Patch thickness

[Rifle 57]

What thickness of patch do you guys use with a .535 RB in a T/C Hawken .54 cal and a .530 RB in the same.

[rfd]

there is no one perfect answer to what patch/ball combinations is "best" ... for you. there's really no substitute for personal experimentation.

try out both loose and tight fitting prb's and see what gives you the most accuracy for the least hassle in loading and how you address shot-to-shot fouling control.

i want a prb that's easy to load, keeps the fouling soft, and delivers acceptable accuracy at 50 yards for a fowler and 100 yards for a rifle.

you should have on hand an assortment of linen/cotton patch strips (not precut patches - use a knife to cut the strips off at the muzzle after thumb or rod seating the ball to just below the muzzle). i use .005", .010", .015", .018" for prb testing - sometimes with different ball diameters ,too. i also experiment with dry lube (1:6 water soluble oil and water) as well as wet lubes such as saliva, mutton tallow and the "gato feo" lube mix i use for bpcr. air temp and humidity can also play a role in how any particular prb works for accuracy, fouling control and ease of loading.

currently, for a lyman trade .54 flintlock, i like a .010" linen dry-lube patch strip and a .530" pure lead ball of my own casting.

[Squeeze]

.535 ball, probably less than .010 .530 ball, about .010 with a swing at .015

[Lonegun1894]

You will have to experiment with your gun, your ball, and different cloth. I wish there was an easier way, but each gun is different, your mold may not be casting a true .530" RB (I hope you actually measured), and different cloth compresses differently--and it will all compress between the bore and the RB.

I would recommend buying the Dutch Schultz Blackpowder Rifle Accuracy System from his website. Probably the best $20 I have spent on anything muzzleloader related, and if you're like me, you will have to read it several times because you keep finding things you missed when you read it the first time.

[marlin39a]

I used .10 with commercial .530 balls for yrs with excellent results. I recently purchased a .535 mold and am using .05 patches and that makes loading and shooting easy. I need to get to the bench and sight in with the .535.

[johnson1942]

when rfd said linen and cut it off at the muzzle he said it all and gave the perfect way for extreme accuracy. if you go to a linen cloth web site and get some tight weave medium weight linen and cut in strips as rfd suggested , then when ready to load place the ball over a strip and with a stout starter tap the ball just below the surface of the muzzle. i use a very small rubber hammer that is easy to carry in my leather hunting bag. then slice the cloth off at the surface and push down the length of the starter. place the ball on the powder and their you are. linen patches come out intact, resist burning and tearing and are way stronger than cotton. dont get linen with polyester in it, just pure linen. you might be tempted to use them over but linen suddenly isnt so expensive any more that it would be pointless. cotton denim is good also but not even close to pure medium weight tight weave linen. one thing you will notice is the patches when cut off at the muzzle and recovered to look at are square in shape with the 4 edges just slightly nicked off. this holds the ball better and cutting off at the muzzle the ball is always centered in the patch. their you are rfd gave it to you and i agree, go for it and have good accurate fun. oh yes almost forgot, you can buy a 100 plus years old straight razor at antique stores for about 10 bucks. sharpen it up and use that to cut the cloth off at the muzzle. ive got several of them and they are perfect for that deed. again, have fun.

[Rifle 57]

Thanks to all for the reply's I will try your idea's and give it a go like they say down under.