Success!

[Jim B.]

Well, after years of putting it off I finally tried some paper patched bullets in my Marlin 1895 .45-70. Following Paul Matthews' advice I tried one of my regular cast bullets just to see how things would work. I cast some bullets from my Lee 457-340F mould with pure lead and gave them 2 wraps of standard copier bond paper and twisted a tail on the end. Once the bullets were dry I sized the patched bullets through a .459 Lee push-through sizing die (a little case lube applied to the patch first) and clipped off the tail close to the base. The sizing die ironed the patch smooth and very hard.

I loaded these bullets over a moderate charge of 3031 and headed to the range. I had rather low expectations as I had violated so many of the rules (as I understood them) related to paper patched bullets - my cast bullet was grooved and too large, the paper was too thick, the resulting bullet was sized down more than it should be for good accuracy, the patch was ironed onto the bullet and the load was pretty generic. Imagine my surprise when these things printed 2" groups with ghost ring sights at 100 yds! I am sure I could have cut the group size with a scope. Every time I pulled the trigger I got a little cloud of fine confetti just in front of the muzzle, so I imagine the patch was stripping off just fine as the bullets exited the barrel. Recovered slugs from the backstop looked like a stepped-on piece of bubble gum.

I am tempted to do more load development but I can't imagine much improvement over the current results - perhaps a bit more velocity as this load clocked in at about 1700 fps and Paul Mathews reported velocities around 1900 fps as possible. But as it stands, I think this is an excellent bullet to take out after whitetail. I might play with it some more, but this is likely the bullet/load that will go with me this fall.

[docone31]

Congrats!!!
I was going to start the same titled thread.
Last night, after seeing paper patched Sharps bullets as a child, then reading Paul Mathews writings, I dreamed of the day I might at least make some.
I also made some patched bullets last night. My first ones.
Danged if they did not come out ok. I have yet to test fire them as I have no empty cases as yet. I will be dipped though, just using water, they came out real well. The paper jacket is hard as rock. Even the tail is daggoned hard!
Paper jacketing is amazing. I like it.
Congrats indeed on your accomplishments with your loads. I indeed know the excitement. I wish I had been there to watch the first shots. I bet you almost jumped for joy.
Personally, I might just keep your load where it is.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Good for you Jim. That's a great hunting load for sure! BvT

[docone31]

I wrote too soon!
I had a friend over to show him the how-tos.
This time I had the paper too wet. Absolutely no strength for the twist. Damp paper is the trick.
I bet you are going to have one shiney bore after shooting a few rounds.
It takes a learning curve, But they sure look good.

[Jim B.]

docone31,

I found that minding the direction of the grain of the paper makes the difference between being able to twist the tail or not. Your are probably familiar with the issue of fiber direction in paper, but I will outline what I learned. The fibers in paper tend to be oriented in one direction, like the grain of wood. For a given lot of paper you can determine the grain direction by cutting 2 strips from a single sheet; one strip along the long axis of the sheet and another along the short side of the sheet (90 deg from first strip).

Trim both strips to the same approximate length (mark them so you do not forget which is which!) and hold them out by their very ends. One strip should be much more limp than the other and bend more to the floor. The limp strip has the grain of the paper fibers running across the shot dimension of the strip; the stiffer strip has the paper fibers running along the long dimension of the strip. I like to use patched cut across the grain of the paper (the limper strip). This means the patch stretches a bit more when wrapping but also means that when you twist the tail you are pulling in the direction of the fibers, not across them. The paper I was using would not work at all if cut with the grain, as soon as I changed the orientation, the patches went on fine.

[docone31]

Jim, I did that test. The bullets being sized to .308, left sharp edges on the gas check. I believe that and the very wet patches were the issue.
The next batch I am going to do, I am going to soften the base of the gas check at the edge.
I even had one "grow" on one side that I could snap off easily.
It sounds like you are having fun also. With my old 45/70 in my Marlin, I also used 3031.
She kicked like a Mule and I had absolutely no accuracy. I used a scope, had no spotter, and the bore was brand new. I put a recoil pad on the back but still could not hit my hand in front of my face. I blame the scope. Looking back, I should have used a Lyman reciever sight. I am better with those. I broke my collar bone in three places years ago and it sure showed up on that baby.
It was me, not the rifle. I wish I still had it today. It was a beauty. Barrel a little short for me though. I prefer long barrels.