Plain white T's

Daryl Crawford · May 3, 2020

Just a question here as I'm getting ready to clean my .62 fowling piece, has anyone here tried using old white 100% cotton T-shirts cut into strips as patching material in a fowler? I've never used it before with my .50 Hawken.
I'm still playing with round ball loads. I know PRB may not be historically accurate. I also know I can buy pillow ticking. I already have pre-lubed ox yoke patches for the .595 round ball Greg Dixon recommended for the gun.
I've just been thinking about playing with the old T-shirt material but don't know if others have done so with negative results.
I apologize if this is a foolish question...then again I've been called far worse than fool ; )

hawkeye2 · May 3, 2020

I have found T shirts, specially used, to be too thin and to lack strength. I cut a lot of T shirts into cleaning patches using a paper cutter and they work fairly well there. The heavier T shirts like the colored ones are better but they vary a lot in thickness and sometimes are too thick for the jag I use for cleaning at the range.

Bob McBride · May 3, 2020

It’s a good guestion. I’ve used them with good results but like Hawkeye said, some are too thin, some too thick. Play around with it. I use them mainly for wiping down when cleaning.

Skychief · May 3, 2020

Hey Daryl. I've observed my smoothbores are a LOT less fussy about patching used for roundball shooting versus my rifles. Wouldn't surprise me that your t shirt material would work fine. That is, if they aren't thread bare like a few of mine!

Good luck, Skychief

Carbon 6 · May 3, 2020

Cotton T's make great cleaning patches (that's all I use) but they make poor shooting patches.

hanshi · May 3, 2020

I used cotton t-shirts for a long, long time but haven't used them for many years now. And they are all not equal. I got good results with the heavier cotton shirts and found that an op wad worked well if the patches burned through. They should still do well in a smoothbore.

Grenadier1758 · May 3, 2020

The t-shirts will be okay for cleaning patches. As a patch for a smoothbore that is being loaded with round balls, well, it will kind of, sort of hold the ball in place, but don't expect great performance. You can get away with a pretty poor to no patch and still have reasonable performance. I know that once the bore is fouled, I can shoot with no patch with no additional degradation of accuracy. Of course my accuracy wasn't all that great in the first place.

Yewbender · May 3, 2020

Daryl, I agree with the above...T’s for cleaning and ticking for patching.

Your going to love shoot’n prb’s out of your smoothie. Also its up to you if you want a wad between powder and prd. I tried it both ways but prefer no wad.

My Fowler mic’s .615 at the muzzle. I shoot 70gr 2F, .600 ball patched with .015 ticking (compresses to .012) lubed with good ole spit, mink tallow, or mutton/beeswax mixture. Just don’t ask me how tight my groups are cause i don’t know. I figured out my aiming at one of the woods walks i do

. Last shoot in march was my best...17/20 and 2nd place out of 20 shooters. Just 6 of us used smoothie’s

smoothshooter · May 3, 2020

Daryl Crawford said:
Just a question here as I'm getting ready to clean my .62 fowling piece, has anyone here tried using old white 100% cotton T-shirts cut into strips as patching material in a fowler? I've never used it before with my .50 Hawken.
I'm still playing with round ball loads. I know PRB may not be historically accurate. I also know I can buy pillow ticking. I already have pre-lubed ox yoke patches for the .595 round ball Greg Dixon recommended for the gun.
I've just been thinking about playing with the old T-shirt material but don't know if others have done so with negative results.
I apologize if this is a foolish question...then again I've been called far worse than fool ; )

Those tee shirts are the best material I have used for CLEANING ONLY. Been using them since the ‘70’s.
They are terrible for patching. Too stretchy.

tenngun · May 3, 2020

A agree with most of these post, but give it a try as wadding, it may work. I’ve run everything from dog hair to wads of grass and strips of cedar bark. Old wool blanket strips served too.

