Square patches

[coloradoclyde]

So you guys are always giving me a hard time for pre-cutting round patches. So! I decided to give cutting at the muzzle a try again......
Much to my surprise, my recovered patches ended up remarkably square. :shocked2:

Even the ball marks in the center of the patches are square.....
The patch on the far left is the roundest and I think that is the patch I cut my finger on.. :haha:

 

[Grizzly Adams]

How did they shoot?

 

[coloradoclyde]

Fine! but I don't have a lot to compare to....I was sighting the gun in....Shoot----file---shoot---file....
But, I walked it into the bulls-eye.

 

[Claude Mathis]

Yep, cutting at the muzzle produces a square patch with rounded corners.

Round patches are a marketing gimmick. They want you to think that because the ball and bore are round, you need a round patch. IMO

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I was given a thin roll of pure cotton drill. Perhaps 1.1 inches wide and 30 yards long. I just cut straight across and made square patches and used them square. In my 58 and 62 caliber guns , I noticed no difference in accuracy. There was a slight loss of accuracy in my 45. But when I cut one inch circles out of the same material, the accuracy was fine.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Can anyone explain the square ball mark in the center ?.... :idunno:

 

[necchi]

Uhm(?), Nope.

Top 3 are the ball side
Bottom 3 show the side against the powder.

 

[MAN - GA]

Isn't it just the same function as pulling the fabric tight in the middle to cut it off resulting in the bunched fabric with rounded corners. The lands are also square which may have something to do with it as well - I am sure there is some mathematical scientific explanation and I am curious to see what others have to say as well.

 

[S.Kenton]

I've shot both round and square patches...never been able to tell a difference.

 

[crockett]

Like others- I "assumed" the patches were round and lots of folks trouble themselves with cutting round patches which can be difficult due to the weave of the fabric. Square seem the better option.
Any historical data on this? Patches found in the patch box of an original rifle? Whether they were round or square?

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I also note that the ticking stripes are always diagonal to the square. Probably something to do woth the weave as well.

 

[ZUG]

:metoo: :grin: --- If I have round patches I shoot round if I have strips of material I cut at the muzzle -- the results are always the same for me :hatsoff: .

 

[coloradoclyde]

Well gents, I got the gun sighted in pretty well. The center of the bull has been replaced by a ragged hole.. :grin:

As for cutting at the muzzle.....I think I'm going back to pre-cutting, (got to do something while waiting for a squirrel). It's just easier and less "fiddling" on the reload.

I do think you may have converted me to square versus round though.. :haha: They seem to work just fine.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Yep, cutting at the muzzle produces a square patch with rounded corners.

Round patches are a marketing gimmick. They want you to think that because the ball and bore are round, you need a round patch. IMO

Why did you tell him that?
I was going to give him a smart-alecky explanation. You logical guys take all the fun out of things. :wink:

 

[Claude Mathis]

Can anyone explain the square ball mark in the center ?.... :idunno:

It's do to the fabric folding inside the bore.

Round patches fold inside too and are no longer "round". That's what the marketing people don't tell you. :wink:

 

[coloradoclyde]

I was going to give him a smart-alecky explanation.

You still can.... :haha:

 

[mooman76]

I always kind of wondered how the patches come out cut at the muzzle with the folds and all. I guess now I know. :hmm:

 

[RonRC]

Can anyone explain the square ball mark in the center ?.... :idunno:

It's do to the fabric folding inside the bore.

Round patches fold inside too and are no longer "round". That's what the marketing people don't tell you. :wink:

I noticed that when I started using a loading block. Those pretty, round patches fold up and are anything but round once stuffed in the loading block hole. Once I use up my round ones, I will also shift to square.
Ron (writing from Xi'an, China)

 

[Heelerau]

Ron time you dropped in down under !! lTell the Chinese to buy more nickel and cobalt !!

* I mostly cut my patches at the muzzle, I do on occasion just cut a few square patches from a strip, as pre cuts for a loading block. I find them a bit easier to center over the muzzle. I have not compared round to square off the bench, so cannot comment on effect on accuracy !


Cheers

Heelerau

 

[longcruise]

Seems that a round cup shaped patch would satisfy the needs of the most anal of round patch advocates. :haha: They would have such a perfect roundness even after being shot.

I visualize them looking sort of like those cute little bird's nests that dangle at the end of the tree limbs.

Just think of the massive profits. It might be enough like a sabot to bring the I*-l**e crowd into the fold.