verses accuracy, I favor the accuracy side of the compromise.
Choose an actual ball size five thou (0.005") smaller than the rifles land to land measurement taken from the slugged ball.
This size ball will give best accuracy but with harder starting into the bore and harder ramming down.
A ten thou smaller ball will start & ram easier but accuracy won't be as good (read that as larger group size).
The correct patch thickness will be a patch that when wraped around your ball and "slugged" into the bore (don't forget the brass rod) will show the cloth weave pattern umbossed onto the ball in a light an heavy pattern around the ball circumference.
I also like to use an over powder wad one bore size larger which may help if you need a thin patch.
Ball & patch size is a compromise between ease & speed of loading verses accuracy, I favor the accuracy side of the compromise.
Auldgoat
40 Cal.
.451 for a 44? He was probably thinking about his cap and ball revolver.
Will
Will
Billnpatti
Cannon
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2008
- Messages
- 7,340
- Reaction score
- 44
Amen!!!
Auldgoat said:
Not necessarily. For years I used .457" balls in a .45 cal. Douglas barrel for target shooting. I patched with Denim, heavy stuff. It did require seating with a hammer and steel rod. But it was an X hitter. However for a starter and/or hunting that kind of extreme stuff is not needed.