Smokey Plainsman · May 4, 2020

Well couldn’t hurt to try, especially in a smoothy with less friction, but my guess is it will not be strong enough and will break apart.

tenngun · May 4, 2020

tenngun said:
A agree with most of these post, but give it a try as wadding, it may work. I’ve run everything from dog hair to wads of grass and strips of cedar bark. Old wool blanket strips served too.

Just be sure to grease it. You don’t want fires started.

oreclan · May 4, 2020

I also use old cut up cotton T-shirts to clean my muzzleloaders.

Eterry · May 4, 2020

I've left my patching at home and had to cut squares from my tshirt to patch. It kept the ball from rattling down the barrel, but not the perfect match by far.
They do make great cleaning material. But every gun is its own individual, try it, you never know.

Carbon 6 · May 4, 2020

oreclan said:
I also use old cut up cotton T-shirts to clean my muzzleloaders.

I also use old T-shirts to make fire starters for my wood stove. Cut and tear into strips an inch wide by 3 inches long, then dip into hot wax. lay on cardboard to cool. One shirt will last me most of the winter. Best, cheapest, easiest fire starter I've come up with yet.

hanshi · May 4, 2020

Yewbender said:
Daryl, I agree with the above...T’s for cleaning and ticking for patching.

Your going to love shoot’n prb’s out of your smoothie. Also its up to you if you want a wad between powder and prd. I tried it both ways but prefer no wad.

My Fowler mic’s .615 at the muzzle. I shoot 70gr 2F, .600 ball patched with .015 ticking (compresses to .012) lubed with good ole spit, mink tallow, or mutton/beeswax mixture. Just don’t ask me how tight my groups are cause i don’t know. I figured out my aiming at one of the woods walks i do. Last shoot in march was my best...17/20 and 2nd place out of 20 shooters. Just 6 of us used smoothie’s

My smoothbore runs about the same .615" to .620"; It likely is actually tighter than this. Accuracy with 70 grains of 3F, .600" lead ball patched with .012" flannel is excellent. This load is fairly "snug" but nothing like "rifle snug". At the range using this load I got got 50 yard 3-shot groups, target after target, of 3" or a bit less. This load has killed deer. The gun does have a rear sight which makes consistent aiming possible.

TNGhost · May 4, 2020

Never used T shirts as patch material, jusr for cleaning as others have said.

I have used denim from old bluejeans though, and it will work, given the right thickness.

Flinty Scot · May 4, 2020

My experiment field swabbing using a tow wad on a cord is working well. I carry this, coiled in the little wood box, w/ two spare wads of tow. Just a braided flax cord w/ a loop knotted in each end.
I double a loop, tuck a wad in and pull tight. Dampen one wad w/ alcohol, the other is the dry wiper. thumb into muzzle; push down w/ ramrod, then draw it out, holding alight pressure on it w/ rod, to keep it tight in the bore. Reverse, repeat and wipe out the softened fouling.

I carry the (thinner) original I made, as backup, in case I have trouble teasing the tow out of the loop to change.

Once back, I just wash out the whole thing while cleaning my rifle, hang it up. once dry, it's easier to unbind the tow from the loop.

Carbon 6 · May 4, 2020

Flinty Scot said:
My experiment field swabbing using a tow wad on a cord is working well. I carry this, coiled in the little wood box, w/ two spare wads of tow. Just a braided flax cord w/ a loop knotted in each end.
I double a loop, tuck a wad in and pull tight. Dampen one wad w/ alcohol, the other is the dry wiper. thumb into muzzle; push down w/ ramrod, then draw it out, holding alight pressure on it w/ rod, to keep it tight in the bore. Reverse, repeat and wipe out the softened fouling.

I carry the (thinner) original I made, as backup, in case I have trouble teasing the tow out of the loop to change.

Once back, I just wash out the whole thing while cleaning my rifle, hang it up. once dry, it's easier to unbind the tow from the loop.

I've done the string and tow too, it does work.
Very nice little box. :thumb:

hanshi · May 5, 2020

In my shop are three old t-shirts I use for cleaning patches. I also have other types of material that get used for specific cleaning jobs.

Plain white T's

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