Patchboxes...What for?

[Black Hand]

A grease hole and a patch box are not equivalent, having different uses....

 

[Rifleman1776]

A grease hole and a patch box are not equivalent, having different uses....

Agree. I find patchboxes pretty much useless. And, I once nearly lost the lid from a sliding wood pbox on my finest rifle. :shocked2: Now, worrying about that is another pain in the bizinkis for handling a flint rifle.
Once had a Po' Boy with a grease hole. Messiest, dirtiest thing ever. But a properly done patch box on a fine longrifle can add much beauty. Look but don't touch.

 

[Artificer]

A grease hole and a patch box are not equivalent, having different uses....

Never wrote nor meant they were equivalent, what I mentioned was:

There is plenty of evidence during the period for not having a patch box at all on very basic rifles and instead just boring a hole on the right side of the stock to put grease in for patches.

Gus

 

[coloradoclyde]

But still, the patch box remains functional, does it not? What I mean is, do we find elaborate inlays in many rifles on the right side of the stock that are only decoration, and do not open in any way to a compartment underneath?

Seems even when it's a simple, wooden cover, to be a lot of work for something that isn't "functional"...(in one author's opinion) and barely an embellishment when they first appear...., so they had some function at some point.

LD

Yep! totally agree.....Kind of like building a grandfather clock with no guts.....

 

[coloradoclyde]

A grease hole and a patch box are not equivalent, having different uses....

True .....BUT!...you can put grease in a patch or cap box but you can"t put anything but grease in a grease hole.....

The biggest problem I have found with patch boxes is when people put things other than patches or lube in them....

 

[hanshi]

I keep a couple of dry patches, extra flint and extra ball and maybe a paper tube with a powder charge. Not enough room for a Snickers bar.

 

[MountainRanger]

Some tow and a coiled piece of copper as a puller

 

[Onojutta]

Now if a person wanted to argue the transformation of function to ornate artistry....That might be a better argument. :hmm:

...which was the point of the quoted reference.

 

[Onojutta]

He introduces the powder into the tube; springs the box of his gun, greases the "patch" over with some melted tallow, or damps it; then places it on the honey-combed muzzle of his piece.

That sounds a bit awkward to me. Once the powder is poured into the barrel (tube), now the shooter must go to the other end of the rifle to retrieve the patch material in this case, risking dumping out the powder from the business end. Wouldn't it be more practical to first retrieve the patch material from the box before loading the rifle? But even in that case, you're still going back and forth from one end to the other of a long rifle.

 

[Onojutta]

A grease hole and a patch box are not equivalent, having different uses....

True .....BUT!...you can put grease in a patch or cap box but you can"t put anything but grease in a grease hole.....

The biggest problem I have found with patch boxes is when people put things other than patches or lube in them....

All this reference to grease is interesting. Am I understanding this to mean the grease was simply placed inside the patchbox or hole, right in contact with the wood without any sort of container? If so, that sounds a bit messy, and prone to running out on hot days. I have a hard enough time keeping my brass PB lid clean without using the PB for anything.

In the case of the patchbox, I think of using the box to contain nothing but grease to be an altogether separate use for the patchbox, which after all is called a patchbox and not a greasebox. Perhaps both were done in the old days simply based on the preference of the shooter.

Using the patchbox as a place to store tools, spare flints, and other items that aren't frequently used each time the rifle is loaded seems to be the most practical use of the patchbox, at least in IMHO. Even for patches, it seems far more convenient to have a wad of patch material available in the shooting bag than to have to retrieve it from the opposite end of the rifle each time it is loaded.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Am I understanding this to mean the grease was simply placed inside the patchbox or hole, right in contact with the wood without any sort of container? If so, that sounds a bit messy, and prone to running out on hot days.

Only if you use something like Bore butter.... :haha:

Running hasn't been an issue for me yet....It's a total non-issue...Beeswax and olive oil......poured right into the hole hot.....and allowed to cool.
Works like a charm for me.....But then I like to do things the easy way.....

And NO! it doesn't get dirty sitting in an open hole either.....

 

[Stumpkiller]

Mine contains . . .

Two balls
One flint
One ball puller
One jag
One tow worm loaded with clean tow
One vent pick

All wrapped in patch material to keep it from rattling.

Also a piece of card stock with the load, patch and ball size the sights are regulated at for my next of kin.

 

[Artificer]

He introduces the powder into the tube; springs the box of his gun, greases the "patch" over with some melted tallow, or damps it; then places it on the honey-combed muzzle of his piece.

That sounds a bit awkward to me. Once the powder is poured into the barrel (tube), now the shooter must go to the other end of the rifle to retrieve the patch material in this case, risking dumping out the powder from the business end. Wouldn't it be more practical to first retrieve the patch material from the box before loading the rifle? But even in that case, you're still going back and forth from one end to the other of a long rifle.

Well, first we have to consider that Audubon was describing how one rifle shooter did it and not necessarily how many or even most did it. What is awkward for one person may or even was natural for another after he did it few times. It really isn't that hard to keep the muzzle elevated a little while cradling the rifle in the arm an greasing the patch.

Further, I seem to recall that was the way Wallace Gusler loaded his rifle in the movie, "The Gunsmith of Colonial Williamsburg," though if I remember correctly, he took a pre-greased patch out of his patch box.

I used to pop a patch in my mouth while loading the powder and got a "spit patch" that way, but if I were hunting, I used a lightly greased patch.

Gus

 

[54ball]

This reminds me of a discussion two of my hunting companions were having.

" Bobby, Why are the deer on acorns some days, yet on other days they're only seen on green patches?" Asks David.
"Well David, It's pretty simple. Sometimes they feel like a nut, sometimes they don't." Replied Bobby.

I think it's real easy to over think things especially subjects like this.

I believe the patch box was used however the owner wanted it used.

The James Audubon account is a good description of one who utilizes the patch box for every loading procedure.(Personally I think this account is likely satire. The subject in Audubon's story was none other than Daniel Boone who in 1810 was in his 70s and lived in Missouri. ) It's a good period description none the less.

I too think the patch was used as storage for worms, tow, ball screws ect ect. As said I think it was all up to the owner.

BTW, There is such thing as the covered grease hole.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Like I said;
A clear case of personal bias.....The author clearly has a dislike for patch boxes and is using the book as a platform to voice his opinion and change public perception.....

Don't believe everything you read folks.....Turn on your :bull: meters......

Couldn't have said it better! Just get the giggles when the self-acclaimed experts start laying out unsubstantiated historical facts. No one knows it all...just fine tune your BS meter for sure. (Oh, by-the-by...the new PC term is MBBW!) :rotf:

 

[Pete G]

Like I said;
A clear case of personal bias.....The author clearly has a dislike for patch boxes and is using the book as a platform to voice his opinion and change public perception.....

Don't believe everything you read folks.....Turn on your :bull: meters......

Bill Buchele most definitely did NOT have a dislike for patchboxes. He always used very ornate designs with piercing and engraving based on historical examples, most often examples from George Eister.

What he did have a disdain for was someone making what he called a "Chinese Copy" of another man's work.

 

[Onojutta]

That's right, it's a wonder how many different interpretations there have been of that brief excerpt I provided. In its context, the author was simply stating that patchboxes are rarely used in modern times and suggested that a decorative inlay that looks like a patchbox but does not open or function might be considered as an alternative. Sounds like the lazy man's patchbox, and I have never seen a rifle where this was actually done. The author was definitely not suggesting this in contempt of patchboxes.