RE: Which powder should I use?
 

what do you all use to cut your patch at muzzle,i use scizzors.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

I don't cut at the muzzle. I pre-cut mine at home sitting in front of the TV, and store them in plastic pill bottles or 4oz. urine specimen bottles.

Each bottle holds about 150 patches. From left to right are .016 table cloth, .018 pillow tick, and .020 denim.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

Wow thanks for all the replies! I will definatly get the pillowtick stuff. So will the .53 roundball and .015 lubed borebutter patch be too loose in the barrel?

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

how do you get ball in center if you dont cut at muzzle

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

you center the ball in the square patch the best you can.


Semisane, how does your probation officer feel about you using those urine cups to store patches in?

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

Hey sproulman, contrary to popular belief, you can put a square patch in a round hole. :D Square patch / round patch / precut / cut at the muzzle - the balls don't seem to care. I use the same size square patch (1 & 1/2" x 1 & 1/2") for all of my guns, whether they be .50, .54 or .58 caliber.

Aw Devil, she doesn't seem to care so long as Iwash my hands before I hug her.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

The shooters I know have several different ways to handle using patches...As mentioned, a smaller caliber can use a larger patch with no ill effects on accuracy...Patches can be cut at the muzzle, loading block, in squares or using a hole saw with the teeth cut off and beveled...

I shoot both a .40 and a .54...For the .40, I cut a length of patching about 1 inch wide and 2 feet long...For the .54, I go with about an inch and a half wide and 2 feet long...I then put down a newspaper and lay the ticking on the newspaper, take a putty knife and spread lube on both sides of the strip of ticking...I then roll up the ticking, put on a napkin, plate, whatever and microwave for about 20 seconds...This heats the lube and helps it spread through the material...

Once the patching is lubed, I load up my loading block and roll the rest up to put in my patch box...When shooting if I'm in no hurry to reload, I use the roll from the patch box, retrieve a ball from my bag, load my charge of powder, center the ball on the patch and cut with my knife...If I'm in a hurry to reload, I use the loading block...

If I'm going to the range and plan to shoot 20 times or so, I can cut the patches with siccors, put in a container and I'm good to go...

Now...Some will say why bother...I used precut, lubed patches for several years with no problems...Then, a problem came up, my groups opened up because my patches were burning through...My quick fix was a wad or hornet's nesting between powder and ball...This was covering up the problem...
The problem is that my patches were old and the lube had broken down the cotton fibers...By lubing your patches as you go you know the patches are fresh and will hold up better to the heat generated at the shot...

This simple change corrected the problem I had with patches burning through...

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

It has not been mentioned yet; but Ballistol is another choice for patch lube. It can be used just as it comes from the can and also works well as a barrel preservative after cleaning. It will mix with water and as such if there is any trace of water in the barrel after cleaning when it mixes with the Ballistol it will not rust the bore. If you are not familiar with the product it is very old originally came from the German army and works on metal, wood, leather and is basically non polluting and some say you can even eat it without causing major problems. Smells somewhat like licorice. Personally I do not recommend trying to eat it (don't like licorice anyway). It is a little hard to find, but I bought mine mailorder from a Google on the internet.

RE: Which powder should I use?
 

Oops! Almost missed your last question 12Gauge. It's not likely that a .530 ball and .015 patch will be too loose. It may load easily, or may require a rap on the short starter to get it into the barrel. The thing is, all of these barrels are different, and they do change a little with a lot of shooting. The bore gets smoother. the lands become less sharp. The muzzle might even develop a little cone. So the patch/ball combination depends on your barrel and to some extent on your load. You can get away with a thinner patch when shooting light loads. (By the way, during your introductory experimentsI would stick with either Pyrodex or GOEX and avoid T7.)

So, a .530 ball and either an .015 or .018 patch will likely do fine to get you started and comfortable with the gun. Once you're ready to experiment you will want to try some .535 balls too, and different patches to see what works best for you. And then there's lube. The bore butter will be fine to start with and you may like it. If not, there's only two or three thousand other things to try - from spit, to SnoSeal, to Crisco, to Olive Oil, and many more exotic combinations. Playing with this stuff is half the fun.