cleaning patches

[Kenney Moore]

Howdy,
I make my own cleaning patches any size I need. I go to Walmart and buy a couple of yards of cotton flanel which is fairly inexpensive and very absorbent. I use a ruler, rotory cutter with its cutting surface and a long metal straight edge.
1. Fold and cut the material so that you have 4 thicknesses of the 2 yards of material and place it on the cutting surface.
2. Make tick marks along the 4 sides using the ruler the size you want. (Example: 2 inch by 2 inch for .50 or .54 cal. means a tick mark every 2 inches along the sides and top and bottom)
3. Use the straight edge and the roller cutter to cut between the tick marks: all the parallel cuts side to side and then all the parallel cuts top to bottom. NOTE: Hold the straight edge firmly when running the roller cutter along it to avoid it slipping.

The size of the cleaning patches can be made any size you want depending on caliber. I have found these patches to be more absorbent than most commercial brands.

Hope this helps. It's a little work, but they work great! :winking:

 

[Ohio Joe]

I too use the cotton cloth that Wal-Mart sells. I have found it to be better then anything else I've used. I don't go to the degree of exact measurements. I estimate my cuts and go to town cutting with the scissors.

Your right! It is a good patch cleaning material! :thumbsup:

 

[Bob J]

I like Ballistol too-
Now that I'm experimenting with Black Mag 3 (with good results), and shoot "Wonder-Lubed" pillow ticking, It takes just a couple of Ballistol patches, dry patches, and a final wipe with Ballistol patch and bore is clean and protected till next shoot. Ballistol doesn't seem to strip the barrel of the "seasoning".

 

[Kenney Moore]

I like Ballistol too-

Howdy,
Where do you get the Ballistol? I've been hearing about it and would like to experiment with it.
Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

ALL OF THIS TO SAY YES OR NO TO THE USE OF TEE SHIRT MATERIAL FOR CLEANING PATCHES!!!

YES PEPPERBELLY, YOU CAN USE TEE SHIRT PATCHES!!!

How did our ancestors ever conquer the continent without our one million word thesis on proper cleaning!

Pepperbelly, you can use anything as cleaning patches as long as you get them out of the bore before you fire your next shot. This includes paper towels, underwear scraps or pieces of lenin, cotton, wool or polyester torn from the tail of your hunting shirt.

Some of these guys that are worried about putting "foul stuff" down your delicate barrel also advocate lapping the same bore with scotch brite pads and steel wool smeared with valve grinding compound!

The solivent you use can be creek water, mud puddle water, water in the bathtub, windex with amonia, windshield washer fluid, comercial cleaner, or Pee.

Yes, we had a long million word thread on Peeing down the barrel. Some of these same guys thought that was a good thing too!

You can use almost anything wet, as long as you dry the gun after you clean it!

To oil and protect the bore you can use whale oil, petrolium oil, mineral oil, WD-40, g-9, STP, transmission fluid, GI red oil, sunflower seed oil, peanut oil, LARD, goose grease, bear oil, beeswax, tallow, skunk oil or ear wax!

You just have to wipe it out of the bore before you fire your next shot!

Longrifles were developed in the land of "make do". Muzzle loaders are very forgiving by the nature of their development. As you see from the your lack of a one word answer to the simplist of questions, they can be operated by people of little intelligence and great verbalization. That was also a trait on the frontier.

Anything and everything has been successfully used to clean a ML at one time or another.

Our ancestors used tow waste fibers, rags and hog lard for cleaning and hardly ever touched their guns with water. Their guns stayed loaded perminantly, ready for use instantly.

Just get it clean, oil it down to protect it, then clear the oil before you shoot it the next time.

Don't let our EX-spurts confuse you.

 

[Kenney Moore]

As you see from the your lack of a one word answer to the simplist of questions, they can be operated by people of little intelligence and great verbalization. That was also a trait on the frontier.

Don't let our EX-spurts confuse you.

Guess you just told all about yourself. :crackup:

 

[pepperbelly]

Thanks Ghost. That makes sense, and I understand the other stuff.
I moderate on a C&R forum and we get the same kind of discussions going about cleaning after shooting corrosive ammo. Some will say to never shoot it, when all you have to do is clean it right.
All the reading I have done since getting this rifle about using pillow ticking, etc. makes me ask a lot of questions.
A muzzleloader is different than my other rifles, but not that much different. The main concern I have is using petroleum products to protect the bore. I really like what I have used for years, decades really, but bp is different from my smokeless too.
I figure that, as long as I don't blow it up and clean it, I can undo any problems I cause with a little work. I need to play.
Jim

 

[B.Habermehl]

I don't know what your rotary cutter might be. I use a paper cutter that resembles a sort of "guillotine" the same as they had when I was in school. Loooong ago! Any cotten fabric seems to work OK as long as its kind of fuzzy like flanel. I too buy material by the yard for patches. The paper cutter slices the cloth as nice as can be, I can cut out an aweful mess of cleaning patches in one sitting of a hour or less. I make a mess of patches once a year or so usually the week before I do our biggest youth field day. These usually will last me all year till the next set up week. Only a hour or so of work for a years patch supply, not a bad trade. We usually have 100 kids at this event each gets to shoot at least 4 or more times with a flintlock, depending on how big the squads are. We have 4 guns and 4 Range officers working at a time. I usually supply all the patches used. We use a heck of a bunch but the total cost is only $3-4 dollars for the patch material, pluss I have my own made for my seasons use. As I said only about a hours work. The same evening I'll make shooting patches for the event and will cut 1000 or so with the drill press and a modified hole saw. More about that in another thread... BJH

 

[pepperbelly]

I probably know the answer to this, but does it matter if the patches are round or square? The patches I have seen in the gun shop are all round. Square would be a lot easier to cut.
Jim

 

[Rebel]

I used only round for years, but last summer i decided to try some square patches. Didn't notice any difference in the way they performed.

 

Round patchs or square patchs, you'll never be able to tell the "difference" by look'n at yore targits.

YMHS
rollingb

 

[Stumpkiller]

For cleaning patches I prefer square. I poke a hole in one corner and put the threads of the jag through that hole and then thread it onto the rod. This trick means I NEVER loose a cleaning patch in the bore when wiping. Just screwing the edge of the patch under the jag works, too.

Prior to doing this I've had some that were, I swear, 1" out of the bore before a loud "POP" and the patch jumped off the jag and back down into the bore. Must have had fouling or lube/oil plugging the nipple and a vacuum was created.

 

[pepperbelly]

I gotta remember that trick. Thanks Stumpy.
Jim

 

[Kenney Moore]

I don't know what your rotary cutter might be.

Howdy,
The rotary cutter is basically a sharp cutting wheel with a handle that can be purchased at a fabric store for a few dollars.
On the subject of round or square, I like the square for the same reason as Stumpkiller. I unscrew the jag and slip a corner under and tighen it and no lost patches. :thumbsup:

 

[B.Habermehl]

Funny as many times as I have been in fabric stores for patch matieral and such I never ran across one. I will have to make it a point to watch for one next time. The rotary cutter idea might be handy for reducing cloth to shear size for my paper Guillotene..BJH

 

[Keith]

It looks likea pizza cutter with a sliding guard. Very sharp.