Here is the trouble. I have a .62 caliber that mics out at around .621 so with a .600 ball and my favorite blue and white ticking the load is very tight, so much I can't use the guns ram rod. So I tried thinner patches and they burned through. So I got smaller balls. .575 to be exact. I now can load the gun with the thick blue and white pillow ticking, but they burn through or they are in two pieces. It does not matter how light or heavy of a load 70-90 grains 3f or 2f the patches all are burned. The gun does not seem to foul and it cleans up fine. Now to throw in a twist I loaded it with a .600 ball with some cotton that was a little thinner than the ticking. once again I had to use a lot of force with my range rod, but the patch was fine. So what does this mean? my gun needs a very tight load? This to me wil not work because to me it is important that I can load the gun with its ram rod. I will add that I used a lot of lube which was either alot of spit or a good natural lube. So here is a couple of more questions: does it really matter if the patches are burnt? how many shots before it is really fouled? Why are the patches burning!!!!
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patch troubles
- Thread starter john4645
- Start date
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I use a thick overpowder wad and a half a lubed fiber cushion wad in my .62 smoothbore. It protects the patch (if you use one) and also scrapes the fouling off between shots with the overpowder wad, and softens it with the lubed fiber wad. I shoot a bare .600 ball in mine with this combo and then a thin .19 ga overshot card wad on top to hold the ball in place tightly.
john4645 said:
Fire's too hot in the kitchen is why they're burning, and loose fitting patches burn more because of the increased blowby...pretty sure accuracy suffers in rifled bores when patches burn up...maybe it's not as big an issue in a smoothbore, dunno...but I do know for me, that I wouldn't put up with burning patches, I'd have to fix it.
Over powder wads act like a firewall, sealing the bore and protecting the patch...with a wad, you can use a patch/ball combo that's not so tight for easier loading, and still not have the patches burn up.
If you don't have any wads handy to try, it's easy to simulate a wad just by first seating a pair of spare lubed patches down on the powder, and then seat your patched ball on top of them...they'll serve as the firewall until you can get some wads.
The Oxyoke Wonderwads are injected with NL1000 and put a lot more lube in the bore...heat and pressure squeezes the lube out onto the walls, helps with the fouling, etc.
Leonredbeard
54 Cal.
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2004
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John,
Try a .590 ball. I can thumb start the ball using pillow ticking and have no burnt patches.
God bless.
volatpluvia
Try a .590 ball. I can thumb start the ball using pillow ticking and have no burnt patches.
God bless.
volatpluvia
john4645 said:
.621 bore - .575 leaves .046 divided by two gives a patch thickness of .023, that is a lot of gap to fill...
I suspect the threads of the patch are being blown apart with all the extra space allowed for movement
I would recommend trying a few different things...
1. Use an over-powder card between the powder and patched round ball as a fire wall.
2. Use a thin leather patch .(lubed of course)
3. Jump up to .590 diameter round balls if all else fails.
I had this problem with my Bess and I solved it by going to FFg instead of FFFg, but I see you tried it, do you have any Fg on hand? :hmm:
mike alexandre
45 Cal.
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- Jan 15, 2005
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Had the same problem getting my Baker with the same size rifled barrel to work. Ended up with a .608 ball/.015 patch, a wad underneath and 70 grains of TS2 which is a slow burning powder. Be carefull about putting too much lube down the barrel as it will open up your group. I'm going to try a .610 ball today with a .010 patch. I usualy use Moose snot as my lube.
arcticap
54 Cal.
The most popular pre-cut patches from Ox Yoke, TC etc... are .015 and are available unlubed. I guess that you would have to mic. it so that you could calibrate your calipers to recognize the right material at the fabric store when you try to buy it in bulk, or go right to the source in Maine. Maybe they sell it in bulk form too.
This is a quote from a previous MLF thread (poster unknown):
"I get my 12 gauge wads for my TC New englander from Eastern Maine Shooting Supplies Inc. 1-207-943-8808 They are in Milo Maine just up the street from the old closed oyo building. I am told that when oxyoke closed the employee,s sprung into action by starting EMSS"
This is a quote from a previous MLF thread (poster unknown):
"I get my 12 gauge wads for my TC New englander from Eastern Maine Shooting Supplies Inc. 1-207-943-8808 They are in Milo Maine just up the street from the old closed oyo building. I am told that when oxyoke closed the employee,s sprung into action by starting EMSS"
