Patches destroyed

[juancho]

I went to the range yesterday and did some testing at 100 yds with a heavy (for me) load with the .45 flinter.
I fired at a 6in plate from the bench 8 shots, and missed 2 out fo 8 .
The problem was that it was inconsistent and to prove it was the gun and not me , I shot it with the .22 for comparison.
as I was wlking back to the bench, I found the patches, or should I say what little was left of them.
That was a big surprise, I had never had this problem before with the loads I use at home (40 grains max.), but at the same time I was surprised at how well it grouped considering hwo destroyed the patches were.
I run out of patch material a wile back and bought something similar but not quite the same.
What do you guys think? By the way I'm getting new material today.I hope this time is the correct one.

 

[russecv58]

what kind of lube are you using? they look pretty dry from what I can tell from the picture. to me they look almost like they're getting torn from the muzzle crown when loading. :2

 

[Jamie from Alberta]

Get a hold of some wasp nest. load this between powder & patch.This should save patches from burn thru.

 

[Claude Mathis]

The problem was that it was inconsistent and to prove it was the gun and not me , I shot it with the .22 for comparison.

I'm not sure shooting a .22 proves it was the flintlock, using a load that you said was "heavy" for you. Quite often, a gun can "out shoot" the shooter. :wink:

Spend some time with different loads, patches and lubes to develop the tightest group you can. Then adjust the sights to put that group where you want it.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Not enough info.
Was that ticking patching?
What lube?
What load?
What condition is the muzzle crown? e.g. sharp?

 

[daniel collums]

my gun was doing just what i wanted,the patches were good enough to use again then i tired some moose milk i made and the patches looked like yours and the balls missed the target. went back to my old lube and the patches came out good like before and my bullets hit the bullseye. some lubes just dont do good in some guns. i'm still looking for a lube that will take the place of what i been using and give me as good results without caking up the burnt powder. i'm going to try a few different lubes this weekend and i'm getting some mink lube from track of the wolf.

 

[longcruise]

You either have poor quality patch material, poor ball/patch fit or a rough bore and/or crown that is tearing the patch up.

What make and model of gun is it?

 

[juancho]

I used spit patch.After testing several lubes, spit patches were the best ones, before I run out of the old patching mat'l.The load was 80 grains and it develops 2150 fps average (with the older patches that did not tear out).
The crown is as perfect as can be, and a couple of thousands of PRB went thru that gun.
My take on this is that the patch material is not strong enough for that load.That was not the case with the older material, sadly the store run out.
It was some old off cut left over on the clearance section.
I tried cardboard wads over the powder with mixed results.Some were torned some were'nt , and the POI clearly showed it.
The rifling is very smoth and with no sharp corners.
There was no wind and temperature was around 25C.As close as ideal as can be.
I really do not want to use any filler (corn meal, etc) or wading to make it work.
I just came back from the store with some stronger and finer weave material.So far the fit is great, but did not try shooting it yet.
with the old patches my brother printed a one big 10 shots hole at the same distance, from a bench.Just over 1 1/4 inches in diameter.
I am still surprised that I hit the target at all!

 

[larry wv]

If your sights were moved to hit a bit to the right and higher it wouldn't be that bad. Prob would have picked up the rest of the group. Larry

 

[George T.]

Well those patches do look rough but that is not all that bad a group at 100 yards. How hard did it load? If it was easier than it used to be then you need to get thicker patch material. You could try a better lube. I actually find this part of load development enjoyable. I have had pretty good luck with the Ox-Yoke patches from TOW. They have .010 , .015 ,.018 and .020. One pack of each and you can keep busy quite a while. Geo. T.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Spit for lube can work but is not a good choice for consistency. Do try what others use, like a Moose Milk, beeswax/oil, etc.
You still don't say what the material is. Use what others find reliable, like pillow ticking. Then later on experiment with whatever. Do make sure whatever you use is pure cotton, no poly or nylon blends.

 

[juancho]

I undesrstand totally what you are saying. The problem is that what I used to have was some kind of cotton canvas, very strong and with some rather coarse weave.In any case, with it I was at around 2 inches group at 100 yds with spit patch.
At the time I bougth all that was left, thinking that it was almost a lifetime supply.Now that it is gone , I went and got something similar, but in reality is nowhere near.
I will have to start from square one on this one.

 

[nkbj]

juancho, is that patch material a poly cotton blend? It kinda looks like it might be.

And that reminds me, I picked up some ticking in Omaha yesterday that needs to get run through the washer a few times.

 

[Joel/Calgary]

As has already been suggested, if your patching is not up to the higher pressure, try using something underneath the patched ball that will form a gas seal - wasp nest, a wad, an extra patch, or a filler like corn meal or cream-of-wheat. The pressure will jam these into the annulus around the ball snd effectively seal the gasses, leaving the patch to just hold the ball and spin it.

Regards,
Joel

 

[bluespot]

Go to a fabric store and ask for 100% cotton ticking the white with blue stripes wash it in the washing machine twice. It will be about 17 thousands thick. If that tears up you have a problem with your rifling. I shoot a very tight patch ball combo with ivory liquid and water lube 495 ball the a true 50 cal, 400 ball in a 40 and a 320 ball in a 32. Hard to start use a bullet starter with a small rubber hammer but works well for me in competition for 43 years. I have used very large powder charges to see if patches are holding up over the years they do.

 

[bluespot]

Sorry Joel I Replied to you not juancho. My mistake.