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Patch knife, how do I use it?

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Began experiementing with patch thickness and ball centering today, on my .50 percussion The recovered .010 patches looked like peter cotton tail caught in a smokey combine, balls wouldnt fly right either. SO i am wondering about buying my own pillow ticking and cutting my own patches. Ive read about patch knives but nowhere can I find out just what I am supposed to do to use one? No books I have deal with patch knife use, and cant find any good explaination on the net.

I am guessing that first I need to be able to shove the ball and patch material into the bore with my thumb or the flat of the knife, then what, do you cut off any cloth that sticks up out of the hole? Or do I scrape the blade against the patch and muzzle steel?

>>>----->Apache<-----<<<
 
Any sharp blade will do. You can either press the patch & ball flush with the muzzle and cut it there (keeping the blade parallel to the muzzle so you don't scratch the muzzle or the blade) or, you can use a ball block and pre-patch several balls and cut the patch the same way.

I bunch the patch material up with the fingers of my left hand and slice with my right.
 
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Thank you! I have that book. But I just went through a move and could not find it. I was going nuts trying to remember the name.
 
But 1-1/2" wide is plenty up to .54 caliber. No sense starting in the middle of a sheet to patch balls. Hard to line the ball up on one side and the lube on the other of that large a piece. Or, to soak it with saliva first.
 
Hello All,

I tie a long strip of patching material from the strap of my bag. I lube enough for 10- 15 shots and work side to side to get the most out of my patching.

I use a short starter (most if not all have a little nub for seating the ball) to push the ball into the barrel, I gather the excess with my left hand and cut with my right.(I cut away, not towards my body). I then use the short rod on the ball starter to push the ball into the barrel and finish the job with the rod from the gun to seat the patched ball on the powder charge.

You will find a tight patch and ball combo doesn't seat with the thumb very easy (if at all) so a ball starter is a great thing to have. If you get the ball flush with the barrel and it's a tight fit, you may not be able to start the ball with the gun's own rod... once again a ball starter is a good thing to have.

When starting the ball, cutting the patch, etc. keep your hands and face from being right over the muzzle of the weapon. If you are doing a follow up shot, you can have a ember in the bore that can cause your weapon to discharge...
and you just don't want to have any body parts in the way.

I was at a event in 1974 that this happen at.

A young shooter had a spark in his fouling, was able to pour his powder into the muzzle, short start his ball, cut the patch,seat the ball with his short starter and when he reached over the muzzle to pull out his rod... the rifle discharged and the ball passed though his hand from the bottom by his little finger to top by his thumb... :shocking:

The ball and patch only passed though soft tissue... no bone, major nerves, or tendons... he had full use of his hand a few months later... lucky boy. His nickname could have been HOOK.

I always think of that when loading a muzzleloader and keep my fingers, and face away from the muzzle.


Cheers,

DT
 
A young shooter had a spark in his fouling...
was able to pour his powder into the muzzle...
short start his ball...
cut the patch...
seat the ball with his short starter...
and when he reached over the muzzle to pull out his rod the rifle discharged;

Was this a flintlock?

::
 
A young shooter had a spark in his fouling...
was able to pour his powder into the muzzle...
short start his ball...
cut the patch...
seat the ball with his short starter...
and when he reached over the muzzle to pull out his rod the rifle discharged;

Was this a flintlock?

::

Uncapped caplock... :eek:

The other thing I saw that was a bad thing at an event about this same time was a beginner shooting a CVA longrifle and he didn't know about the fouling ring that builds up in a dirty black powder firearm.

He was shooting right beside me in a match when his barrel split near the breach... to where he had let the ball creep ahead of the powder charge thanks to the build up of fouling. About 6 inches of creep...:eek: (Always mark your rod).

It laid him out like he'd been poleaxed... :no:

He ended up OK, no shrapel in the body or loss of fingers or eyes.( Me too... he was right next to me...)

Just knocked him silly.... :shake: and cost him his rifle.

Cheers,

DT
 
:thanks: I'll start cutting my own patches some. Good book Ill have to add it to my library if I ever find it. And now y'alls replies will be there for the next New Shooter.

>>>----->Apcache
 
A young shooter had a spark in his fouling, was able to pour his powder into the muzzle, short start his ball, cut the patch,seat the ball with his short starter and when he reached over the muzzle to pull out his rod... the rifle discharged and the ball passed though his hand from the bottom by his little finger to top by his thumb
If he had blown down the barrel before loading, this wouldn't have happened.

Regards, sse
 
A young shooter had a spark in his fouling, was able to pour his powder into the muzzle, short start his ball, cut the patch,seat the ball with his short starter and when he reached over the muzzle to pull out his rod... the rifle discharged and the ball passed though his hand from the bottom by his little finger to top by his thumb
If he had blown down the barrel before loading, this wouldn't have happened.

