Need shooting advice, look at these patches, please.

[Mule333]

Did you wash it before using it? How many times and how did you dry it and how. Did you cut at the muzzle? With what? How did you lube it

Yes. Wash once, dried high heat. Yes, cut at the muzzle with a very sharp knife(I despise dull knifes!) lubed with 3in1 Oil, I forgot to get some Crisco before I left the house….

After the first shot, I held the ticking, oiled it, then stretched it between my thumbs to try and thin it some, hoping it would go in easier…. Didn’t seem to help.

Next trip, the patch is going to be with some newly acquired Linen and Murphy’s Oil and Windex mix.

Thanks

Ps… the patch was very thick. I thought it was going to be a problem. I measured it with my calipers and it was .024 after washing.

 

[Crow-Feather]

Just finished my first build, 40 cal. 38” barrel. First time to shoot a flintlock… what can I say but…. I’m Smitten! As I sit here typing this, I’m trying to figure out a way to get back to the range to shoot again without the wife knowing…

But let me get to my questions. Look at these patches please. Do they look normal. I had an extremely hard time seating the .395 ball with pillow ticking. Just using gun oil as a lubricant (all I had at the time). In fact, I had to turn my wooden handle on my knife sideways and then use my hammer to seat the bullet. Pushing down and seating the ball on the charge was fairly easy. And I swabbed twice between shots.

Can a patch and ball be to tight?View attachment 98135

Thanks, mule333

Get rid of the gun oil. If you have nothing else, soak the patch in spit. You either need a thinner patch or a smaller ball. I opted for the 390 round ball and get excellent results with a patch that is .022 thick. I use moose milk but there are many good lubes that can be made cheaply from home. You do need a ball starter. They are inexpensive and protect the top of the ball from being flattened when loading. The ball/patch combo must be tighter than what you can push down with your finger. Get the short starter.

A good rifle is no good without the correct accessories. Also read, read, read, not only here but on the net. Type in various black powder titles and get ideas to try. No one has the right combo for your rifle. That comes from you having fun finding out what does work.

 

[flntlokr]

I agree, but don't it look excessive to you, or is it just because it is a small patch?
Larry

A lot of shredding may be due to the weave of the cloth. Simple, loose weaves blow apart pretty easily. pillow ticking, denim, and some others are woven differently, and tend to hang together bettter. I buy unbleached cotton 'duck', and wash it twice to get the sizing out. The ladies at the fabric store see me measuring thickness, and one of them once said as she handed me the cut length ' Now you're going to shoot that out of something, aren't you?' I guess she has been to the rodeo before.

 

[Mule333]

Guy’s for all who have been kind enough to reply, Thank You…

Just an FYI….. this morning, just finished “seasoning” the barrel with ScotchBrite. Hopefully, this will help…. Sure won’t hurt!

 

[Mark Herman]

The patches in the picture tell me to try a larger ball or a thicker patch, especially if they aren't shredding when just cleaning. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Great! Thanks!…. Ok, so… 8oz in a cup (Murphy’s) into 23oz of Windex, that’s 1/3 Murphy’s into 2/3 Windex…. I’ll try it!

Not that it really makes any difference and your interpretation of @Stony Broke's cleaning solution will clean black powder fouling just fine, but the mix calls for 1/4 of Murphy's Oil Soap and 3/4 of the Windex to make 31 ounces or almost a quart of cleaning solution. Forgive me for being such an engineer that I need to offer such a clarification.

Guy’s for all who have been kind enough to reply, Thank You…

Just an FYI….. this morning, just finished “seasoning” the barrel with ScotchBrite. Hopefully, this will help…. Sure won’t hurt!

"Seasoning" a barrel is another procedure and one I don't feel is necessary. Polishing the bore with the Scotch Brite pad will take the sharp edges back for a better engagement of the ball, patch and the lubricant. That will certainly help.

Keep at it Mule 333. You are getting there.

 

[flntlokr]

I put stacks of punched patches (100 or so) in pill cans (from the drugstore); squirt in a dab of dish detergent and fill the can with water. Squeeze the stack down to get the air out, and let them soak for a while. When it's time to shoot ,take a small pile of wet patches out of the can, and squeeze out the excess water, and you are good to go. This type of lube cleans the barrel after every shot, and you won't end up with a ring of baked-on tar from greasy lubes. In cases when you must keep the gun loaded for a prolonged time (hunting?) use an oiled or greased patch.