Best way to use spit patch?

[French Colonial]

At shoots back in the early 1970's , some guys used to take some cordage and attach a big size sewing needle to the cord. Their patches were strung on the cord and the cord was attached to their shot pouch front strap.The cord held the patches in place once the needle was removed , they could easily remove one patch at a time when loading. Some made spit patch one at a time , while others w/no spit , lubed the individual patches with what ever.

Bag with patches ready to go

 

[Dave Dworshak]

spit patch will freeze on the end of the muzzle in winter.

 

[Wildrangeringreen]

stear clear of grease in a loaded bore, IMO; especially if it is going to stay loaded for a while. You will get powder contamination, the severity of which largely depends on the grease used and the ambient temps. Variable Powder contamination=variable velocity=variable POI. Either use a softened wax (I use 3 : 1 : .15 Paraffin,Crisco,and diesel anti-gel) or spit to lube things. Having strips of greased cloth in and around your bag will make everything nasty, and it'll pick up dirt/grit that you'll put down your bore. Juggling a rifle, strip of cloth, a knife, and a bottle/tin of lube is a recipe for dropping something or forgetting something.

As far as patch boxes are concerned, I'm sure some people kept loading supplies in there for the gun (a common thing for especially a small game gun is to keep a couple balls, a couple patches, and an extra flint in there, so you can just grab your rifle, and a pocket flask and go get a couple rabbits for dinner (don't need or want to be encumbered with a belly box or small shot pouch). Just enough stuff for a couple shots. Other people have kept spare nipples, nipple wrench/turnscrew, jags+worms+ball screws in there (if they have multiple calibers, so that the cleaning supplies stay with the rifle they're meant for). A multi compartment patch box helps to keep things organized, but are relatively uncommon today (easier to router the whole thing out lol).

When I used cloth patched round ball (I mostly use paper now), I kept precut patches (squares, 1.5x the length and width of the caliber) in a little pocket on the outside of my shot pouch, just under the flap. first thing after shooting, I grab a patch out, stuff it in my mouth, then measure and pour the powder and by the time I put that away and grab a ball, the patch is soaked up enough. Put that on the muzzle and put the ball on top and shove it down the barrel, the fouling will soak up a lot of the moisture in the patch (cleaning while you load, I suppose). For me, the water is just there to help clean the previous fouling out of the path of the ball, and get the ball+patch down the barrel (my first shot, I don't usually wet the patch even).

I used to do the whole strip thing, and cut each patch at the muzzle, but getting a consistent patch is difficult (to say the least). Plus I hated having it dangle around in the dirt and stuff (since I put it in my mouth lol). That's why I went to precut patches. They don't "freeze to the muzzle" in the winter (at least not in OH lol), your mouth is 98.6'F, even if the barrel is 32'F, it still takes a sec to drop the temp to freezing (considering saliva freezes at a lower temp than plain water). Center patch, ball, ram, retrieve rammer- that fast (I only use a short starter if the bore is heavily fouled, not something that is going to happen in a hunting situation... I hope lol). That being said, all my rifles are shallow grooved, and I don't need or want a hermetic fitting ball and patch to fill the grooves).

You don't need grease or oil for cloth-patched RB, just like you don't need "BP solvent"; some people want to sell you something, some people buy into it.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I would not even consider a spit patch when hunting. Patch will dry out and possibly start rust in the barrel before being able to get your shot. Use a prelubed patch with some type of a grease that won't dry out.

Amen, Bro.

 

[Professor flintlock]

Amen, Bro.

Hey no problem with you guys who want to use spit patch. Just don't be swapping spit on the trail walks.

 

[Packrat]

Once your charge goes off any germs that might be on the patch will have been cooked to nothing
I don’t use spit often but when I do I doubt it is a problem
Not likely to spread Covid that way

 

[Billy Boy]

Some of us leave our rifles loaded for days or weeks on end, spit patches would easily dry out.

Plus the enzymes in our saliva will cause rust faster than plain water if left in place for a while.

 

[Coinneach]

Considering personal hygiene, using spit patches is not the wisest thing to do, when there are better options.

Loading blocks with pre-lubed patches and ball.

 

[Paul Nelson]

I use to use spit patches, the patches were precut and I would pop one in my mouth then stuffed it down along with the ball. I got ahold of a different brand of patches and they tasted awful, I now use pre lubed patches.

 

[Joemolf]

Considering personal hygiene, using spit patches is not the wisest thing to do, when there are better options.

