Condition of shooting patches

[Erwan]

Hi,
That's absolutely right: the good patch is the patch wich seems good enough that you can shoot again with, this is the firs thing to observe after shooting.
About the lube, for me the best, is simply the "beef foot oil" (this a good lube an cleaning when shooting with patched round bullets) and like you never the saliva...
I don't use any, lubed or not, felt pad, but why not, only the result is important...

Have a nice day.

 

[Buckskinn]

I had some time to play around with my patch issue. Bought some thicker ticking, but forgot to get felt... Remembered that some use hornet nest for wad. Since I shoot out of my walkout basement door and our deck is right above, I knocked an old nest down and use a bit of that below the ticking. That and the thicker ticking seemed to work.

I may have to go away from the Dutch Schoultz dry lube method. Seems that for some reason my patches burn up with that method. If I use moose milk moistened patch, I don't burn patches...

My first shot was dry lube with thicker ticking, shredded it and the remainder literally burned to ash in my hand. Second shot patch was lightly moistened with moose milk and with hornet nest wad, slightly torn from the edge of the lands in 2 spots. Shot several more and had same results, with 2 spots torn. I may lap the barrel and see if that helps. I do have some JB Bore Polish, so might give that a try. Actually, I should probably shoot 100 through it first before getting to aggressive...

 

[Erwan]

Have a look at the muzzle to see if the beginning of the rifling is not too sharp and can cut a bit yours patches before shooting.
A dry lubricant, surprising idea, how or with what kind of stuff did you do this lubricant ?
If the rifling is too sharp you can arrange it with a bearing ball and some fine abrasive and a little piece of wood to roll it on the muzzle...

PS: the JB is a good polishing paste

 

[Boomerang]

A dry lubricant, surprising idea, how or with what kind of stuff did you do this lubricant ?

The dry lubricant method is basically diluted water soluble oil (like Balistol) applied to patches and let dry so all is left is the diluted oil in the patch which is such a small amount that it feels dry to the touch.

 

[Buckskinn]

I have checked the muzzle for sharpness by starting the ball and then pulling it out by the patch and there are no cuts in it. I think I am also going to try a very light load and see if it still cuts the patch. I had a round of forgetting to put powder down and had to trickle powder through the flash hole. I didn't think of it and fired the ball at a 45, saw the ball flying through the air, but didn't think to go find the patch...

I am using Dutch's dry lube recipe, but not having much luck with it as mentioned above. It's just differning ratios of water to Ballistoll (4-1, 5-1, 6-1, etc) then allowing the water to evaporate leaving different amounts of oil remaining on the patch. Apparently most use 7-1, but they all feel very dry to me. And like I said, burn up...

 

[Erwan]

The dry lubricant method is basically diluted water soluble oil (like Balistol) applied to patches and let dry so all is left is the diluted oil in the patch which is such a small amount that it feels dry to the touch.
-----------
I am using Dutch's dry lube recipe, but not having much luck with it as mentioned above. It's just differning ratios of water to Ballistoll (4-1, 5-1, 6-1, etc) then allowing the water to evaporate leaving different amounts of oil remaining on the patch.

Well, well, well, something very interesting.
And this mix let the bore clean too like other lubes when the patch goes to the end of the bore ?

I have a can of one gallon of Ballistol and I'll take a bit to test this certainly Saturday and compare with my beef foot oil...

Dry patches for Saturday and for Sunday patches lubed with beef foot oil...

Thanks for this, guys, I did learn something new today and I'll try this WE.

Have a nice day.

 

[hanshi]

I have a couple of barrels with .016" radius rifling. In order to fill the grooves to where I have at least a little compression, I use .024" canvas or occasionally denim. I consider denim to be the best patching material commonly available. Trouble is denim tends to seat with much protest. The canvas seats more easily; more easily, in fact, that some thinner stuff I use from time to time. At the range I prefer Hoppes but in the hunting bush it's mink oil.

The ball I cast is .010" under bore diameter. In my .45 I have a .445" mold that loads and shoots no differently than .440" ball. Most of my rifles have square cut rifling .010" to .012" deep. Mattress ticking works great in them but I prefer to use the thicker canvas. I load fairly tight. But I do not use loads that can't be safely seated with the hickory underbarrel rod. It's a rare exception when I swab the bore. But even when I do it's not to prevent a too fouled bore; but rather to clear any possible breech crud ring. I go to the range to shoot, not swab. I've found that thicker patching is more accurate and usually results in higher velocities, if such things are important to us.

