trim patch?

I trimmed patch today for the first time. I guess I never thought to do it until I read something about it. I normally shoot .50 cal .490 ball with .015 pre lubed patch and never trimmed. Today I shot my new (used) .45 cal .440 ball with .018 pillow ticking lubed with balistol.

I used my knife to trim once the ball got started and I ended up scratching the muzzle. I guess I probably scratched the ball also. The scratches didn't seem to affect point of impact. Is it really necessary to trim the excess patch? Should I make the patches smaller before I load?

Excess fabric over the ball doesn't cause any problem.
When I "Cut at the Muzzle" it's usually because the patching material is made up in strips 1 1/2-2" wide and 18-24" long.
Place the ball and patch, smack it with the stub end of the short starter, gather up the fabric and slice it off about an 1/8" above the muzzle.
Now the ball and fabric is shoved down with the long end of the short starter and the rest of the way down with the rod.

Is it really necessary to trim the excess patch? Should I make the patches smaller before I load?

Click to expand...

Not necessary. Excess patching does not affect the ball. I have observed testing with some genormous amounts of patch left in bore over ball. No affect at all.

I did the same thing the first time I tried cutting the patch at the barrel. Now I cut my patches the size of a 1978 1/2 dollar. Works fine. :thumbsup:

The only time I've ever cut (trimmed), is when using a long strip of patch material. I've never heard of trimming a pre-cut "patch".

When I make ball starters I put a "stub" on the side to sink the ball about 1/4 inch below the crown for cutting patches at the muzzle. Why bother to precut your patches if you are going to trim them after starting? :idunno: :idunno:

A patch it only too big if it wraps around the ball and grabs the short starter and makes it hard to remove from the barrel. If you cut your patches at the muzzle, you will never have a patch that is too large. Just use the short stub on your short starter to start the ball and get it down level with the muzzle. Then cut off the excess patch material. I think that is the way you are doing it, anyway. If you want to precut patches, just cut them 3 times as wide as the caliber. It doesn't make any difference if they are cut round or square but cutting them square is easier unless you have a proper size arch punch

Yeah I have done it both ways and I have not been able to see any difference in accuracy at all. I have become lazy so I buy pre cut most of the time however I do like patch knives.

Geo. T.

There are many "why bothers" in the realm of muzzleloading.

Why bother with the stub on the starter when the round edge of the starter ball is enough to set the lead ball below flush where you can cut the patch?

Why bother with a short starter at all when you can thumb start a ball deep enough to cut the patch? Or the butt of a knife with a very tight ball/patch combo.

Again, why bother with any short starter when the rammer can be choked up on to 1/4" or 4" or 6" as you see fit?

Comes down to how much redundant gear you choose to carry for convenience.

See vinman, Stumpkiller makes a good point.
There's no "one way is right" method with these muzzle loader guns.
That's half the fun, finding what works best for you, :wink:

I always found the precuts fit the patch box better. :hmm:

Strips can be lubed and rolled up to fit the patch box as well.... :thumbsup:

Using the ball of your short starter will seat the ball just below the muzzle perfectly, unfortunately it will also chew it up rather quickly. What I've done to get the same affect is use the head of a 16 penny copper nail...cut the head off with a short tail from the shaft...drill a hole into the ball of your starter...place some epoxy onto the tail and place it into the hole...let it set up for a day and now you have a starter that will seat your ball perfectly for cutting a patch at the muzzle and not leave any extra material to catch on the longer shaft of your short starter!

As far as scratching your barrel with the knife...place the blade at more of an angle, where the edge is just barely above level with the muzzle and the blade just rides along flat on the muzzle....make sure the edge is truly sharp and ye should be fine!

I then have a 16 penny copper shaft left over to knap my flints with when they become dull and it takes up barely any room in my possibles bag! :v

Thanks for all of the great advice. I see it is more like art than science, thats part of the beauty of it. I was doin it right I guess I just have to hold my knife flat. Thanks.

A properly made "patch knife" is made by sharpening only one side so it will lay flat across the muzzle. Looking from the handle end a right handed patch knife is sharpened on the left side of the blade only. Many people today try to get away with a knife sharpened on both sides and usually cut the muzzle lend of the rifle barrel eventually. The blade should also be reverse curved for best results, kind of a shallow crescent.

A good "ball-set" will position the ball just flush with the muzzle so the patch can be trimmed with little overlap. The face of the ball set should precisely match the curvature of the ball so it is not deformed in any way even if it is difficult to seat. You won't get this with "one-size-fits-all" commercial ball starters. You will need to make your own or get a fellow muzzy-loader with skills to make one for you.

Thanks Curator, I will make my own knife as you said and keep it in my posibles bag.