Rb patch material

[triggerhappy243]

I have some blue striped pillow ticking. And it seems a bit thick for my 50. But ok for my 54. What should i look for at the fabric store for slightly thinner material?

[mooman76]

You need to measure. There is no industry standard for pillow ticking. You could maybe have mattress ticking which is thicker. If you can't measure then take a swatch along. You may be able to tell by feel if it's thinner or not. Yes, Pillow ticking does come in slightly different thicknesses.

[Maven]

What mooman said! Also, some pillow ticking is thin, .e.g., .014" compressed while mattress ticking runs ~.024". While you're looking, check out pocket drill and 7 oz. 100% cotton denim, which measures .016" compressed.

[Beerd]

when you find what works best for you, go back quick and buy a bunch more (like maybe 6 or 7 yards). you won't be sorry.
..

[kens]

Cotton muslin cloth.
it can be in varying thickness' much like the above named pillow ticking.
you can also try denim
I recently went on a venture to find the thinnest muslin, and it was the 'premium muslin', it was measured at .006"
My pillow ticking was .018", muslin was .015" and the premium muslin was .006
You just have to take your calipers or mics to a good fabric store and check it out.

[pietro]

I have some blue striped pillow ticking. And it seems a bit thick for my 50. But ok for my 54.




Did you wash the ticking 2x with soap/water to remove the factory sizing, and what are you lubing the patches with ?

IME, those 2 things alone can be the difference between loading effort being easy/hard.

Patch thickness usually has more to do with relative accuracy than anything else.

While I've never tried it, some folks get excellent results from like-washed denim.


.

[triggerhappy243]

YES, WASHED AND ALL THAT. i DO NOT REMEMBER WHAT THE LUBE WAS. i THINKD IT WAS WONDERLUBE1000 LIKE I SAID..... TIGHT FOR THE 50 BUT JUST RIGHT FOR THE 54.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Someone on here pointed out recently, also, that a smaller RB will work well with thinner patching (or thicker) once the bore's fouled from multiple shots; I"m still re-learning about BP "Smokepoles", but that's making sense now that I've reheard it. (Hoping I heard it before anyways.) I got some .480 RBs for the 50 cal, I'll use those once it's fouled, makes sense...

[kens]

The deeper the rifling grooves, the thicker the patch
The shallower the grooves, the thinner the patch

Ball diameter has nothing to do with it

[Soundguy]

Cotton muslin cloth.
it can be in varying thickness' much like the above named pillow ticking.
you can also try denim
I recently went on a venture to find the thinnest muslin, and it was the 'premium muslin', it was measured at .006"
My pillow ticking was .018", muslin was .015" and the premium muslin was .006
You just have to take your calipers or mics to a good fabric store and check it out.

This!!

When i can't find ticking I like.. I fall back to muslin.. especially for real tight ball to bore fits.

[fiberoptik]

Mic the cloth reasonably tight. This gives compressed thickness (x2). If you can find a piece of whatever you used before check it. Check all 100% non-synthetic cloth to find a match. Write down on the end of cloth bolt compressed thickness. When you find what you need, buy a fee yards. Wash 2x to remove sizing. Per Dutch Schultz @ black powderaccuracy.com if memory serves. Best $20 investment ever! (Or less, don’t remember)


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[fiberoptik]

http://www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com


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[Hanshi]

I load tight loads and like the results I get with them. In my .50 I load a .490" ball patched with either mattress ticking, .020" strongly compressed or cotton canvas duck, .022" strongly compressed. I've also used 10oz denim, .024" compressed but prefer the first two materials. For lube it's hard to beat TOW's mink oil and that goes for Hoppes #9 BP lube. By shooting these tight loads there is never a need to swab the bore in an entire afternoon. Loading tight is easier if the muzzle crown is first smoothed with sandpaper using the thumb and turning the barrel to get uniform radius.

[triggerhappy243]

What i have currently is not mattress ticking..... Not that thick. If i apply light torque between my thumb and index finger ... The mic runs down to 16 tho. Blue stripes.

[triggerhappy243]

I will try to get down to the fabric store next day or 2 and look for the red stripe and measure it.

[waksupi]

Blue strip ticking is the standard. I always find the proper mold to work with the ticking, rather than juggling patches.

