On my recent post on shooting the new GM 1:70 .54 barrel it got me wondering just what the patches looked like. It never dawned on me to check them. Semisane was saying that his barrel had very sharp rifling at the muzzle. When I checked mine, it too felt sharp. So I made the short trip to my shooting spot to see if I could find some of my spent patches. Well I did. The .015" Ox Yoke patches were frayed on the edges but not burned thru nor cut. And the .018" pillow tick patches were in terrific shape. I think I could have re-lubed them and used them again if I wanted. They just showed some slight 'browning' from the burning powder. Of course the lube was gone from sitting 4 days in 90* plus weather.

gotta love the .018 ticking

Sounds like you are in good shape, the fraying is normal...

In my .54 the first shot out of a clean barrel is with a .530
ball and a .018 patch...If I have time for a quick swab for the
2nd shot, I load another .018 patched ball from my loading block...
If pressed for time or needing a quick 2nd shot, I also have 2 balls
with .015 patching in the block that give decent hunting accuracy...