Pic of retrieved patches.

[Crow#21957]

Can someone tell me what the pics of these patches tell you. I will say these patches have been lubed and sealed in a small container a long time. Is the shredded edges a poor sign? 1st pic. Powder side of patches. Second pic is ball side of patches. Thanks

 

[1sgt]

The patches look small which may be the cause of the frayed edges. What size ball and patches?

 

[NorthFork]

Other than ragged edges, they look ok. How's the accuracy, and at what distance, and are YOU satisfied?

 

[Crow#21957]

I'm not satisfied. Only shot today.
25 yards 2 1/2 in group. Only had elbows on table and I've not p l aged eith powder,,patches,,lube,,or ball sizes. Still got work to do. But I really would think ragged hole and at least under 1 in. At 25 yards. Top group 4 shots 2 1/4 in group.

 

[NorthFork]

I'm not satisfied. Only shot today.
25 yards 2 1/2 in group. Only had elbows on table and I've not p l aged eith powder,,patches,,lube,,or ball sizes. Still got work to do. But I really would think ragged hole and at least under 1 in. At 25 yards. Top group 4 shots 2 1/4 in group.

I would not be satisfied either. 1" CTC per 25 yards is my minimum for a rifle.

 

[BoomStick]

Patches look undersized, but frayed edges and a little burn on the powder side are normal. Burn through or cut or totally shredded are problems.

 

[tgfrench]

They look under sized, but I'm not seeing a lot of blow out. Try getting some tight ticking of similar thickness and cut at the barrel. You didn't mention powder charge which will affect the grouping along with patch sizes and thickness.

 

[Frontier's]

Frayed edges are normal.

Shoot off an actual rest.

 

[ETipp]

Frayed edges are normal.

Shoot off an actual rest.

Yes, even if its from the side of a tree.

 

[French Colonial]

I'm not satisfied. Only shot today.
25 yards 2 1/2 in group. Only had elbows on table and I've not p l aged eith powder,,patches,,lube,,or ball sizes. Still got work to do. But I really would think ragged hole and at least under 1 in. At 25 yards. Top group 4 shots 2 1/4 in group.

Yes, unacceptable.

You have more work to do, as others have posted, start with a light powder charge and shoot 5 shot groups raising the charge by 5 grains until the group tightens up.

This is assuming that you are using a decent lube (spit works for me) and I like about 10 thousandths under ball size (.490 for a 50, .530 for a 54) and a 15 thousandths patch, works in lots of rifles.

Keep playing with it and you will figure it out and post additional info, ball size, patch thickness and lube and you will get more info from this forum than you can process.

 

[dave951]

Frayed edges aren't unusual. That group size at 25yd is unacceptable. You have to do some load development at this point. Alter the variables one at a time, test, evaluate, repeat till satisfied. Type and brand of powder can affect group size as well. You have only started down the path.

 

[TonyC]

Patches look undersized, but frayed edges and a little burn on the powder side are normal. Burn through or cut or totally shredded are problems.

What does burn through, cut or shredded indicate??

 

[longcruise]

Can someone tell me what the pics of these patches tell you. I will say these patches have been lubed and sealed in a small container a long time. Is the shredded edges a poor sign? 1st pic. Powder side of patches. Second pic is ball side of patches. Thanks

The patches are too small. The edge fraying is going all the way I to the area of ball/bore contact. That essentially undoes the purpose of the patch. No amount of bench resting or load development will fix that.

It looks like the patch material otherwise MIGHT be adequate. If you are buying round patches, STOP. Get some patch material of the same thickness and quality and shoot cutting at the Muzzle. The ball should be pressed into the barrel about 1/8" below the Muzzle before you cut it.
If you feel compelled to use precut round or square patches then cut the yourself.

Do some experimenting with different patch materials.

This is fundamental to round ball shooting. If you still don't like the look of the patches the next step is smoothing the crown and bore.

 

[Grenadier1758]

What does burn through, cut or shredded indicate??

Burn through indicates that the patch is too thin and the hot gases from the ignition of the powder charge are burning up the patch as the gas blasts around the thin patch and small ball.

Cut patches indicate that something sharp is cutting the patch generally during loading. Cut holes around the circumference of the ball indicate sharp lands. A few hundred shots or getting an undersized jag wrapped with steel wool or a batch with JB Bore compound will polish off the sharp edges of the lands. Semicircular cuts at the circumference of the ball indicate that the crown is sharp and cutting the patch on loading. Smoothing out the crown is the cure for those cuts.

Shredded patches are generally a combination of thin or inadequate patch material, insufficient lubrication, and sharp lands. The gas burning around the cut holes in the patch as the lack of lubrication holds the ball while the inadequate patch just can't provide the seal around the ball. A thicker patch or a patching material with a tighter weave along with polishing the sharp edges of the lands often cures that problem. I had to use 100% linen from flax as a patch material as 100% cotton couldn't hold together.

Shredded patches can occur with prelubed patches that have been on the dealer's shelf long enough for the patch material to lose its integrity and when fired, the material just comes apart.