Fred, I reckon that's a pretty sound theory as well. I have a Rice barrel on one rifle and another that's much shallower. The Rice barrel has some deep rifling, requiring the thicker patch, and is much more difficult to load than the other. The other is an Investarms Hawken (which I'm pretty sure is manufactured by Lyman.) Loading the Rice with a .010 patch is incredibly easy, but I can't hit a thing with it. Even with .015 the groups suffer
Sort of unrelated, Doddridge recalls that before a suspected attack, the militia captain ordered that the men make patches of thinner material so as to facilitate easier loading.
Sort of unrelated, Doddridge recalls that before a suspected attack, the militia captain ordered that the men make patches of thinner material so as to facilitate easier loading.