What do these patches tell you?

[kh0456]

Today I shot my .36 flint at the range..... Was shooting very well as it typically does.

I found a couple of my patches and started wondering if they look ok or tell something.... You know like tea leaves. :grin:

Honestly I don't think I've ever looked at them before which is why I'm asking now.

I'm shooting 30gr of FFF behind a .350 64gr ball and a .010 patch.

 

[tenngun]

They look good, seems thick enough with out blowby. A little frayed but most of thats exteior, no cuts so your patch isnt too thick. I would bet your getting good grouping.

 

[jamesthomas]

No burn thru or cuts as from a sharp crown. I would go to a .015 patch myself, it will seal the grooves better and you will have less fraying. With that .010 patch you are not sealing the grooves. The reason they are holding up is because of your use of a low load.

 

[Zonie]

They look OK to me.

The frayed edges around the outside of them is what happens to cloth when it meets a blast of supersonic air as it leaves the muzzle.

 

[kh0456]

Thanks all! I appreciate it.

Yes I am getting very good groups with this load. The 30gr is light but it's a great plinking load. I've been using Stumpy's moose juice recipie. It's great!

 

[mooman76]

Look good enough to use again.

 

Thanks all! I appreciate it.

Yes I am getting very good groups with this load.

If I may... You must have a reason for asking?

 

[Spikebuck]

They look good to me, but you may want to hold them up to the light when you look at them. Sometimes you will see small "pinholes" around the circumference of the ball mark that aren't so obviously when they are laying on an opaque surface.

 

[kh0456]

Nothing specific really. Like I said, I never really paid much attention to the fired patches before. I know they can tell a tale of whether or not something is right or not. I knew it couldn't be to bad because they weren't burned through. But I wasn't sure about the frayed edges.
Just wanted to hear from the folks that know much more than I on reading patches.

 

[longcruise]

Your patches are too small. If you are cutting them at the muzzle, you are not starting them deep enough before cutting. They appear to be fraying up too close to the point where the patch and ball are in hard contact.

If you double or triple the distance you are shooting at, you might find the groups opening up quite a lot.

 

[tenngun]

Thanks all! I appreciate it.

Yes I am getting very good groups with this load. The 30gr is light but it's a great plinking load. I've been using Stumpy's moose juice recipie. It's great!

Guns and shooters differ, but the . 36 ain't a grizzly gun. Fact is it ain't a deer gun. 30 grains of 3f will put a ball through any small game. You can kick velocities well over 2200 fps with moderate loads 40-60 grains, won't make much of a difference to you down range prefomance. 20 - 30 grains will likly give you the best prefomance for your gun.

 

[hanshi]

They look fine to me, too. I recommend trying the thickest patches that will still seat using the wood underbarrel rod. 30 grains of 3F is the top load in my .36 as well.

 

[Treestalker]

Johnny, the tea leaf effect of your spent patches indicates an undying love for muzzle loading guns, ergo, you will always be broke from spending your money on ml guns and fixins and will still be happy the rest of your life in spite of your hobby induced poverty! :shocked2: :bull: Geo,

 

[kh0456]

Thanks for the tips of trying thicker patches. I'll try that. These are bought. so I'm not cutting them myself.

Treestalker, you have no idea how close you are... or maybe you do! :wink:

 

[longcruise]

Aha! Precut store bought patches. They have been the demise of the accuracy of many a potentially accurate gun. :haha:

Take a look at the area between 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock on your patch on the. Right. Your patch was off center of the muzzle when you loaded it and there was not enough patch there to do the job. IOW, your precut patches are too small.

A thicker patch may very well be helpful, but if you are going to buy precut patches, buy bigger ones so as to eliminate the centering problem. Also, buy unlubed patches to eliminate the possibility of organic deterioration of the cotton due to long term exposure to the lube.

Simple solution is to buy samples of various thickness of patch material at the yard goods store and cut them into squares or cut them at the muzzle.

 

[kh0456]

Thanks much for the tips, Marmotslayer.

Yes, they are precut and as you pointed out probably could be bigger. I do get them unlubed though so at least I have that going for me!

Next outing, I'll bring some larger ones and also try cutting them at the muzzle.

I've owned muzzleloaders since I built three CVA kits back in the late 70's early 80's. But until recently when I bought my TVM flintlock .36, I never really took it serious. I'm starting all over and learning a lot from this forum... so thanks for that!

 

[Rifleman1776]

OK :hatsoff:

 

[api]

My patches. Good? Bad? :idunno:

 

[longcruise]

Can't see the image. Looks like it's formatted correctly, but not sure

 

[Zonie]

The address of a photo will be the one that ends in jpg if it is a jpg type image.

Addresses ending in "=view" won't work here.