Ok! Patch diameter..?

[Licespray]

Hey guys,

So, another beginner question: what diameter should the patch be for a .50 muzzleloader? I’m aware of the various thicknesses of materials and their rolls, but is there a rule of thumb for diameter of the patch? I have a 13/16” punch that I use for loading the 10 gauge (cartridge), but that comes out about 20mm and the .50 is 12.7mm so doesn’t leave a whole lot to wrap around.

Should I go buy a 1” punch? (Or not be lazy and just make one tommorow at lunch..?)

Ball diameter is .490 but I don’t think that matters as I’m not asking patch thickness.

Cheers

 

[mooman76]

Rule of thumb is enough to wrap around the ball. They don't need to be round unless you want them that way. Scissors work fine, just cut squares.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

So, go to the range with a piece of your patching cloth, uncut.
Load and fire three to five shots, with you pushing the ball into the muzzle, and cutting the cloth off flush at the muzzle, with the ball just below the level of the muzzle.
After the three to five shots, go collect the fired patches, and they will tell you what fits your bore and the size they need to be.

You can omit the range trip by using one of those CO2 "ball dischargers" and merely load the ball just below the edge of the muzzle with the patching material around it, and cutting the material flush with the muzzle, then..., pop out the ball and the custom cut patch with the CO2 discharge tool, and you have a master patch pattern.

Either method will give enough to be able to determine the diameter of the patch, and then you can decide what punch is closest to that measurement if you wish.

On the other hand you can also measure across the muzzle from outer edge of barrel flat to outer edge of barrel flat, and cut square patches, if you're going to use pre-cut patches. Now if you have a really small caliber in a thick barrel, like a .45 caliber rifle with a 1"wide barrel, then you probably want to use the cutting the patch at the muzzle method.





LD

 

[Britsmoothy]

.50xπ÷2=.78.
My guess is .900"-1.0"

ooh I've gone bold (and bald!).

 

[Ben Meyer]

I switched to cutting at the muzzle.

But, heres a pertinent question....if you precut patches, and make them bigger than what you actually need, can this negatively affect accuracy? In other words, can you have TOO much patch?

 

[cositrike]

I switched to cutting at the muzzle.

But, heres a pertinent question....if you precut patches, and make them bigger than what you actually need, can this negatively affect accuracy? In other words, can you have TOO much patch?

No. The only time you’ll get a negative effect is if the patch is too small. This is why it doesn’t matter whether your patch is round or square. As long as it’s big enough to contact the rifling all round, you’re good to go.

 

[Carbon 6]

If you like round patches, it's easy to make your own cutter.
Use the forum search function, type in patch cutter.

Here are links to a couple of topics that have come up before.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/making-pre-cut-patches.119759/
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/patch-cutter.112802/

 

[EC121]

Push the ball in the muzzle to the desired depth and mark the material. Then pull it out and measure.

 

[Zonie]

Hey guys,

So, another beginner question: what diameter should the patch be for a .50 muzzleloader? I’m aware of the various thicknesses of materials and their rolls, but is there a rule of thumb for diameter of the patch? I have a 13/16” punch that I use for loading the 10 gauge (cartridge), but that comes out about 20mm and the .50 is 12.7mm so doesn’t leave a whole lot to wrap around.

Should I go buy a 1” punch? (Or not be lazy and just make one tommorow at lunch..?)

Ball diameter is .490 but I don’t think that matters as I’m not asking patch thickness.

Cheers

Being an old engineering kind of nerd, I like to calculate the size of the patch although it really isn't necessary.

Figuring if someone loaded a patched ball into the barrel to a depth that would make the top of the loaded ball, flush with the face of the muzzle and then cut off the patch flush with the muzzle, I figured out that the size of the patch would be equal to the bore size times pi, divided by two plus the diameter of the ball.
For a .50 caliber bore that would be, (.50 X 3.1416)/2) + .50 = .785 + .50 = 1.285.
Since the patch size isn't too fussy, that 1.285 could be rounded off to 1 1/4".

