Cleaning patch thickness

I have a Hawken 45 cal. and am wondering if I make my on cleaning patches what thickness do they need to be.

It is more about size than thickness. Too small and they won't fit the bore tightly, too big and you can't get them down the barrel. I use cotton flannel from Joann's cut 2" square for .44 through 12 ga and about 1" square for .40 and below.

Should cleaning patches be cotton?

Stlnifr said:

Should cleaning patches be cotton?

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ABSOLUTELY -- I also buy my flannel at Jo-Ann's. I get two thickness one for end of shooting day cleaning and one thickness for between shot swabbing. The "between shot swabbing" is thinner and when dampen with spit, wind washer fluid or whatever liquid you prefer it will just get the heavy fowling out without getting it "squeaky clean" for the next shot.

Eric is right about size. Cotton is best but be sure you wash the "sizing" out of new cloth. I buy unbleached cotton muslin fabric by the yard and wash it twice to get the manufacturing starch out of it. I tear it into strips of the patch width needed, stack 5 or 6 of them together and then cut into squares with scissors. One inch and a quarter is good for 45 and .50 caliber. A properly sized patch and jag combination will allow a patch to go to the breech end without pushing fouling in front of it. When the cleaning rod is reversed, the patch should bunch up around the jag and pull fouling out of the bore. If the patch is too thick it will push fouling into the breech. If it is too small it will come off in the breech. Both are problems you don't need. Cotton muslin seems to be the right thickness for my collection of jags and bore sizes

You'll get different fit, from jag to jag and from barrel to barrel, even in the same caliber. I try to find a good fit, combination. Sometimes, I'll add a tiny 22 LR patch, behind the main patch, in order to tighten the patch up, for a better fit.

If the patch is too loose, you won't get down in the grooves and if it's too tight, it will be difficult to use.

I have taken a jag and chucked it up in a drill and used emory cloth or file to get it to the desired size. Be careful with drill and file. Files and turning objects, can be dangerous.

I don't bother trying to buy cleaning patches from cloth stores.

The regular cleaning patches at the local gun store that are made for a .45 caliber gun work just fine for me.

They even work nicely in a .54 caliber bore.

Discarded flannel bedsheets are my favorite. ;-)

T shirts...

X2 on the t-shirts. I can cut the patches to fit different bore sizes and if I need a thicker patch, I just use two.

I use T-shirts also. I wear them out faster than I can use them up. I use them for rags and such and every once in awhile I'll cut a bunch up into cleaning patches. I cut different sizes for all the different calibers I have. Eventually they all get used.

X4 On T-shirt’s. You can get quite a few out of one and they work really well

:metoo: T-shirts, when I compared them to store bought patches there wasn't much difference... except t-shirts I already had and they go a long way.

Stumpkiller said:

Discarded flannel bedsheets are my favorite. ;-)

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I bought a flannel sheet at the local thrift store years ago - still using the patches to clean.

I buy a yard of baby flannel at Walmart, works great for me. Just cut bigger square patches for my .54 and small ones for my .40. Too easy, too simple.

I just buy them pre cut from Track of the Wolf, $19.95 a thousand. Just don't have the time to cut up free patches. My time can be very limited.

Do you wear a watch?

$ 19.99 a thousand is cheap! I buy 10 yards of cotton flannel from Joanne's and cut it myself. If I figure my time and cost of materials, I think it is about $ 25.00 a thousand. I also think it is the cheap part of shooting a muzzle loader and the most important part. If you want shot to shot consistency it begins with the cleaning.
Michael

I have found that, personnaly, if I value my time at $0.00 per hour my hobbies become more fun.

One man's cheap is another man's expensive...
I use old T-shirts = FREE
I never seem to run out, but if I do I can go to the thrift store and buy a whole trash bag full of T-shirts for a dollar.

Now that's CHEAP....