Regards, sse

Which is one of the steps I still do when shooting a muzzleloader... :front:

but I believe that are rules against blowing down the barrel now with the NMLRA...
 
Greeting All,

The two accidents cited by David Teague are the best examples of why a barrel bore should be wiped with a solvent damp patch between every shot.

Blowing down the barrel will only serve to fan an ember in the barrel to a brighter glow. The NMLRA and TMLRA have a range rule forbiding blowing down a barrel between shots. Seems that not too many years back, the NMLRA had an accident at the Champiomship Matches due to a shooter blowing down the barrel and fanning an ember.

Before somebody post a reply telling me how many thousands of times they have blown down a barrel before reloading and have never had a problem I will say this.

1. Yes, this is a rare freak accident.

2. It only takes one time.

3. Does anybody really want to play that game of Russian
Roulette?

Even the old-timers wiped their rifle bores between shots whenever they could. This is particularly true when they were engaged in shooting matches.

There is plenty of historical information that even in the heat of battle, it was necessary to stop shooting long enough to wipe a barrel after several shots, just to be able to continue reloading. Of course Hollywood and TV never show this. Guess it does not fit the romantic image.

I have been to shooting matches where wiping between shots was a permanent range rule. As one person stated, it was just one more precaution to avoid a lawsuit in this day and age where an accident is always somebody elses legal liability.

Best regards,

John L. Hinnant
 
If he had blown down the barrel before loading, this wouldn't have happened.

Doesn't blowing on an ember (or a hot chunk of carbon) just make it burn hotter?

I'd rather have a hole in my hand than one in the back of my head. If I'm obeying the #1 rule of firearms and treating the rifle like it was loaded I'd not be holding it up to my mouth and blowing on it . . . ever. "Unloaded" guns kill lots of folks.
 
Stump - One explanation for this action would be to blow out/extingush the ember.

I agree that one cannot argue against being as careful as possible when handling any kind of firearm. But, this can be taken to the unnecessary extreme. For instance, to be absolutely safe, one would never be allowed to load a black powder firearm, because at least part of you is working directly in front of the muzzle. So, in that respect the rule necessarily has to differ from centerfire practices.

I don't want to turn this into a blow versus swab controversy, but I feel the only real argument against blowing down the barrel of a black powder rifle, is that a child or foolhardy person would see this and do this at the wrong time with a black powder firearm, or any time with a centerfire firearm.

Regards, sse :results:
 
Stump - One explanation for this action would be to blow out/extingush the ember.

I agree that one cannot argue against being as careful as possible when handling any kind of firearm. But, this can be taken to the unnecessary extreme. For instance, to be absolutely safe, one would never be allowed to load a black powder firearm, because at least part of you is working directly in front of the muzzle. So, in that respect the rule necessarily has to differ from centerfire practices.

I don't want to turn this into a blow versus swab controversy, but I feel the only real argument against blowing down the barrel of a black powder rifle, is that a child or foolhardy person would see this and do this at the wrong time with a black powder firearm, or any time with a centerfire firearm.

Regards, sse :results:

Howdy All,

I agree with sse on this. I don't want this thread to fall in to a flame war on the blow vs swab camp either. If I was to attend a event that required me to swab... well, I'll swab!

If I'm out plinking at the range I'll contine to blow ( and swab out the bore every 5 shots)unless the range has such a rule.

NOTE TO NEW SHOOTERS! Never load from the horn or flask directly into your muzzleloader... if there is a spark in the bore it can cost you your eyes, hand, life.... :eek: Always use a powder measure to transfer your charge from your container to the muzzle (and have that container sealed before loading... a spark from your charge can find your horn/flask/can and cause it to blow!)

As for the saftey issue, I'd never blow down an unknown weapon to see if its loaded :youcrazy: I'd check it with the ramrod... if I'm shooting the firearm myself, I'd find the boom, smoke and new hole appearing in my target a real strong clue that the weapon in my hands is really empty for that brief moment in time before I put my lips to it.

Unlike today modern firearms as sse has already pointed out, even without blowing down the bore, the act of loading a muzzleloader looks unsafe to a modern shooter or range master. We hover around the muzzle, we handle loose powder on the range, and our hands near or cross the muzzle during each reloading cycle... :eek:


Cheers,

DT
 
:eek:ff: But this is an imporatant safety issue :imo: Somewhere, here, or in Muzzle Blasts, there were original newspaper articles from the 1800s of shooters who died from balls thru the head due to blowing down the barrel. It seems that when standing on the firing line, with shooting going on all around, one can mistakenly think their own gun fired when maybe just the cap went off (or flash-in-the-pan), then shooter blows and, guess what...hangfire resulting in death :no: Don't do it folks!
 

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