Pillow Ticking patches

[Stantheman86]

I have found that, even in my looser bored .45 Kentucky pistol, that .18 pillow ticking patches are a super tight fit with a .440 ball.

.15 patches are fine , go down easy.

Do people really use mallets to start balls? Because its just that tight where I barely got it down by hand , I'm afraid of getting one stuck.

I think I'll stay with .15's and maybe just save the .18 patches for a future purchase , maybe the. 45 Tryon rifle I have on layaway will like them.

 

[hanshi]

I don't/won't shoot anything I can't seat with a wood rod.

 

[tenngun]

People really do use mallets to start balls. I don’t.
Guys that shoot the smallest groups might, or might not. I like to load from a bag. And I use my rod from under the barrel. A tighter load might get me a smaller group, but my gun already shoots better then I can hold.

 

[Rat]

If you aren't burning the .015's, then don't change.

 

[Stantheman86]

I'm gonna stay with the .15s they shoot just fine.

I don't like anything I can't load with one firm press on the rod.

I'm just wondering who is out there using stuff like .20 patches and actually getting them down a bore.

 

[Rat]

I agree, as most (if not all) of my shooting is geared towards hunting, I prefer an easy-to-load combination. My .58's kind of require a short starter, But mostly I hunt with my Jeager, and my Brown Bess carbine. I coned the muzzle of my Jeager, so it loads super easy, (I'll gladly give up an inch of accuracy at 100 yards for an easy re-load, although I haven't detected any deterioration in accuracy) and my Bess loads easy with a small ball/thick patch combo. With a smooth bore, you don't really need tight, in my experience.

In my Bess, I use (usually) a .690" ball, and a denim patch. And that's a thick patch. But I just started playing with a chewed ball, and a .023" patch in Bess.

I can also fire .575" balls, with a denim patch in my Jeager, which is a bit less accurate, but will kill the paper plate easy at 100 yards.

Of course patch thickness depends on the size of the ball. I find that a small ball and thick patch loads best/easy for follow up shots. I load my Jeager with a .023" patch in a clean barrel, which is very tight, but does not require a short starter or anything but the wood ram-rod, but have my loading block loaded with .018" patches. I use a .600" ball, the rifle being a .62". I don't know what size my bore is, but believe it's a bit on the tight side for a .62", maybe .618" or something like that. It's a Colerain barrel, if anyone knows what they should/usually run.

 

[Zonie]

I have found that, even in my looser bored .45 Kentucky pistol, that .18 pillow ticking patches are a super tight fit with a .440 ball.

.15 patches are fine , go down easy.

Do people really use mallets to start balls? Because its just that tight where I barely got it down by hand , I'm afraid of getting one stuck.

I think I'll stay with .15's and maybe just save the .18 patches for a future purchase , maybe the. 45 Tryon rifle I have on layaway will like them.

The .018 thick patches you refer to are usually used in a rifle. The large powder loads rifles use create very high breech pressures and the tight fitting wad is needed to prevent gas blowby as well as gripping the rifling while the ball is being accelerated to high velocities.
With all of the weight and places to grip a rifle, loading these tight fitting patches is no problem.

A pistol on the other hand uses fairly light powder loads so the need for a very tight fitting patch doesn't exist. By "very light" I'm thinking of a powder load that is less than half of what a rifle uses.

I've seen .010, 012 and .015 thick patches work very well in pistols to produce very accurate shooting and all of this, without burning thru when the gun was fired.

 

[Stantheman86]

Thanks for the excellent replies , I don't think my pistols are gonna shoot any tighter than they do with .015 patches and .440 balls plus they load easy with Mr Flintlock lube for 20+ shots without cleaning, probably more.

I only use 20 gr 3f charges, I set these guns up for local fun shoots just to have something different.

I have 500 of the pillow ticking patches, I'll just put them in my box of random gear and maybe some day I'll need them.

 

[FerricOxide]

If you aren't burning the .015's, then don't change.

I'm curious, what does burning them mean?

 

[azmntman]

just what it says, ifpatch too loose fire from charge will bypass ball on way out and the patches do not survibe intact. You want a patch that looks like you could use it again (and some do)

 

[Ridge]

I have a .25 caliber rifle that requires a .020 patch with a .240 ball. I can load it with a quarter inch ram rod.

I have a 54 that likes a .010 patch with a .530 ball. Even that seems a little tight.

I guess what I'm saying is, it just depends. If you are getting good accuracy without any blow by, why change what works?

 

[johnfrommd]

I have found that a different lube makes patches act differently. For instance, if I use Bore Butter on my GPR.50 cal with a .490 bullet and .015 pocket ticking patch, I have to work hard at getting the ball down. If I just chance to 1/8 Napa oil/water lube, the ball slides down the barrel.

Since I have pretty bad arthritis, it makes a difference how easy my rifle is to load. The funny thing is, the point of impact is the same with either lube.

John