 

[Buckskinn]

I played around with my patching configuration again yesterday. I've found that in order to not have burned or torn patches I need to use a wad. While hornet nest seemed to work ok, I found that 3 cotton .22 cal round cleaning patches used as wad under my .18 ticking patch worked the best. All material was lubed using the dry lube method and my patches came out to where they could be used again and my pattern at 50 yards could be covered up with a baseball. The rest of my rifles laugh hysterically at that group, but they just don't get it...

My plan is to get some felt for wadding as that would be less cumbersome than the cleaning patches, but I'm just happy that I finally have patches that are not on fire or shredded to bits!

 

[Erwan]

If the patch doesn't burns that's good news.
With a small piece of felt will be pretty good but the problem stays.
One thing I do long time ago with a Charleville 1777 gun was a bit of plumbing joint wick (I don't have the right word in English), this stuff is dry and do the job between the powder and the patch, it's light and just a small ball rolled with yours fingers is sufficient. If you know a plumber or a shop that sale this stuff you can try it it's very low cost and usable for cleaning (Ballistol/water, Moose Milk, Young's Parker Hale/water etc) ...

 

[Stumpkiller]

These were dipped & dried (twice) and cut at the muzzle.

 

[Buckskinn]

I considered dipping twice... Just seems like once does not leave much ballistol. What ratio do you use? I know Dutch says most use 7-1, but that seems like nothing to me.

I'm really trying to get this dry lube method to work as it seems the best way to leave the least amount of manure in the barrel...

 

[Grenadier1758]

These were dipped & dried (twice) and cut at the muzzle.

What's the ratio of oil to water and what's the distance?

It is a good group.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Thanks. Back when I had better eyes and less twitches. As I recall that was a contest Claude ran here for three shots standing offhand at 50 yards. It's a .50 Percussion New Englander.

The lube I call "Stumpy's Moose Juice" and was worked up, also for the Forum. I did a BUNCH of rust and shooting tests.
Castor Oil 3 oz.
Murphy's Oil Soap 1 oz.
Witch Hazel 4 oz.
Isopropyl Alcohol (91%) 8 oz.
Water (non-chlorinated if available) 16 oz.

I dip my patching in this twice and let it dry laid flat on wax paper in between. Makes a semi-dry patch material that's easy to carry & use. If you don't mind carrying a little bottle it's a GREAT liquid lube as is.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/stumpkillers-lube-recipes.26771/

 

[Erwan]

Murphy's Oil Soap 1 oz.

Is it possible that somebody explain to me what is exactly the Murphy's Soap, I'm sure that we can get something like this or equal in France but I don't have any idea of the composition of it...

Thanks.

 

[Buckskinn]

I had all the ingredients so I mixed up a batch and have some ticking drying.

Murphy's is a natural soap for wood. Coconut oil and such in it.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Is it possible that somebody explain to me what is exactly the Murphy's Soap, I'm sure that we can get something like this or equal in France but I don't have any idea of the composition of it...

Thanks.

It's also knows as "soft soap". It's vegetable based. Looks like Fer à Cheval (fabriqué en Marseille) floor cleaner is similar. I have also used Pine Sol with similar results.

 

[Erwan]

It's also knows as "soft soap". It's vegetable based. Looks like Fer à Cheval (fabriqué en Marseille) floor cleaner is similar. I have also used Pine Sol with similar results.

It's like our produces called " Savon noir liquide de Marseille" (saponification of olive oil) and this black soap is green/brown or translucent for dishes washing and other...

Thanks a lot Stupkiller and Buckskinn, now I know what the Murphy's soap is...

 

[excess650]

My preference is to use mink oil for hunting. I have no fear of rusting or contaminating the powder charge. Like Hanshi, I prefer a pretty tight fit. Sometimes the tight fit used at the shooting range is a bit too tight for a reload when hunting, so a thinner patch (easier to load) can be used, but it works better if a patch lubed with the same lube is wadded up and placed between the powder and PRB. Heavy ticking is what I generally use, but I've found that even my wimpy cotton flannel patches can survive with mink oil and an under PRB "wad".