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Making your own ball patches. Info needed.
- Thread starter WarDawg
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I do, without a dryer sheet, those have oil on them.
Blue Walmart pillow ticking is working well for me for my 54 and 58 cals, Old jeans with.530 rb for the Renegade smoothie, and pockets from jeans for the Patriots and Seneca 45s, ymmv.
The experimentation is the fun of muzzleloading! You just try new variables one at a time till you find what your gun likes, and I think it's easier than with brass suppository pieces, with their huge varieties of projectiles, primers (well, not in 2024), and powders, and cases. I experiment more with the charcoal burners!
Honestly, much ado is made in this forum about "overthinking it" and a patch is a piece of cloth. Just try different pieces of different cloths until you find what works best with your ball and your bore. Overthinking patches is about as close as I want to get to wasting time thinking, and I'm an overthinker by nature.
I think like any fabric in a dryer shrinks a little. but should be fine
A patch a piece of cloth? From my trial`s tee shirt, linen and pillow ticking can change the impact point from the point of aim
Drying can cause shrinking of the material which may actually help tighten the weave on certain fabrics. I’ve air dried and used the drier, both work pretty well and I can’t tell much if any difference once dried.
Ok i got a barrel with .010 deep lands. Investarm 1/48 . Recommend in the manual us .015 patch and .490 ball. I just got in some pillow tick that’s .015 . And ordered some I thought was going to be .018-.019 But I measured it and it’s .022. I’m figuring it’s going to be tight. To tight ? It was the Ron-loc red pillow tick. Wardawg
That's why you just try different pieces of cloth. See what works best. No need to go crazy analyzing it before trying it.
Anyone else take a micrometer to a fabric store?
The old-school method for patching round balls works fine. Find a natural fiber cloth of the right thickness. I use cotton pillow ticking. Wash it to remove sizing. Tear or cut it into strips. Lube it with whatever bullet lube you fancy. Or spit lube it, if you prefer. Place the end of the strip over the muzzle, insert and start the ball to just below muzzle level. Use your patch knife to smartly slice through the patch strip. Ram it home. The patch you cut will be almost perfectly round. It's worked for nearly 300 years.
second that. those fabric cutters can make a pile in no time.
guilty. glad i have, ive seen different bolts measure different.
Pure cotton fabric is best; calipers to measure compressed cotton fabric. Depending on several factors such as ball diameter, bore diameter the patch should compress to fill the gap. Typically a .490 ball with 10-15 thousands patch with lube will fit snugly. Be sure you measure your tamping rod to ensure the ball is seated firmly on your powder charge.
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I have red and white that mics
018 to .020 I have blue and white and even some purple and white. The thickness of the colors seems to vary depending on the mill. Bottom line is learn to read mics.
- Joined
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If you are looking for a specific thickness you better.
Greenjoytj
54 Cal.
What ever ball diameter and patch thickness you use it should cause the ball to acquire a pattern of light and heavy patch weave marks embossed as a belt around the circumference of the ball.
Buy your patch material as new fabric. Wash twice with your usual laundry detergent.
Machine dry on the hottest setting to shrink the fabric tightening the weave.
Steam Iron the fabric to flatten it.
Use a circle template and draw the circles of the required diameter use a very fine permanent ink marker from an artist supply store so the ink doesn’t run when the patches are lubed and stored.
Spend an evening or two cutting out patch circles.
I make stacks of 50 patches bound together in a stacked column with 2 slightly over size circles of cereal box cardboard top and bottom, bound with 2 thin rubber bands.
Buy your patch material as new fabric. Wash twice with your usual laundry detergent.
Machine dry on the hottest setting to shrink the fabric tightening the weave.
Steam Iron the fabric to flatten it.
Use a circle template and draw the circles of the required diameter use a very fine permanent ink marker from an artist supply store so the ink doesn’t run when the patches are lubed and stored.
Spend an evening or two cutting out patch circles.
I make stacks of 50 patches bound together in a stacked column with 2 slightly over size circles of cereal box cardboard top and bottom, bound with 2 thin rubber bands.
Over the past 60 years I've used Osborne Arch punches as they are industrial grade.
After washing sizing out of the pillow ticking material I fold the material into 8 layers.
Place the fabric on a sheet of hardwood, nylon as a backing & use a 3-4 lb. mallet to make an inventory of patches.
Convenient patch packing tip;
Run a needle with nylon thread through the center of a stack of 50 or so patches, tie a knot at the bottom of one end to prevent patches from slipping off & leave about 8" at the other end to attach to strap of your shooting bag.
Method speeds up loading & makes for less litter in in your shooting bag & range box
Relic shooter
