Do we have a paper patch picture thread?

[NyFirefighter357]

You should be able to recover some or all your pics then upload them to http://imgur.com/

[KenH]

I sorta like this place (https://imgbb.com) because it's so clean. BUT - I know nothing about how long lasting it will be:

There is also https://postimages.org/ which seems to be pretty good.... and simple

[303Guy]

Testing postimages. This is a random patched boolit for my pig gun.



Ok - it works just fine. Ummm .... The rotate function won't work.
This is a tail-less patch.

The reason for tail-less is shown in this image.

[303Guy]

What that bore looked like when I got it.

And after fire-lapping.

That gun has no hope of ever shooting a jacketed bullet with any success. Enter paper patching!

[303Guy]

Recovered patched boolits.




That patch is what happens when the powder charge is too low to disintegrate the patch.
The nose section is too small too but with a soft enough alloy and enough powder the nose expands to fill the grooves.

[303Guy]

More images - postimages is fun, quick and easy!




Those last three are obviously progressively increased powder charges. The patch disintegrates just fine at higher velocities. Somewhere I have a pick of a fired patched boolit still wearing it's patch!

Found it!
This is after it was washed in water. And another.

This latter is very accurate in my pig gun with something like 5 gr (or less?) As30N (Bullseye equivalent).

[Michael J. Spangler]

Testing postimages. This is a random patched boolit for my pig gun.



Ok - it works just fine. Ummm .... The rotate function won't work.
This is a tail-less patch.

The reason for tail-less is shown in this image.

Awesome pics! I guess I'm not getting the reason for tail less? Please educate me.
What alloys and velocities were you pushing some of these?

[303Guy]

In the above photo one can see the folded over tail impressions in the boolit base. That in itself is not an issue but notice how the the trailing edge has been 'sharpened' and become uneven?



Well, the idea was to prevent that from happening. Here is a tail-less patch boolit.


The theory is that a distorted trailing edge is bad for accuracy.

The alloy was a fairly soft copper alloy with who knows what else in it. It was a lead sheeting alloy which rang when tapped but quite ductile. The stuff held together when fired into fine sea sand. It was quite hard after firing and turning inside out.



Those first two were fired into rubber grounds.

No idea of velocity. Probably in the region of 1800 fps. Maybe less.

I had a load for the pig gun that drove a 194 gr boolit to 2040 fps. That's in a 14.75 inch barrel mind you, with a full case of H4350 (44 grs). The recovered boolits I have been showing were loaded with H4227 or light loads of W748 or Trailboss.

[Michael J. Spangler]

In the above photo one can see the folded over tail impressions in the boolit base. That in itself is not an issue but notice how the the trailing edge has been 'sharpened' and become uneven?



Well, the idea was to prevent that from happening. Here is a tail-less patch boolit.


The theory is that a distorted trailing edge is bad for accuracy.

That makes sense for sure. No leading either right?

[303Guy]

Here is a tail-less patch boolit with a wad to protect the boolit from powder kernel peening.
40gr H4350 under a 192gr boolit.



Here is one without the card wad.

Double click on the image for a close-up view.

[303Guy]

Patch too far over the ogive.



This is a light load of 5gr Bullseye equivalent. I don't remember how I recovered the patch. Sometimes I put a catch cloth over the catch medium. That way I can tell if the patch comes off quickly or not.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Patch too far over the ogive.



This is a light load of 5gr Bullseye equivalent. I don't remember how I recovered the patch. Sometimes I put a catch cloth over the catch medium. That way I can tell if the patch comes off quickly or not.

Did you find accuracy issues with the bullet wrapped that way?

[303Guy]

Did you find accuracy issues with the bullet wrapped that way?

These are all test tube recovered boolits. Just playing around to see what happens. If I can find my test tube photo's I'll post them, otherwise I'll go downstairs and take some new ones. I'm off work sick at the moment - hence all the time to play!

