Hole in my patch?

[Texas Gil]

My .575 round ball in my .61 bore is blowing through my patch material!
why?
020 patch is pre lubed cotton shirt material. Fits snug at bore. I was very surprised to see the patch was charred black and had huge hole in center. All 6 shots were the same .
Accuracy was terrible.
I wonder if it immediately went through at ignition and the ball just bounced down the barrel?
Thinking I need more coarse or thicker patching ?
Anyone have any experience to share?

 

[erhunter]

How long was the patch prelubed? If it was stored a long time prelubed sometimes the lube weakens the patch material. Also with a .575 ball plus a .020 patch that gives you a total of .595 if I am correct. Looks like you could go to thicker patching material or a larger ball. Maybe a piece of wadding between the powder and ball. I would go with a thicker patch and freshly lubed patches cut at the muzzle for starters.

 

[Brokennock]

Shirt material? I'm betting the weave isn't tight enough. And, what do you mean by "prelubed"? Did you buy latching lubed by someone else, manufacturer or seller? Or is it just that you lubed a strip of it or individual patches before getting to the shooting range? What lube was used?

 

[FishDFly]

Could be the above or the patch maybe getting cut when started.

 

[Crow-Feather]

Get rid of the cotton material you are using and get pillow ticking from a fabric store. Wash the material about three times to get the sizing out and the material will be absorbent and strong. Use a good lube and completely soak the patch, squeezing out the excess. The pillow ticking is proven strong by billions of successful shots. A ticking patch full of a good lube will not burn.

 

[cynthialee]

how long did the patch sit, lubed up waiting to shoot?

Old patches sitting with lube will deteriorate and become trash after a while

Shirt material is way to thin for good patches. Now I have a good work around for thin, or old half ass patches....After you put the powder in the barrel, put a 1/3 measure of cornmeal or an over powder card or wad between the powder and PRB. Will prevent that burn through, but really you should get a better patch material. But the cornmeal or other barrier will help in this situation. (yes I know I have been teased on this very site for using cornmeal in my guns, and I still do it) If it works then why not.

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

Cotton short material makes good Charcloth doesn't it!

Your patch material weave should be tight so when you hold it up to the light you can't see through it.

Try some cotton drill cloth. It's used for making pockets in jeans. I buy Joann's #40 drill cloth wash and dry it twice to remove the sizing and tighten the threads.

 

[Texas Gil]

Yes I believe the shirt material was the problem. I had been using OX yoke prelubed patches and thought I could use strips and lube them the same thickness BUT it didn't work, Why do I continue to fix whats not broke. Going back to to the pre cut? lubed OX Yoke. Thanks guys for the input

 

[hanshi]

Forget the prelubed patches, trash 'em. By all means start with ticking and go to tougher weaves if needed. I use mostly canvas and similar weight materials.

 

[Brokennock]

Yes I believe the shirt material was the problem. I had been using OX yoke prelubed patches and thought I could use strips and lube them the same thickness BUT it didn't work, Why do I continue to fix whats not broke. Going back to to the pre cut? lubed OX Yoke. Thanks guys for the input

You will get even better results with patches you lube yourself. You can still use ox-yoke patches if you want, but buy them unlubed. Plenty of lube topics on here, everything from commercial preparations (avoid Bore Butter and the like) to stuff you buy that just works, like pure mink oil from Track of The Wolf, to homemade concoctions of fats, oils, and beeswax. And of course, spit. Why people use something at the range that they would not use in the field, I don't understand ( "so shall you train, so shall you fight" ) but, they do.
Even with better patches and better lube, a barrier between powder and PRB isn't a bad thing.

 

[Brokennock]

Of course, in your smoothbore you don't really need a patch anyway. You could just load some wadding between powder and ball and more wadding or a card on top to hold it in. Some very impressive groups are shot this way with proper load development.
But, I would go to a larger ball, actually I would go to a larger ball even with patches for your .61 bore. My .615 bore shoots best with a patched .595 ball with card between powder and ball, or card, lubed wad, then .610 ball, followed by a card to hold it in.

 

[Texas Gil]

been shooting .60 rb with leather on top and bottom for 10 + years with fair results of 7" groups at 50 yds,
tried the patched 575 rb with the OY patches and got 4" grps at 50. Just wanted to be able to use strips with same size as pre cut patches . As experienced I chose the wrong material for sure. I just want the same results using strips. Im delighted with 4 " at 50.