After saying all of that, if the patch was being used in a rifle, anything larger than the size of the octagon barrel would work but if you do this you will need to be more careful to keep the whole face of the muzzle covered with the patch when you place the ball into the bore.
You never want to have any part of the bare ball touching the bore without some cloth in between.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

Hey guys,

So, another beginner question: what diameter should the patch be for a .50 muzzleloader? I’m aware of the various thicknesses of materials and their rolls, but is there a rule of thumb for diameter of the patch? I have a 13/16” punch that I use for loading the 10 gauge (cartridge), but that comes out about 20mm and the .50 is 12.7mm so doesn’t leave a whole lot to wrap around.

Should I go buy a 1” punch? (Or not be lazy and just make one tommorow at lunch..?)

Ball diameter is .490 but I don’t think that matters as I’m not asking patch thickness.

Cheers

I am hearing lots of methods to determine patch size. If you like any of them go for it. To me I like the KISS method (keep it simple stupid) Grab the ball, and wrap the patching material (after sizing is removed) around and pinch it with your fingers. Take your patch knife and just slice it off as if it were in the barrel. If you are afraid of too much, just make the patch a tad smaller when you cut them out. Always make sure the center of the ball is well covered when in the barrel.
Flintlocklar

 

[Crow-Feather]

I switched to cutting at the muzzle.

But, heres a pertinent question....if you precut patches, and make them bigger than what you actually need, can this negatively affect accuracy? In other words, can you have TOO much patch?

Some people say so, some scoff at the idea. Give both a try and see how it goes. It gives you a reason to burn powder.

 

[Licespray]

Thanks guys!

Something I like about this forum is I get many varied answers from across the board. Different experiences, different methods, same results. Learning what different people prefer and why can help decide on a way that best suits myself also.

Cheers for the answers

 

[mooman76]

I have so many different calibers 32-58, I just cut patches different sizes. Eventually they all get used.

 

[smo]

A word of Caution on on oversized patches.

If a patch is too large , make sure the jag doesn’t hang it and pull the ball away from the charge.

I’ve never had it happen, but I have gotten jags stuck with oversized cleaning patches.

So I guess it’s possible.

I use a Osborne punch, 1 1/8th “ .
It works fine for .50 & .54.

 

[tenngun]

I switched to cutting at the muzzle.

But, heres a pertinent question....if you precut patches, and make them bigger than what you actually need, can this negatively affect accuracy? In other words, can you have TOO much patch?

As said extra patch don’t hurt, unless you catch the patch around you ramrod tip and you pull ball back up the barrel... pretty unlikely.
Central European military rifles had a precut patches in a triangular shape. These guns were large caliber about .66, so a patch was the best part of a bolt of cloth. ( I exaggerate) but it is a good sized patch.

 

[Howard Pippin]

.50xπ÷2=.78.
My guess is .900"-1.0"

ooh I've gone bold (and bald!).

I like Zonie's way of figuring, inch and a quarter works that is square, but inch and 5/16 works better. I shoot with a friend that shoots a 45 caliber, he uses inch and a half square patches and he shoots just as good as I do or better, and he doesn't have near the trouble centering the ball.
squint

 

[Britsmoothy]

I like Zonie's way of figuring, inch and a quarter works that is square, but inch and 5/16 works better. I shoot with a friend that shoots a 45 caliber, he uses inch and a half square patches and he shoots just as good as I do or better, and he doesn't have near the trouble centering the ball.
squint

You've gone bold too
Yes, mine looks a little mean now. It could be termed as a minimum base line possibly?

 

[Caterpillar Hunter]

Once you determine the size of the patch ( for example, my .54 patch is 1 5/16" in diameter) , I then go to the garbage can to look for non-recyclable jug or bottle caps that match the diameter I need. I place the bottle cap onto the patching material, trace around it with a pen, cut them out with a scissors, and lube them. I'm real sure our forefathers did it this way.

 

[Zonie]

Rather than going to all of that work of marking circles and cutting them out, it's easier to just cut square patches the same size as the circle you wanted.

There has been a lot of testing that has proven over and over that square patches shoot just as accuretly as round patches do.

 

[Carbon 6]

Square patches are harder for me to center and harder to lube ( square peg in a round hole) my lube tin is round, and I lube in a circular motion.
I use a cutter in a drill press, it is way faster than using a scissors and yields just as many patches per yard.
Just my preference, and square patches shoot just fine.