Oh yes, I have tried boolits wrapped over the ogive and they shot great in one particular gun. With open sights i was shooting palm sized groups at 100 m! I lost the pics of those groups and the gun has been dismantled but I have a replacement action for the barrel that i want to assemble but the threads were a bit tight. The bore is very worn but not rust pitted. It is actually a Martini 303 carbine barrel which does not screw all the way up in a Lee Enfield action. It shot great anyway!

P.S. This Postimages is great! So quick and easy! I haven't tried https://imgbb.com yet and just might not since Postimages is working for me. I suppose I should though.

[KenH]

Good photos and good explanations. Thanks. There's LOTS of info for BP paper patching, but seems to be less for smokeless.

[303Guy]

Thank you.

The 'test tube'

That inner tube holds the rubber grounds or whatever medium I choose - that picture shows an opened beer can packed with saturated wool furniture padding. Great test medium to simulate bullet performance on live flesh.

The inner tube sits on top of this. It is made from 4140 steel and has a thick base and that in turn sits on a thick plate in the bottom of the main tube. No bullet has ever dented it. They have rubber rubber between then to kill noise.

Two test cans, each with a different loading through it.

Real life confirmed the results of those tests. I went so far as to place more than one on top the other for penetration tests.


But those were not patched bullets!

Or were they?

[OverMax]

Lol
Now you did it. Opened a whole new pandoras box.

[303Guy]

The idea of 'patching' the hornet bullets was to hold the bullet in an unsized case (my brand new sizer set disappeared!). I load a ridiculous charge of Lil'Gun, compress is down to seating depth, cut paper towel strips, use a device I made to position them and press them home with a rod, then seat the bullet onto the powder, trim off the 'petals' with an upturned case mouth, dip the bullet and neck into molten waxy-lube which soaks in, wipe off the excess and set down to cool. Those are 55 gr .224 bullets being driven down a rust damaged .223 bore. No copper fouling and no rusting. Very fast and very accurate and no case elongation - indefinite case life but I do lube the cases to eliminate case to chamber wall grip.

So in theory the bullet is being patched to take it concentrically into the generous throat (from reaming away the rust damage). thereafter the patch surely gets wiped away after having done its job. There is no sign of patch impression on the recovered bullet. Oh yes - velocity 2740 fps! Pressure right up there too. R-P cases with higher capacity and a larger than normal chamber - and the chamber is rough from reaming.

[Michael J. Spangler]

The idea of 'patching' the hornet bullets was to hold the bullet in an unsized case (my brand new sizer set disappeared!). I load a ridiculous charge of Lil'Gun, compress is down to seating depth, cut paper towel strips, use a device I made to position them and press them home with a rod, then seat the bullet onto the powder, trim off the 'petals' with an upturned case mouth, dip the bullet and neck into molten waxy-lube which soaks in, wipe off the excess and set down to cool. Those are 55 gr .224 bullets being driven down a rust damaged .223 bore. No copper fouling and no rusting. Very fast and very accurate and no case elongation - indefinite case life but I do lube the cases to eliminate case to chamber wall grip.

So in theory the bullet is being patched to take it concentrically into the generous throat (from reaming away the rust damage). thereafter the patch surely gets wiped away after having done its job. There is no sign of patch impression on the recovered bullet. Oh yes - velocity 2740 fps! Pressure right up there too. R-P cases with higher capacity and a larger than normal chamber - and the chamber is rough from reaming.

That's super cool. I read about similar style patching methods for muzzle loaders but never thought of applying it to a cartridge.
how's the accuracy with them?

[303Guy]

100m

At 200m it was still hitting beer cans pretty well. That first 'group' was in a cross wind. The second was into a head wind of varying intensity. Could that cause flyers? Generally anything aimed at in calm conditions was history.

[Dan Cash]

303 Guy, I hate to say it but your picture posting does nothing for me as I can't open any of them. That is a great disappointment, especially when it is your pictures of your bullets.