 

[hanshi]

Actually 4" at 50 yards is plenty good for deer at that range or maybe a little bit farther. I can get 2.75" to 3.0" at 50 with prb for 3 shots but near the same with carefully loaded .606" loaded bare ball.

 

[Texas Gil]

Actually 4" at 50 yards is plenty good for deer at that range or maybe a little bit farther. I can get 2.75" to 3.0" at 50 with prb for 3 shots but near the same with carefully loaded .606" loaded bare ball.

I’ll bet your not shooting a India made trade gun like I am. I’m thrilled with 4”. I hunt deer and it’s plenty good for that. I do get excellent bird shot patterns out to 35 or 40 yds however. This old gun is a great turkey shooter.

 

[Nor'Easter]

I’ll bet your not shooting a India made trade gun like I am. I’m thrilled with 4”. I hunt deer and it’s plenty good for that. I do get excellent bird shot patterns out to 35 or 40 yds however. This old gun is a great turkey shooter.

Texas. I shoot a .56 cal smoothbore with a hand made barrel. That barrel is no work of art like a Rice or Getz or Colerain. I tried many combinations of ball & patch, then found a bare .562 ball was a perfect fit and shot the best. It will not quite drop in - you have to seat it with the ramrod, but I always put something on top of it to make sure it stays on the powder when I am hunting. I load the powder (2f) and seat a prelubed Wonder Wad on it, then with thumb pressure put a lubed cushion wad in the muzzle - push the ball in sprue up - another prelubed Wonder Wad, then ram those last three home all at once. I've tried substitutes for the Wonder Wads and it didn't seem to make a difference. Pretty much the same stuff I carry for shot loads or buck and ball. I'm lazy and simple! I do like lubed wad materials for my own peace of mind - as long as it doesn't damp the powder. Lead and black powder residue sliding against bare steel makes me cringe. Must be the old sailor in me "if it's sitting still - polish it, if you can't polish it - paint it, if it's moving or rules 1 and 2 don't apply - grease it"!

 

[Brokennock]

A 4 inch group at 50 yards is the absolute worst I would accept. With the right load development, a water pipe strapped to a pine board should be able to shoot 4 inch groups. To my mind that is where we are just starting to tweak our load development. If my group is larger than than that and I get a load that shoots 4 inches, that just tells me I'm headed the right direction. Time to get serious and make small changes, think about what I changed to get that group.

 

[Grenadier1758]

The hole in the patch suggests to me that the crown is very sharp and cutting the patch at the muzzle as the patched ball is loaded.

 

[Texas Gil]

A 4 inch group at 50 yards is the absolute worst I would accept. With the right load development, a water pipe strapped to a pine board should be able to shoot 4 inch groups. To my mind that is where we are just starting to tweak our load development. If my group is larger than than that and I get a load that shoots 4 inches, that just tells me I'm headed the right direction. Time to get serious and make small changes, think about what I changed to get that group.

Well you woke me up. Decided to work a little harder and try to shrink that 4" group. I'll use a OP card and have some different 020 patch material coming. Also decided to try .610 rb wo patch. card both sides of the ball. do you ever use a lubed wad under the ball after putting in the op card?

 

[Brokennock]

Well you woke me up. Decided to work a little harder and try to shrink that 4" group. I'll use a OP card and have some different 020 patch material coming. Also decided to try .610 rb wo patch. card both sides of the ball. do you ever use a lubed wad under the ball after putting in the op card?

I'm more likely to skip the card than the lubed wad. I usually load; powder, thin card, lubed felt wad or lubed ball of "tow" for a wad, round ball, and then a thin card or two.
I have one smoothbore that seems to shoot better with a couple of lubed felt wads or a lubed ball of "tow",,,, without a card between powder and wad, but more testing remains to be done with that gun.
I have not tried a card above and below the ball with no lubed wad. Not saying it won't work, just that I haven't tried it. I would expect fouling issues. With any of the wad and ball loads I've mentioned and use regularly, I have no fouling related loading issues. One gun has a ramrod that is only 5/16" diameter and I can push the second thru 15th loads down with such little force that rod barely flexes.