Let's see your patch knives and technique

[woodse guy]

So all you had to do was put on the scales. It comes sharp and ready to go.

 

[Mike 56]

I have been using a Tack paring knife for years. Good knife.
Mike

 

[mbokie]

Here's what I bought:

Grohman trout and bird belt knife

Fits the hand pretty well and it was about 30% off. It was also the sharpest knife in the cabinet. The only difference is my handle is black. Looks nice and I can legally carry it on my belt. It looked very similar to a number of knives in the thread. Cuts a patch but needs to be sharper. I'll get on the Arkansas later tonight.

 

[Mike 56]

Wow nice knife knife. Sharping on flat stones is cool but there is a learning curve. Takes a little practice. If you are new to sharping knifes a Spyderco sharpmaker is not a bad way to go they are 50.00 on ebay but they will sharpen every tool in your house and they come with a DVD to teach you how to use it.
Mike

 

[mbokie]

Well, I'll be fine on that. I've got half a dozen or more stones of high quality here. But I do appreciate sharing your know how. so please never hesitate.

:hatsoff:

 

[Stumpkiller]

You'll like the Grohmann. I have a stag handled boat knife (#3) that I've put some miles on . . . in a boat, even.

About 8:00 in this image.

For a stainless it takes and holds an edge very well.

 

[Mike 56]

It turns out you have better stones than i have. My other hobby is collecting Swiss Army Knifes, multitools and sharping systems. I enjoy sharping knifes. Some day i would like to have some nice Japanese water stones.
Mike

 

[mbokie]

I see it there. they had one just like that in the cabinet. But it wasn't the sharpest, so I passed on it because I was planning to go to the range from there, but never made it. I have the Buck at 12 o'clock. Now that's a surgical sharp blade. I used it to help with a moose our hunting party took last year. And it's still like a razor.

 

[mbokie]

I always have my Swiss in my pocket. I feel naked without it.

 

[buford87]

I'm not dressed unless there is at least 1 knife in my pocket...................watch yer top knot............

 

[Stumpkiller]

Ditto. I am sitting on a Victorinox SA Camper right now that is always with me (except on a plane - then it's packed). Anytime I'm wearing jeans I also have a Benchmade folder clipped to the edge of a pocket. If I'm working around the house or at the boat a Leatherman Wave on my belt.

Hunting I'll have a neck knife, a belt sheath knife, the pocket knives above and a SA Hunter in my daypack - plus a folder in my shooting bag. If I'm planning a campfire, ground blind or feeling period add a large rifleman's knife. I'm a real nut case.

 

[mbokie]

Absolutely. Both of my Grandpa's, one from Mississippi and one from Arkansas, said to never be without a knife. It was gospel to them.

They always had a great way of making you see the light on that. They both said that if you saw a dog caught up with it's collar in the fence, you could save it. That sold me.

If I had lost my last knife, they would go buy me a new one. And then every time they saw me, they would make me show them my knife.


And they wanted to know how sharp it was.

All of it giving tremendous credence to Hanshi's sig.

 

[mbokie]

Seems good to me.

But in these times, we're all considered some sort of nut.

Such is the price we pay for sanity.

 

[Mike 56]

Tell me about it i have 50+ Swiss Army Knifes and 25 multitools mostly Leathermans. I keep them in a center roll away tool Box on my night stand. I am lucky my wife thinks it is cute. She says it a small price to pay to keep me off the streets.
Mike

 

[mbokie]

Ok, I sharpened my new knife to the point where I can almost not hold the patching. I was surprised that it was so easily sharpened to such a fine degree. My fine Arkansas is a good one.

And It's easier to do than I thought it would be, cutting the patch at the muzzle, I mean.

 

[mbokie]

Ok, here's another question on the same topic.

How much fabric do you use when cutting patches at the muzzle?

 

[hoochiepapa]

Just push the ball and material down into the muzzle far enough that the ball is flush. Then cut the patch. I've heard it really doesn't matter how far down you push the ball, but I think it depends on whether you have deep rifling or not. On my .32, the GM barrel has shallow rifling, and then the patch gets caught between the ball and jag as I push it down, and sometimes is difficult to release the rod from the patch.

 

[BrownBear]

On my .32, the GM barrel has shallow rifling, and then the patch gets caught between the ball and jag as I push it down, and sometimes is difficult to release the rod from the patch.

That's an important point, especially with smallbores for some reason. It doesn't take much extra patching at all to "grab" the jag and unseat as you retract the rod. My fix with larger patches is to always fold over the excess before inserting the rod, but cutting is less fiddly.

How close to cut? A few times I've been a little sloppy (most of the time in most things if you ask my wife!) about getting the ball deep enough. I've actually managed to shave off a little of the ball when I cut the patch. I KNOW and everyone else KNOWS that it should mess up the accuracy, but it didn't happen as far as I can tell. Maybe at 100 yards or even 50, but at 25 I still hit right where I wanted.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Heck, shaving the ball puts a bit of meplat on the nose. That's what kills animals and increases penetration, if you follow some of the conical threads. :rotf:

 

[mbokie]

Ok, so if you compare the patch you cut against a round factory patch, how would it compare in overall size and shape?