[triggerhappy243]

with speer swaged rb, i really have to lean on the ball starter, and in some cases resort to a hammer.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

I've shot thousands with patches from an old flannel shirt. Find some that fits snug, but not so tight you struggle to get it started. I've the pillow ticking and muslin too. Didn't make any difference.

[Soundguy]

30ys ago that's all I used was an old cotton tshirt in my range bag. Prb thru a cheapy knight inline using oyrodex-rs and I had no problem ventilating milk jugs at the 100 yard line using iron sights.

[Maven]

Here's another source of fabrics suitable for patching (It's also reputed to have thicker pillow ticking): https://www.onlinefabricstore.net

[mooman76]

Old cotton dress shirts work well. I also have some of the older BDU material that was 100% cotton. It's really tough kind of like denim.

[triggerhappy243]

all those go to shop rags.

[RBak]

Here's another source of fabrics suitable for patching (It's also reputed to have thicker pillow ticking): https://www.onlinefabricstore.net

Maven, got any thoughts on a tight weave linen that compresses less than .010?
.006 / .008 I am thinking might do the trick but I haven't been able to locate anything locally with a high thread count.

Russ...

[OverMax]

If you have a Home Reloaders Caliper? Measuring with such tool eliminates the oops question. That's how I measure mine.

[Rattus58]

I have some blue striped pillow ticking. And it seems a bit thick for my 50. But ok for my 54. What should i look for at the fabric store for slightly thinner material?

What are your ball sizes and are barrels similar?

A .495 ball will fit tighter than .490, and .535 will be tighter than .530.

So, if your one ball has clearence for your patch in one bore, you might look for that in your other.

That being said, a micrometer is always handy as to what's going on :D

[KCSO]

I have used Irish linen with good results too. I carry a mic and measure from lot to lot and try for 15-17 thou and then a ball to fit. Depends on the bore of the gun I have some old Numerich barrels marked 44 and they work best with a 425-7 ball. A 44 barrel from Green Mountain works best with a 440 and I have Spanish barrels that go 445. The old way to judge is to take a good swatch of cloth and short start a ball into the bore and pull it out. If you have land marks impressed into the ball you are clost to right, but I like mine just a little loose so I can thumb them in with a greased patch.

[kens]

Maven, got any thoughts on a tight weave linen that compresses less than .010?
.006 / .008 I am thinking might do the trick but I haven't been able to locate anything locally with a high thread count.

Russ...

I went to the biggest fabric store in town, and talked to the knowledgeable lady there. She showed me what is called 'Premium Muslin'. After washing, it read .006" on my calipers.
When she pointed me to the store section of 'muslin', I sorted thru numerous different muslins. I noticed thicker, thinner, tighter weave, regular weave. All sorts, you just pick out the one you want.

[quail4jake]

Back in the day...good ol' T/C made everything cookbook and you just bought their patching, ball mold and bore butter to use in their Hawken rifles. It worked well and was good enough for us farmers who didn't have time to fool around. Now it seems they've gone off into 21st century stuff. I'd listen to these NMLRA fellas, they pass on knowledge that goes back hundreds of years and really works!

[Maven]

A late reply, but Jo Ann Fabric sells (or used to sell) a thin, 100% cotton twill made by Sew Classics. Mine mic's .010", which I use with a T/C .56cal. (.550" RB): Never had one burn through either even with 90gr. FFg.

[triggerhappy243]

What are your ball sizes and are barrels similar?

A .495 ball will fit tighter than .490, and .535 will be tighter than .530.

So, if your one ball has clearence for your patch in one bore, you might look for that in your other.

That being said, a micrometer is always handy as to what's going on :D

well, i finally got around to measuring the speer rb that i have. these are not perfectly round. they run .488-.490 so now i will take a sample of what patch material i have, down to the fabric store and compare to what they have.............. see what happens.

[True.grit]

I use old cotton t shirts . I have checked for thickness and they are around 15 thousands. Close enough for my shooting.

[Tom W.]

I like the pocket material from blue jeans. When I was younger and the boys lived at home I had a good supply. Those front pockets were cut out before the pants got thrown.....

[mooman76]

I like the pocket material from blue jeans. When I was younger and the boys lived at home I had a good supply. Those front pockets were cut out before the pants got thrown.....

You can get that at a good store that sells cloth. Sometimes hard to find or for them to know what you are talking about but it's called drill cloth or pocket drill. It's made strong and tight weave so the pockets last.