Paper patch height

[flatsguide]

Congratulations Don!
Best Richard

[Don McDowell]

Thanks Richard

[ian45662]

I am a wet patch fan big time. I have never been able to master the dry patch technique but the wet patches have been shooting very well for me so I will probably leave it alone. I am also patching a good bit below the ogive. The ONE bullet I have been able to recover from a birm looked as if the bullet was bumping up just a little bit past the paper but not much at all. If I was getting leading or accuracy was suffering then I guess I would make my patches longer but I have no such issues so I am thinking maybe just a little bit of lead touching may be ok? I need to find someone willing to let me shoot into a pool and see whats really going on. I am shooting 14:1 by the way

[Lead pot]

I take a cold fresh cast bullet and insert it in the closed mould base first with very light pressure till it bottoms out then I take my knife and make a mark on the bullet. This is where the patch goes at the point where the ogive meets the shank. With 1/16 T/L the bare lead will not make contact with the bore.
I use a spring loaded center punch and make a very small dimple in the cavity for the patch reference point. That small dimple does not effect the performance of the bullet.
Attachment 224328

[ian45662]

. I put the top of the patch up with a line on the cutting board then put the base of the bullet on another line.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ian45662]

. Here you can see how far below the ogive I am going.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[flatsguide]

Nice looking loads Ian. I notice that you patch in the opposite direction that I do. I thought long and hard enough to smell smoke trying to determine the best direction and in my thinking determined that a right hand twist will tighten my wrap. Maybe it’s not that big a deal.
Regards Richard

[rfd]

fwiw and according to the late paul mathews, undoubted ppb guru - “Whether the direction of the wrap makes all that much difference today is debatable. The common notion is that the patch paper should be wrapped onto the slick in the opposite direction of the barrel rifling, to better unwrap off the slick as it exits the muzzle.” that seems to work fine for me.

[ian45662]

I always thought I was patching the same direction as my right hand twist so that my patches were getting tighter as they went down the bore. Am I wrong? I have not tried it the other way and to be honest with ya I am doing it this way with the bullet pointing to the left because it seems to be easier for me to patch them this way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rfd]

"Whether the direction of the wrap makes all that much difference today is debatable."

if it (the wrap direction of yer patch) works well, then there is no concern. you'd only know for sure by testing.



the shallow PPB barrel rifling talked about in the above was .002" to .004". most 19th s/s rifle replicas today are using .004" deep rifling.

[ian45662]

So. It looks like I am patching them so they get tighter. I doubt I will try it the other way. I mean I have but for some reason I can’t get my hands to work as good with the bullet pointing to the right. Kinda like dry patching. I just can’t get the hang of it . Wet patch with the bullet pointing to the left yields the best bullets for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rfd]

the best for you is the best it will be.

[Distant Thunder]

Ian,

I'm with you on the bullet pointed to the left. I started that way over 20 years ago and now at my age learning to do things differently is down right painful. Unless of course there's a good reason to. When it comes to wrap direction I see no reason to do it any different than I am. However, I have not wet patched a bullet in probably 6 years now. It was a challenge to learn to dry patch but in the end it was well worth the effort, my on target results tell me that.

There are many different ways to patch a bullet you just have to find the one that works best for you.

[rfd]

there's that pesky "best" word again. works fer me, too.

i dry patch across the rifling, with the alloy's snout pointed due right. it feels best to me. seems to work ok. i think. prolly.

in the end, it's like mathews sez, "Whether the direction of the wrap makes all that much difference today is debatable."

what works, well, works well. wrap on .....

[Don McDowell]

For those that don't know, Ian is the first person to reach master in bpcr silhouette iron sights, shooting patched bullets exclusively.

[flatsguide]

Thanks rfd.
From what Don just said Ian, I would not change a thing! Lol. Congratulations Ian.
Regards, Richard

[ian45662]

I did have a lot of help. Without Don or Kenny wasserburger or Brent Danielson its hard to say where I would be right now. I had been trying paper patch off on on for a few years with no real success until I found those 3 fellas. They all do things a little different but I just tried some of their techniques and found the ones that worked best for my particular rifle and have been applying them. I think though that someone else may hold the title for the first to shoot into the masters with paper patch exclusively. There is a fella from West Virginia who I often see at the silhouette range in mcdonald pa who may have that title. Kenny White is his name and is real good with the paper. He is also another one who is very knowledgeable which reminds me..... There is a match up there saturday.Anyone in the area should try it out

[flatsguide]

Just back from the range, it was raining wind was about eight knots gusting to about twelve at nine o’clock. I want to thank you guys for the help as the load I was trying worked out OK once I got on paper.
To recap the load was Starline brass that was trimmed, annealed but unfired. 76.5gns. Swiss 1.5, BACO JIM 443530E 525gns with 1:16 lead tin alloy. Patched with Office Depot onion skin .0019 thick. CCI BR2 primers wad was two .032 LDPE bullet seating depth .125 inches and .075 compression.
Two two shot groups. First group .750 Second group 1.312 average group was 1.031 inches.

I believe I’m patching to high on the ogive...


I have some .060 LDPE material coming from BACO and I need to cast a bunch more bullets. I’m pretty happy with today and it’s back to trying to fine tune this load.
Thanks guys,
Regards, Richard

[Lead pot]

Your patches look good. It's not uncommon to see the inner wrap like what you have.
Here is a good place to get your LDPE material and cut the wads with your press mounted Fred Cornell wad punch.

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/de...21757?fromRR=Y


If your chamber is cut tight only for the PP bullet I would stay away from the HDPE material because it's harder then the LDPE and it will bulge your case mouth when it expands after seating it in the case. I use it in my standard chambers with good results.

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/de...21260?fromRR=Y

[Don McDowell]

I don't think I'ld mess with that much other than to try the single .060 lope wad. Shoot it like that for a while and see how a long string of rounds works out.