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Paper Patches?
- Thread starter brstevns
- Start date
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Yep. I think the now defunct Pacific Rifle Co. advocated tapered paper cartridges that acted like a paper patch. There was a good bit of information on their web page, but that page is now gone the way of the company.
I have used paper cartridges, made like musket cartridges, in a rifle. They shot reasonably well, but not spectacularly.
In my limited experience, accuracy depends on the style of rifling. I don't remember what type of rifling the Pacific underhamers used, but generally, wide shallow rifling should produce good accuracy with paper patch balls.
God bless
I have used paper cartridges, made like musket cartridges, in a rifle. They shot reasonably well, but not spectacularly.
In my limited experience, accuracy depends on the style of rifling. I don't remember what type of rifling the Pacific underhamers used, but generally, wide shallow rifling should produce good accuracy with paper patch balls.
God bless
rafterob
62 Cal.
If you have shallow rifling the paper patch or cartridge for round ball will perform quite well. if you have deeper rifling not so good.
I shoot paper patch BPCRs. The trick in Crtgs. loading is to not tear the patch. The paper should be of a lenin type. We use 100% cotton, now days about 25% cotton is all you can get. The paper patch is rubbed with a mixture of egg white and water. This will allow the lenin to stretch tight and stick to the bullet when dry. I expect a round ball could be paper patched about the same way. The paper is cut on a template that allows the same thickness on each cut. You would just have to wrap until you find that thickness and then make a template. You would have to start with a well undersized ball depending on the thickness of each wrap of paper. For, example on a .458 bullet I size it down to .452 and the patch is .002 thick the template allows 3 wraps which is .006 this brings the patched bullet back to .458. The patch is then protected by an over powder wad. The paper patch is lubed with a grease before loading. The problem will be seating the paper patch with out cutting it. You may want to only use a lube on the round ball patch and dispence with the egg white. The reason being you want the patch to drop from the ball in early flight. You will have to wipe the bore before each loading, not cleaned just wiped with a patch with a little alchohol just damp one time down and out. Another option is using Frezzer paper it is waxed and runs about .003 with an OP wad to stop the burn out. With a .490 ball you could start at 4 wraps .012 =.502 and work up. :v
travis3
I shoot paper patched bullets in my very shallow groove Schutzen. They look like this:
Yes, that's just the bullet with no powder charge.
That said, I don't think paper patching a roundball would work very well.
My reasoning here is the bullet, as you can see has a great length to it. This long length of paper seals off the high gas pressure keeping the gas from burning the paper and blowing past it.
(As we know, hot gas blowing past the patch ruins the accuracy.)
The roundball on the other hand has almost no length where it contacts the bore. This will cause even a tightly fit paper patched roundball to loose the paper to the flames.
Another obstacle to a paper patched roundball is loading.
As many have found, even a good strong tough cloth patch can be damaged during loading.
Any tear in a cloth patch will rapidly burn thru and result in poor accuracy.
Paper, especially lubricated paper has almost no strength and if the ball/paper load fits tightly as it should the paper will be ripped when it is loaded.
The weakening of a paper patch due to lubrication is the reason my paper patched bullets are not lubricated until the moment before inserting them into the barrel. I once tried lubing them right after making them. A week later when I tried to load them the paper simply ripped off leaving a bare soft lead bullet touching the bore. :cursing:
Yes, the old "cartridges" used in Military muskets were made from paper but in that application the paper was more for containing the powder in a quickly loadable cartridge and the paper served mainly to hold the ball in place, not to seal the bore.
I shoot paper patched bullets in my very shallow groove Schutzen. They look like this:
Yes, that's just the bullet with no powder charge.
That said, I don't think paper patching a roundball would work very well.
My reasoning here is the bullet, as you can see has a great length to it. This long length of paper seals off the high gas pressure keeping the gas from burning the paper and blowing past it.
(As we know, hot gas blowing past the patch ruins the accuracy.)
The roundball on the other hand has almost no length where it contacts the bore. This will cause even a tightly fit paper patched roundball to loose the paper to the flames.
Another obstacle to a paper patched roundball is loading.
As many have found, even a good strong tough cloth patch can be damaged during loading.
Any tear in a cloth patch will rapidly burn thru and result in poor accuracy.
Paper, especially lubricated paper has almost no strength and if the ball/paper load fits tightly as it should the paper will be ripped when it is loaded.
The weakening of a paper patch due to lubrication is the reason my paper patched bullets are not lubricated until the moment before inserting them into the barrel. I once tried lubing them right after making them. A week later when I tried to load them the paper simply ripped off leaving a bare soft lead bullet touching the bore. :cursing:
Yes, the old "cartridges" used in Military muskets were made from paper but in that application the paper was more for containing the powder in a quickly loadable cartridge and the paper served mainly to hold the ball in place, not to seal the bore.
rafterob
62 Cal.
If you can find a copy of "The Caplock Muzzleloading Rifle" by Ned Roberts there is good info on paper patching. With the use of a false muzzle and die that held a paper cross patch, bullets were loaded/patched at the same time. I believe this was for conicals, but the method would work for balls too. Again, I think it would take thin rifling for this to be practical.
Jason Lewis
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in theory, yes it would work with a false muzzle and paper cross jacketing, but you need a good felt wad over the powder or the paper jacket is burned up and not doing it's job of preventing leading of the bore.
Ketchakah
40 Cal.
Osayo,
OK... I have done this. I have made some rifle cartridges that are made just like a musket cartridge with ball and powder in a paper cartridge.
Yes. It does work. Its not the most accurate. Perhaps min of Deer at 100 but it does work and is just as fast as a musket. I will sometimes carry a couple as a backup.
OK... I have done this. I have made some rifle cartridges that are made just like a musket cartridge with ball and powder in a paper cartridge.
Yes. It does work. Its not the most accurate. Perhaps min of Deer at 100 but it does work and is just as fast as a musket. I will sometimes carry a couple as a backup.
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