Patch material & thickness

[zimmerstutzen]

Has anyone ever done a remotely scientific study to see if patch thickness really makes a big difference. Sure the patch has to seal the bore, but after that does it make a difference. The tightness of the weave and type of weave make some patches really hard to start. While other guys barely need any pressure at all to start their patched balls and seem to shoot really great groups. I have one barrel, from H&H, that has really wide grooves and very narrow lands. It seems to do better for target accuracy with a napped material like flannel.

I was at the range last week end and saw a guy mutilate the heck out of his PRB's with a mallet and short starter just to get the ball the first inch. His groups were terrible. He read somewhere that he should use a .018 patch with a .495 ball.

Most commercial patches appear to be a tight weave cotton drill or denim. But my trade gun does better with plain cotton bed sheet material.

I suspect that the configuration of the rifling has a great deal to do with what type of patch material does better.

So the fact that some guy claims .018 is the best means nothing with out knowing what kind of rifling, (number of grooves,width, depth etc)

It also means nothing without knowing what kind of weave and material.

I have known guys that use very thin patch material and did quite well in competition, but I don't know what rifling they had.

Just wondering.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Your first sentance was a stopper.
"scientific testing"?
Testing is done on the range from a bench rest.
The guy with the problems was taking advice. In a way that is sometimes the only place a feller has to start.
To answer you, yes, patch thickness does make a difference. What ball/patch/lube combo is best for you? Only the 'X's know.

 

[ohio ramrod]

For many years I just went through the wife's sewing scraps for cotton woven fabrics and checked them for thickness and used them for shooting patches. Some of the guns liked thinner , some liked thicker. But each gun definately had a preference.Now since the wife doesn't sew much I just go to the local fabric store and buy ticking of desired thickness. But there is no doubt in my mind that the deeper groved rifles need a thicker patch than the shallow groved rifles. :idunno: :idunno:

 

[Rifleman1776]

there is no doubt in my mind that the deeper groved rifles need a thicker patch than the shallow groved rifles.

That is absolutely correct and well known.
A patch cloth, regardless of thickness should be a strong and tight weave.
My first TC with orignal barrel was very shallow groove as were some custom barrels at the time. These required a very thin cloth for patch. Don Davis introduced me to airplane cloth. Pure cotton, incredibly thin and also incredibly strong. Worked great. I don't believe it is still available today thanks to the FAA.

 

[Ken Rummer]

I have not seen any references to anything resembling science in patch selection. Getting it right for you turns out to be a trial and error process. Just keep guessing till you find something that works.

However Dutch Schoultz has documented a method to develop a good patch combo and sells a write-up at his website at blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com. Don't recall the price but it was worth the money.

 

[RC]

I know I took my smoothie to the woodswalk in February. went 18 for 20..with .020's ..same woodswalk in March ,, went 5 for 20 :redface: ..and found patches were.015's..opened wrong package....thought it loaded awful easy..

NOT Scientific,,but convinced me..again :wink:

 

[necchi]

However Dutch Schoultz has documented a method to develop a good patch combo

Exactly, and that IS a scientific approach to eliminating varables AND determining which patch thickness is best for your gun.

Patch thickness and the lube properties are a huge factor in accuracy with the PRB.

 

[aeatwood]

As has been noted above, LOTS of work done on scientific "assessment" of patch/ball combinations, and add lube in to the mix too.

Changing 1 factor at a time and keeping careful notes is the key.

As a general rule, deep grooves like thick patches, and shallow thinner ones, but as Forsythe worked out in the 19th century, t'aint necessarily so. He recommended large bores, slow twists, narrow lands, shallow rifling and tight patches for maximum hunting effectiveness.

As an example of this, my 12-bore Pedersoli Gibbs African has that type of rifling and shoots great, develops a LOT of whomp, and I have literally NEVER had to swab the bore at the range. It cleans up in a snap at home, because you only have the fouling from the last shot to deal with.

And the clean shooting also applies to the use of 1F powder.