GPR and RB patches

[piper987]

Have several BP rifles. Except for my new GPR, got it in December, I have found spent patches on the ground 15-20 from where I shot and could examine them. I have yet to find one from the GPR. I have used 2 different type patches and several different BP loads. Guessing the patch is either burning up or sticking to ball??? What does this mean?

 

[mike54]

I have one in a flinter .54cal. I doubt they are sticking to the ball but it is possible they are burning up and sometimes they are just hard to find. Try firing a couple shots safely down range and see if you can see the patch flying through the air, don't worry about aiming just watch for the patch. When i first got mine it was destroying patches, even when i used teflon ticking. My bore was rough so i used 0000 steel wool and polished the bore and coned the muzzle. Now it shoots sub 1" 5 shot groups at 25yds 2" groups at 50yds off hand(the gun will do better but thats the best i can do on a good day) and i can re-use my patches if i wanted too. These guns will shoot.

 

[Jim C]

:thumbsup: There's not a custom rifle anywhere on the planet that will out shoot my .50 cal GPR caplock.

 

[azmntman]

I bet there a shooter that using your GPR could out shoot you though! :rotf: :blah:

(not me, lately I have SUCKED) Eye Dr?

 

[piper987]

Definitely tried finding them. With other rifles it is no problem finding them. Was wondering also if they were getting shredded. Heard GPR have sharp/rough rifling from factory. Thanks for the input.

 

[Tom Compton]

Mike is probably right, the patch is being cut and fraying to shreds on firing. Many say 100+ shots will settle a barrel in. Smoothing the crown and bore will probably fix it quicker and greatly reduce the frustration.
TC

 

[piper987]

Probably put 50 rounds through it so far. Really no frustration, just curious about it.

 

[Micah Clark]

If the patch is burning, it would likely impact your accuracy. This is different than being cut . . but it MIGHT destroy the patch and make it harder to find. I often us a felt wad over the powder to keep the patch from burning in my 50 left hand Flint GPR.

Just thought.

It would be nice to have some blaze orange patches to find for inspection when first shooting a rifle.

 

[Boomerang]

So what kind of groups are you getting? If something negative is happening with the patch, then your accuracy will suffer.

 

[piper987]

Accuracy at 25 yards is good. Opens up at 50.

That said I am having sight issues. With my CVA Hawken or TC New Englander I can shoot a nat off a fleas butt at 50 yards. I don't like the GPR sights at all. I replaced the front sight with a Lyman white bead sight and shot it the first time last weekend. Much better than the original blade sight. Blade sight was just too thick. I am using the factory GPR adjustable sight. I really don't want the peep sight either. Still trying different set ups. I love the rifle and am only looking for 50 yard accuracy. I will find the right combo soon. If the dovetail size was the same I would just put the CVA adjustable Hawken sights on it and be done. I think the rear Hawken sight might fit even though the dovetail is different. But would have to remove both sights to know.

 

[timothy prouty]

HEY try this take a3/8 wooden dowel for your45to50cal and a 1/2inches for54to58cal about 3incheslong put it down the bore and then put a patch and ball and ram it home then take a ball puller and pull the ball out and look at the patch to see if the patch is rip or not

 

[nkbj]

Could use a high lighter?
Maybe?

Sometimes I've numbered patches so could pick them up later and know which load it was.
Maybe some high lighters would work for that too!

 

[Cowboy]

Accuracy at 25 yards is good. Opens up at 50.

That said I am having sight issues. With my CVA Hawken or TC New Englander I can shoot a nat off a fleas butt at 50 yards. I don't like the GPR sights at all. I replaced the front sight with a Lyman white bead sight and shot it the first time last weekend. Much better than the original blade sight. Blade sight was just too thick. I am using the factory GPR adjustable sight. I really don't want the peep sight either. Still trying different set ups. I love the rifle and am only looking for 50 yard accuracy. I will find the right combo soon. If the dovetail size was the same I would just put the CVA adjustable Hawken sights on it and be done. I think the rear Hawken sight might fit even though the dovetail is different. But would have to remove both sights to know.

I have owned my GPR for about 10 years now. When I first got it, It also came with a fixed semi-buckhorn rear sight as well. Do not know if they still come with the extra fixed sight? If not, " Track Of The Wolf " has them available here:
https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/881/1/RS-LYMAN-GPR

I changed mine over, but after I had put at least a few hundred balls out of the barrel.

Alot of discussion has been made here about having to break in their barrels before you will notice a drastic improvement in their accuracy. Before you go about changing sight configurations on your GPR, you might want to put a good number all balls through it first!

Respectfully, Cowboy :hatsoff:

 

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

With all the GPR's I've owned, I wouldn't shoot any patch thinner than .018"

I've owned only the 54 cals and they all loved 90-110gr 2fg goex and .018" pillow tick. Anything thinner and it shot nice "patterns", not groups :haha:

 

[Grenadier1758]

HEY try this take a3/8 wooden dowel for your45to50cal and a 1/2inches for54to58cal about 3incheslong. original poster Then put it down the bore and t hen put a patch and ball and ram it home then take a ball puller and pull the ball out and look at the patch to see if the patch is rip or not

To the original poster:

You didn't say if you are using a strip of patching or pre cut patches. I am assuming that you are using precut patches.

If you don't have the ball puller, I suggest getting some strip of fabric, either your cleaning patch or ball patching material. Use a strip about a foot long and 2" wide to short start the ball. Use the ends to pull the ball out and examine the patching. This will tell you if the crown is rough or sharp.

I suspect the bore is rough and unpolished from the manufacturing process. Take the time to get the bore smooth and then make changes to the sights.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Mike54 said:

I doubt they are sticking to the ball

Patches can stick to the ball. I once over lubed some patch cloth with my whale oil/beeswax mix. I knew it was heavy but used anyhow. At a match when I went to pull my 25 yard target I found the patch sticking to the paper right next to the hole. :shocked2: That was a surprise but also a lesson.
If yer rifling is rough there are many ways to smooth things out. Probably the easiest and safest is to use some copper ScotchBrite. Cut a hunk and using your jag just run up and down the bore using a light oil a dozen or two times. That might help.

 

[piper987]

The sight change was based off of sight picture. I just did not like what I saw through the sights. Front sight blade was so thick I could not see target at 50 yards.

Yes using precut patches.

 

[excess650]

Sight picture is subjective, so do what you need to do for YOUR eyes.

I gave up on commercial precut & lubed patches long ago. Mine are cut at the muzzle excluding those in the block carried in my hunting pouch.

 

[andles]

Might try this trick to check out the bore for roughness. Take your cleaning jag that is probably around .51 in dia. and wrap masking tape around until it is the same dia. as your ball. Need to use a caliper or micrometer to get it really close. Larger is better but not much. Might need to put the last wrap over the end of the jag. Put it on your ramrod with your lubed patch and send it down the bore and back out. Inspect at your leisure.
Not the same as shooting it out but gives you a good idea of roughness and how it effects the patch. Also can be done in your house and your neighbors won't complain.

 

[traceywalker]

Try coloring a few patches day glow orange. Bet you fine em. Have a .54 GPR and have used Dutch Schultz's recipe for dry patches w/ Ballistol and pillow ticking. In every case, they held up just fine. Shoots very accurately.