Teflon for Patching?

[brstevns]

Was not sure were to post this. Does anyone use the teflon tape for patching bullets. I did try it in my 30/30 Winchester and it worked out very well with the Lyman 311291 size to .308 and taped up to .311 over a charge of AA2700 . Took a small doe with this load at 50 yards DRT.

[Uncle Grinch]

Interesting question...

I'll be watching replies.

[303Guy]

Mmmmm..... This question has been covered here somewhere - it might be under black powder paper patching from before the separation. I've tried it and found it to form streamers on firing which don't do the accuracy no good. I didn't do any serious trials though. Just something to be aware of. Also be aware that teflon tape isn't all teflon - some brands might be. Does it matter? Only if the stuff in the tape melts and fouls the bore.

[Smoke-um if you got-um]

I've spent a lot of time going over threads on this forum in the past few months and found some on the teflon patching. Some liked it, some did not. Some reported good results with little to no fouling issues. It did seem the most annoying thing some did get into were fouling problems. My own experience is limited to about 25 rounds at 25and 50 yds. Mostly for function, keyholes,wild patterns, leading etc... On that limited basis I saw nothing that would indicate anything unusual yet. They were certainly easy to wrap and they held consistent dimensions after being wrapped. I used a 180 RN 309 sized to 308. Two wraps of plumbers tape brought the size back up to .311. Rather than resize I simply rolled them on a flat piece of glass under a flat steel rule and they all stayed within a half thousandth which is probably what the bullet dimension tolerances were to begin with. Fired in a Savage 116 30-06 with 27 grains of 5744 at 25 yds most bullets went thru same basic hole. At 50 yds only had a few left and none keyholed or otherwise acted badly. I felt it warranted some more testing so about a month ago I loaded 30 more identical to test further at 50 and 100 yds. Dadburn weather has been terrible ever since. I intend to test these as soon as weather permits and form my own opinions. Probably boils down to each individual rifle as to what it likes or doesn't like. I also plan to test in a Marlin 30-30 as time permits. I hope I never run out of something new to try......... Mike

[brstevns]

I forgot to say I did rub a little Lee Alox lub on each bullet before loading. I did not have any fouling problems.

[Smoke-um if you got-um]

I too forgot to mention that I sized with Johnson Paste wax and then tumble lubed with a little bit of liquid alox, just enough to get a slight sheen on the bullets when moist. Let them dry and then wrapped. I also did not cover the check with the wrap. I started just above it and then wrapped twice.

[brstevns]

I made up some 45cal for a cousins 45/70 marlin using the Lee 452 Flat Nose pistol bullet. I did not size them but wraped with the telfon tape to bring them up to 460 dia. Loading over 30gr of IMR 4198 these made 1 inch groups at 100 yards. I did wrap the bottom and then rubbed a little alox (lee) over them before loading.

[Ole]

I would proceed with great caution if you wish to do this. I'm not a paper patcher, but I read this on another forum.


As a chemist, I love Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene). However, I do not use it in applications that involve flames or temperature above about 800°F. Teflon is simply a long chain of -(CF2CF2)-. When it burns, it reacts and forms CO2, F2, C2F2 (a free radical that will react with other "things") and carbonyl fluoride (COF2). People who smoke and have PTFE particles on the their hands or in the air would get "Teflon flu" from inhaling the combustion products. Of course, smoking while handling chemicals was never smart.


Another chemist checking in,

I worked in the nuclear industry, and Teflon (and PVC) is completely forbidden in any of the plumbing joints.
The reason being that if small bits got into the system, the high temperatures would
decompose the long chain into various fluoro- (-chloro for PVC) compounds (see previous post)
These halogenated materials are known to attack welds and microcracks in stainless steel
structures, causing crack propagation and intergranular stress corrosion cracking.
Bad thing in nuclear power plants which only operate at <2500psi. Bad thing in rifles too at >25K psi.

Cheers!


Be safe!

[Smoke-um if you got-um]

That's interesting information. I wonder how long it takes when exposed to heat to break down into its base chemicals? I've observed photo's of fired paper patches on this forum that cover the base of the bullet and when recovered have no indication that heat was ever applied to them. They have no visible discoloration or burn marking on them at all. Does the extremely small time window of heat/pressure contact with the base of a bullet wrapped in teflon tape apply in this type of situation ?
Does anyone have any additional info ??

[303Guy]

I wonder how long it takes when exposed to heat to break down into its base chemicals?It's not the flame that does the heating - it's the friction in the bore. That confines any heat to tiny quantities or particles of the heated material and may not be noticeable. It may not even exist since as soon as the softening temperature is reached the material smears away. But it might exist and so we should assume that if it could it would. (Murphy's Law - if anything can go wrong, it will!)

[Smoke-um if you got-um]

Yup, and just about everything that's fun is immoral and almost everything that tastes good gives ya high cholesterol ....... what a crazy dadburn world we live in................ :holysheep

[Artful]

When I got my first Garand I made up some 180 grn RCBS mold bullets with Teflon - I was worred about it in the gas system but it seemed to be fine on that part - unfortunately it was a Blue Sky Garand (Korean import) that someone (GI) had turned the crown into a funnel with a cleaning rod so accuracy with any and all loads was terriable - I gave up on it - I have since rebarreled it but now shooting greek surplus have not tried any reloads in it since the rebarrel.