Ever PaperPatched a Roundball?

[Themoose]

I'm in the process of working up a load for my .54 Pedersoli Rocky Mountain Hawken with 1:66 twist... I am trying to use the Dutch Schoultz method and have stumbled trying to find the right thickness of material for the patches... Thanks to Idahoron I have had great success in paperpatching conicals in my fast twist 45's and 50's and I had the thought of a straight paperpatched roundball.... I think somewhere in the info from Dutch someone mentioned putting layers of cigarette papers between a too thin patch and the roundball until you get the best accuracy... then measure the compressed thickness of the paper and patch combo to get the ideal patch thickness.... but, what about just paper??? Anyone tried it?

Thanks for looking,

TheMoose

[Harleysboss]

Not much info to go there. What combos of patch and ball have you already tried? Have you picked up your patches to see if they are burnt and torn? In my 1-60 twist 58 cal I found that a well lubed .018 patch shot a lot better that .015 and it really was good with a .020 thickness. Try different ball also .530 and .535. Also you could try a lubed wad under the patched ball. I'm probably way off base cause I'm no expert, but paper patch probably wont be the fix. Just my thoughts. You gotta try and find the sweet combo in your rifle its there you just have to find it. Good luck and have fun experimenting.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I have. Made paper cartridges even. I just followed the method for paperpatching a regular conical only I put a 1/2-inch dowel on one side of the ball as I rolled it up (2 layers). I twisted a tail around the other end of the ball, backed the dowel out (the paper formed a tube around the dowel & ball), and then twisted a "waist" between the ball and dowel, next I removed the dowel entirely. I then ended up with a ball wrapped entirely with paper and a paper tube hanging on one end. I filled the tube with black powder and folded the end shut. Then I fill the waist between ball and charge with tallow. Finally I cut the tail off the other end of the ball.

To load I would just open the powder tube, dump it down the bore, then push the now-empty tube into the muzzle starting the ball. With the ball flush at the muzzle I take my fingernail and open up the twisted paper on the forward end of the ball. If I didn't do this they occasionally would fail to open upon exit and the ball would carry the patch all the way to the target.

Not exactly Dutch Schoultz-approved, but I did have some success. I can't say that I do this regularly because I find it easier to just grab the shootin' bag and gun and load at the range. The paper cartridge thing only makes sense if you can spend the time at the kitchen table and maximize the number of shots at the range.

...one last thing, since I twisted the paper both in front and behind the ball I had to twist in one direction for the front and the opposite direction for the back twist. This really snugged the paper round the ball tight.

[Themoose]

Thanks guys. Harleyboss, I did try both .530 and .535 along with .015,.018 and .010 patches.. I've used bore butter, wonder lube and ballistol... but, the key thing to remember here is that I am trying the Dutch Schoultz method... I want to really try to stick to his ideas and see if they work for me... he suggests going to the bigger ball and thinner patch for better accuracy...also he uses a "dry patch" procedure where the patch material is wetted with lubricant solution and allowed to dry... use different ratios of water to lube... idea of drying is to get an even dispersment of lube on patch and not have wet patch contaminating powder...

I quit at the last session when the patch material was too thick for the larger diameter ball and I deformed the roundball when seating... but even with deformed roundballs it was the best 5 shot group of the day... the secret is finding the right thickness patch to go with the diameter of the ball... that is where I thought about the paper patch... it would be extremely easy to add a layer of paper or use different thickness of paper instead of the cloth.... and before I forget, I only found one burned patch and I think that might have been one of too tight patches...

Again thanks Black Jacque and Harleyboss

[indian joe]

Thanks guys. Harleyboss, I did try both .530 and .535 along with .015,.018 and .010 patches.. I've used bore butter, wonder lube and ballistol... but, the key thing to remember here is that I am trying the Dutch Schoultz method... I want to really try to stick to his ideas and see if they work for me... he suggests going to the bigger ball and thinner patch for better accuracy...also he uses a "dry patch" procedure where the patch material is wetted with lubricant solution and allowed to dry... use different ratios of water to lube... idea of drying is to get an even dispersment of lube on patch and not have wet patch contaminating powder...

I quit at the last session when the patch material was too thick for the larger diameter ball and I deformed the roundball when seating... but even with deformed roundballs it was the best 5 shot group of the day... the secret is finding the right thickness patch to go with the diameter of the ball... that is where I thought about the paper patch... it would be extremely easy to add a layer of paper or use different thickness of paper instead of the cloth.... and before I forget, I only found one burned patch and I think that might have been one of too tight patches...

Again thanks Black Jacque and Harleyboss

Hey Moose I have a CVA 54 I used to shoot with 120 grains of FF 530 ball and a calico patch - but that load was a touch hot so it needed a backer patch (probably anything would have worked) I just used a 1 inch calico patch down on the powder then ram the patched ball home - that thing shot real nice - used to attract attention too - but the stock was ugly (way too straight for me) and it used to belt my cheekbone - have got a little more sense as I got older and it runs nice now with 85 grains and a pillow ticking patch ..... a card wad would have maybe been a better idea than the calico backer patch but it worked fine. I pick up my patches regular and will change things immediately if I see any thing other than a whole patch - I want to see those shot patches good enough you could reuse them - thats critical to accuracy with a ball gun.