Leather Patches

[Many Klatch]

Several us did an experiment years ago to see if leather patches worked. We got the idea from the book Last of the Mohicans where the author wrote about Hawkeye's "Leather covered ball" in his shooting descriptions.

Our idea was that the early larger caliber rifles actually were used to shoot a much smaller caliber ball. Our reasoning was that buckskin was readily available on the frontier but cloth was harder to come by. So if a shooter was going to use a leather patch, then he would also wind up shooting a smaller ball thereby saving powder and lead. Sort of a win-win situation.

I tried it for a while and found that I could shoot a 50 caliber ball in a .54 rifle quite well.

Comments?

Many Klatch

 

[shmrck1]

Many,
I can see where the experiment,you did may have
produced some positive results in smoothbores,
I don't see it as being practical or economical
in a rifled barrel.Useing such patches today
would be very impractical and exspensiveIMHO.
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

it's good thing to know that it is doable. I've seen myself old-timers that carried wasp nest material, very tough paper and wondered about if that stuff was not used to patch balls, they used it in smoothbores for sure.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Buckskin is dressed quite thin and is very stretchy and flexible, especially when saturated with a natural lube like deer tallow or marmot oil. You can load with a ball .010" under bore size. Way back in my more foolish days I hunted with a .54 Green Mountain barrel shooting 140 grains of 3f and a .530 ball in buckskin patch. I no longer feel like taking that much recoil, nor do I see any need for such heavy loads, thus no need for buckskin patching, but it certainly does work.

 

[david50]

wonder how a leather car shammy would do

 

[hawk]

I've used shammy cloth (lamb skin) and had no problems . shot 69 cal ball in my 75 cal bess
3 inch groups at 50 yards ,until a .715, .735 ball mold pops up at a gun show that does the trick.

 

[Coot]

I have thought about the longhunters & others who were away from supplies (or lost them) & what they could do for patching. What about rabbit or squirrel skin - your lunch could supply a number of patches & the skin is pretty thin. Why waste hard to find cloth if you have a free alternative?

 

[Wes/Tex]

wonder how a leather car shammy would do

I've caught a chamois sale at one of the local auto parts places in the past. Leather, though thicker than cloth, compresses more and will in rifled bores where .015" cloth patches are used. If you'll pull on them a bit as you work in the lube, they'll thin out a bit more as well. The advantages are they're not prone to smouldering on the ground and can usually be picked up and used again. I've always put the rough side against the ball but that's just a personal thing. Haven't tried them in the smoothie cause it likes unpatched balls with cards best.

 

[shmrck1]

Coot,
Just wondering is there any documentaion that
this occurred? I would never say it didn't happen
back when.Still I think it would have not
been an everyday thing,because of the expence,
both then and now. :hmm:
snake-eyes:hmm:

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Actually, I suspect that for a frontiersman, buckskin may have been cheaper and more easily obtained than good linen cloth. It's really not all that expensive today, since, for patching one can use small scraps and irregular hides that would not make a garment.
This post reminded me to try buckskin in a .54 Sharon barrel that has not been giving the accuracy I wanted, so Yesterday I gave it a try. The buckskin I used measured .045-.052" uncompressed, depending on exactly where I measured. When wet with saliva, a .530" ball required a considerable swat to start the ball. Once past the crown and the patch cut it rammed on down with a buttery smoothness, easier than any cloth patch I've tried. Unfortunately, the accuracy was no better nor worse than the .020" linen canvas I have been using but ramming was much easier. :grin:

 

[antoine2]

Check out a link to Pteryplegia[url] http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/ptery.html,[/url] for a poem written in 1727 on smoothbore wing shooting. It has a discussion of using leather patches/wads aka saddle pierce.

Also see Blackpowder Notebook link to V. M. Starr book on muzzleloading shotgun[url] http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/starr.html[/url]

These and other interesting reflections from a long time muzzleloading shooter can be found athttp://home.insightbb.com/~bspen The Blackpowder Notebook.

I like leather patches because they don't smolder in the dry grass and leaves.

 

[bart_anastasi]

Now that you mention it and I believe this is accurate historically.

In a series of books published I believe by a English writer the series related the experiances of a Sargent who saves the life of a General and ends up getting promoted. (Wellington I believe during the Napoleanic Wars in Spain)

The first book was called (Sharps Rifles) Sargent Sharp wishes he had let the guy die)

Anyway. While most of the men fighting were using smooth bore muskets Sharps company is a special one outfitted with rifles for long range shooting.

The author mentions in this book that when English riflemen were looking to so some serious long range shooting (sniping) (for the time) the would shift to chamois patching.

 

[Wes/Tex]

You have to remember that Bernard Cornwell gets a little carried away with his Sharpe tales. To start, the South Essex Regiment is fictional. Members of the 95th carried Baker Rifles and were issued out pre-patched balls that had the pig skin patches sewn on and were also pre-lubed, though modern forensic hasn't been able to determine what the lube actually was...though, mice seem to love the stuff!

Second, while companies or even squads of the 95th could be parcelled out during a battle situation, they weren't permanently posted to a specific regiment.

And he laways gives the French Dragoons short carbines when they, if fact, carried 40 inch barreled muskets. Just a few slips are typical for modern fiction writers.

 

[Ohioan]

Members of the 95th carried Baker Rifles and were issued out pre-patched balls that had the pig skin patches sewn on and were also pre-lubed, though modern forensic hasn't been able to determine what the lube actually was...though, mice seem to love the stuff!
quote]

I seem to remember hearing that the Brittish lubed their BP cartridges with pig fat. And when in India, the muslim conscripts there revolted when they found out they were sticking cartidges with an unclean animal products on it in their mouths. Then, it turned out it wasn't really pig fat. They found out after they revolted.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

An alternative would be to make some out of old jeans. In fact, next time I go to the range I will try some .530 balls in my 58cal with some patches made out of some old jeans. That would be sweet if it worked! I have herd of that working for some people. Who knows. Everyone gets different results.