Originally Posted by
megasupermagnum
I didn't want to muddy up different threads, and these are questions I have had rolling around in my head for a while.
Just for fun heres some random opinions back
I want to start with the patched round ball. Like many, I began shooting with a pre-lubed patch from TC. They work ok, but didn't seem ideal. More on that later. I decided to try some materials, and went looking for the tried and true pillow ticking. At Walmart, there is a good selection of different fabrics, including what is labeled ticking. I see so often people talking about .018" patches, but it doesn't seem like an accurate number to me. Measuring those TC patches, measured how I think they should be, they are right at .015". I see lots of people saying they squeeze the jaws to get the reading when compressed. The problem is that fabric doesn't seem to want to work. Based on how hard I squeezed, I could make it go as low as .010". Back to the store, I found a suitable ticking, which measures .016", but again I could squeeze the jaws as low as .010". I bought it, washed it, and took it shooting.
f]good call - I always thought the guys taking their micrometer into the dress shop were kidding themselves - you can pick it by feel anyway OR take a lady with you - one that is interested in fabrics - read the label first - 100% cotton - good to go - all fabric is filled with goo(size) on the roll anyway, so its an educated guess until you get it washed out - I iron mine, makes cutting patches with a punch easier
The stuff seems to work quite well so far. It tears into strips with no effort, and cutting at the muzzle is no trouble at all. It might even be easier than trying to center the ball on a pre-cut patch.
Along with how to measure patch thickness, I am wondering how tight a fit people are using. I see one guy say you shouldn't need a short starter, and the next saying as long as it doesn't need a mallet you are ok. I tried my new patches with some .535" balls, and they start quite hard. I'm a big man at 6'5" 330 pounds, and I had to lean on it pretty good to start them.
Even at your weight if you can start it by leaning on it without a bit of a whack its not a tight load!
I am 9 inches shorter and 100pounds lighter, I use a short starter that takes one good swat with a closed fist to seat it - then the load goes down easy with the rod - have done well with that system for a long time - shot some nice groups - some good targets and a few wins .
A normal person likely would have had to resort to a mallet. Once started though, they went down with hardly any more resistance than with a .530" ball. I have yet to do any formal testing, but the .535" ball seems to shoot better than the .530" so far. This is in my new to me TC Renegade 54 caliber. I also tried the larger combo in the New Englander, and they start just a tiny bit easier. That is likely the winning combo in that gun.
The third question pertains to the first two paragraphs, and that is patch tearing. I've been having the occasional patch tear, even with light charges. A quick side track, I tried some thin patches that measure .010", or .007 compressed hard with a .535" ball. They felt like they loaded nice, but did not shoot well. The little bits of what was left of the patch told that story. That is obviously bad. With the thicker patches, I'm not getting tearing around the outside of the ball. Every one that has a small tear, has it right in the center.
I wonder about that ? cotton deteriorates in the light and over time - If you got stuff that was hanging round the shop on display for too long ? Shouldnt be a factor in Walmart but ya never know - one of my rules is torn patches = splatter groups - it plays out most times
At first I was thinking I was loading too roughly. The odd thing is my .535" ball and very tight patch combo seems to leave a clean patch you could shoot again, aside from the frayed edges. The TC patches are lubed with TC bore butter, and I was shooting my patches with windshield wiper fluid. Does the lube have an effect on the patch tearing, or is the tighter fit a better one?
I am a long ways from doing this, but I've always wondered about coning a muzzle.
seen a few - never done it - be very careful - only a tiny bit I think - would only take a couple thou at most
As I said earlier, once the tightest ball/patch combo is started, they go down easy enough. I have to wonder if a coned muzzle wouldn't make this even better.probably would BUT would it shoot any better ? I have had a couple round ball guns shoot close to two inches at 100yards with easy loads - open sights shooting sitting position What I won't do is sacrifice accuracy, and that's where people seem to get weird. Claims range from "I couldn't tell" to "yes, it became worse". Never a mention on how much. Are we talking making a 1" at 50 yard gun into a 3" gun or what? The other part with that is how it effects conical's. I have had an on again/off again deal with the Lee Real bullets. I like shooting a patched ball for some reason, but the Reals seems to shoot as good or better. At the end of the day, all of my guns are hunting guns, and what shoots best is what I want to use. I have not considered doing this to my own rifles, but I was always curious how a coned muzzle would do. I do have a TC Impact inline with a QLA recessed muzzle. I did try with horrible results with the Lee Real. I later came to find out it was a problem with the gun, and have not tried it since.