pillow ticking patches

[ciffer]

i decided to try my hand at making my own patches. i have heard that pillow ticking is a great patch material, so i picked up a yard cut it into squares approx 1.5 inches in diameter.

i tryed loading my rifle (lyman great plains .50cal) with a .490 round ball. i was not able to start the ball down the bore with a short starter.

it is my understanding that pillow ticking is .018 thickness. i usually use .015 patches; .020 patches load fine as well.

has anyone else run into this problem with pillow ticking patches? is there anything i need to do differently?

 

[highbrow]

Same thing with my GPR. Using a .490 ball, ticking is real tight. I just lean on the short starter real hard. Easier as I get older(heavier).

 

[Blizzard of '93]

you might try washing it in very hot water a couple times. ticking is a tight fit but I get tighter groups with tight patches.

 

[ciffer]

does hot water loosen it up a bit?

 

[RADeO]

Washing the ticking material will remove the factory-applied "sizing", or "finish" from it, which makes the material softer and more absorbent. The softness allows it to better conform to the ball, and the absorbency allows it to quickly take and hold lube.

Did you by chance measure the thickness of your new material?

 

[musketman]

You can still wash them even though they are already cut to size, just wash them in the kitchen sink.

Fill the sink about half full with hot water and a little soap, get out the pasta strainer (colander) and put the cut patches in it.

Place the colander with the patches in the water and hold your free hand over it to keep the top ones from floating out until they get waterlogged.

Now lightly agitate them up and down with the colander slowly, you don't want to pull the weaves loose on the patches. Do this for a few minutes and the drain the sink water and rinse the patches by running cold water through them while they are still in the colander.

Once rinsed, press them down with your hand to squeeze out any excess water and remove your patches to dry, lay them flat on something absorbent like news papers.

 

[ciffer]

thanks for the tips.

most of the yard i bought is still in strips. any advice on washing those?

 

[MikeC]

thanks for the tips.

most of the yard i bought is still in strips. any advice on washing those?

Same thing Musketman said to do for the cut patches. :thumbsup:

 

[shortstring]

You can put em in a sock or panty hose & tie a knot in the end of it & throw the whole thing in the washer.

 

[boar]

After you wash them, make up some Stumpy's moose milk and soak them in it and dry laying flat,I do mine twice. Try some that way. You can still lube them if you want. But you can shoot them without after they dry. Dilly

 

[2172]

Had the same problem...dropped my ball size to .48 and .435...load well, no mallet. Hank

 

[cowpoke1955]

Acorn is right. Different manufacturers make pillow ticking of different thickness. I have seen pillow ticking go from paper thin to almost double the thickness of denim. The last blue and white pillow ticking I got at Wal-Mart measured at .018 and works great in both my GPR's :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Sounds like you forgot to wash the fabric to get the " sizing " out of it. " Sizing " is a starch like substance that the mills put in the fabric to make it lay flatter on the bolts.

Wash the patches now, but put them in old nylons, or pantyhose, to keep the threads in the bag, and out side of your washing machine and drier.

Now, measure the fabric with a micrometer. You are not going to know what you have purchased until you take these steps. Once the sizing is out of the fabric, it should "stretch" enough to allow you to seat the ball in the barrel.

 

[musketman]

thanks for the tips.

most of the yard i bought is still in strips. any advice on washing those?

You can also wash them in the sink by hand, since they are in strips you could hang them on a clothes to air dry or lay them out flay on newspapers, both ways work.

 

[ciffer]

great tips all around. i'll wash the pillow ticking next time i do laundry.

what is the Moose Milk stuff?

 

[Dphar]

i decided to try my hand at making my own patches. i have heard that pillow ticking is a great patch material, so i picked up a yard cut it into squares approx 1.5 inches in diameter.

i tryed loading my rifle (lyman great plains .50cal) with a .490 round ball. i was not able to start the ball down the bore with a short starter.

it is my understanding that pillow ticking is .018 thickness. i usually use .015 patches; .020 patches load fine as well.

has anyone else run into this problem with pillow ticking patches? is there anything i need to do differently?

You need the measure the patch thickness with a micrometer with a "click clutch".
Anything else is a guess.

Dan

 

[Dickert54cal]

Try using Leghigh Valley Lube----Slippery stuff!

 

[CZMark]

Try using Leghigh Valley Lube----Slippery stuff!

Is LVL available again?

 

[roberthamilton]

I was at Walmart up here and couldn't find pillow ticking but did find feather ticking 100% cotton. I also found muslin 100% cotton, it comes in different weaves and is a natural color. Any ideas on either of these?
ROB

 

[musketman]

I was at Walmart up here and couldn't find pillow ticking but did find feather ticking 100% cotton. I also found muslin 100% cotton, it comes in different weaves and is a natural color. Any ideas on either of these?
ROB

I would say the feather ticking would be the same as pillow ticking, both have to have a tight weave to keep the downy quills from poking through.