I don’t think anyone is talking snot laden spit here. But heck if anyone does a bet they pick up a few feet per second.

 

[sidtrog]

Enzymes in spit cause rust?! I thought most enzymes were proteases/lipases/carbohydrases rather than promoting iron oxidation... sorry had to yank the chain a little.
Now I'm more determined to chew those patches; after all if the old guys could chew their used tow after swabbing the barrel.

 

[Matthew323]

I used spit/saliva almost exclusively with three different flintlock longrifles (.45 caliber, .50 caliber, & .62 caliber) over a 25 year period. With denim upholstery material that I purchased from an independent fabric store, that was approximately 0.024" thick.

I never had any issues utilizing saliva as my primary lubricant. My barrel did not rust. A ring of corrosion where the patched ball came to rest on top of the powder charge, never formed. The spit laden patch never froze to the steel muzzle of the barrel because I seldom chose to ever shoot my longrifles in such uncomfortable conditions.

When shooting in freezing cold weather (virtually never), or hunting (less than 2% of my shooting) I used home rendered beef tallow mixed with a small amount of beeswax.

Simply put, spit patches work, and work extremely well. Blowing down the barrel, in conjunction with a spit patch, allows a muzzleloading patched ball shooter to keep the fouling extremely soft, which in turn, can contribute to long strings of multiple shots without wiping between shots.

All three of my rifles were capable of silver dollar size, 5-shot, offhand groups at 100 yards. Using only spit. And, were capable of as many as 75 consecutive shots in a row without ever needing to wipe the bore.

 

[toot]

"Personal hygiene"???? Have you seen pictures of some of the grubby dudes on this forum??!!!

what is the problem? you are not swapping spit with them, grubby dudes !! BTW, DAH, what is personal hygiene???? just don't pick up the used spit patches and reuse them. LOL!!

 

[Springerpanhead]

Hey no problem with you guys who want to use spit patch. Just don't be swapping spit on the trail walks.

If im gonna have something fuzzy in my mouth it ain’t gonna be no patch for a round ball. Really don’t understand what cookies these guys get out of sucking on a piece of cloth.

 

[French Colonial]

Really don’t understand what cookies these guys get out of sucking on a piece of cloth.

Cookies?????
Spit patches are easy and spit is always available (Maybe not as you age)
Loads easy with no wiping between shots.
Allows very accurate shooting
DOES NOT dry out in the bore for quite some time (If you want to argue this provide proof not speculation)
DOES NOT cause a rust ring over any reasonable time frame (If you want to argue this provide proof not speculation) (I have 40+ years in my Jaeger using spit patches and no rust ring thank you)

Spit works great, however spit patches do NOT taste like my wife's cookies (UUMMMM!!... oatmeal chocolate chip!!!)

 

[French Colonial]

Now let us look at lubes

LOTS of them are not HC/PC (goop hand cleaner one guy recommended!) diesel fuel in your mix etc. etc.
Need to fumble around with either oily or greasy patches in a separate container.
Now your fingers are oily or greasy, I guess you what, wipe them on your bib overalls?
Lots of them build up in the bore, some so much you must wipe between shots, that's a bummer.
If you wipe between shots do you carry a "Range rod" with a jag, another thing to mess with.
Some of those lubes dry out over time.

OR!!! you could use spit patches and stop with the foolishness!

 

[toot]

If im gonna have something fuzzy in my mouth it ain’t gonna be no patch for a round ball. Really don’t understand what cookies these guys get out of sucking on a piece of cloth.

why not try it and find out!

 

[Josephg]

I use a spit patch all the time. Easy to use, portable, easy to get to, I never run out. It's free, never leave it at home and it works better than anything else for me.

 

[Josephg]

If im gonna have something fuzzy in my mouth it ain’t gonna be no patch for a round ball. Really don’t understand what cookies these guys get out of sucking on a piece of cloth.

I see your problem. You are fixated on sucking. You don't suck on the patch, you get it wet with spit. Don't even have to put it in yer mouth if you don't want to. You could put it in yer wifes mouth, I used to do that. Or you can spit on it if you cannot overcome your tendency to suck.

 

[Springerpanhead]

why not try it and find out!

Cuz sucking on a piece of rag is just plain gross. HC / PC who cares. I like prelubes. No muss no fuss no stray threads stuck to my tounge. If HC / PC is so important, how bout I ship you a box of dried cow flops for your cooking fire. They aint buffalo chips but i understand they impart a very similar flavor to the meat.