do patches matter that much?

[TrevorAaron]

I have a TC new englander and i had tried .10 patches and i could hit a 1 inch group eaisly at 40 yds. When i tried .20 pillow tick patches i could barely hit a pie plate at 30 yds. I didnt change any thing but the patches. Why does it do that. thanks aaron

 

[David W.]

T/C's have shallow grooves, hence better performance with the thinner patches.

 

[Zonie]

As with all muzzleloaders, each gun has its own likes.

Usually the TC's like tight patch/ball loads but not always.

Your post does bring up something that we don't say often enough around here.

We talk about how good a tight patch/ball works in one of our guns but we seldom mention that it may not work at all in other peoples guns. Hopefully after reading your topic others will give a thinner patch a chance.
If it does or doesn't work they will soon know. :thumbsup:

 

[Tom Compton]

just a guess but if the tighter combo is so tight that you damage the ball in loading it can dramatically effect accuracy.

 

[necchi]

What did you lubricate those patches with?

 

[Herb]

Here is a .40 Vincent I built with a Green Mountain barrel. This is a 50 yard bench test I did with 40 grains of Goex 3F and .400 balls and .020 Ox Yoke patches. These gave 1432 fps and a large group. With my last 3 balls, I used .010 Ox Yoke patches. These gave 222 fps more velocity and a one inch group. I had no more .400 balls so could not repeat this test. I don't know why this happened or if it would repeat. The rifle is for a dentist, thus the silver human teeth inlays.

 

[Harold1950]

My GPR has been all over the target with the pillow ticking. I tried the #40 Drill cloth and I put 5 shots in a 3/4 X 1 1/4 inch group at 25 yards, if California ever gets done with the rain, I'll move it out to 50 and 75 yards and see what it will do. Mine did not like the thinner patches.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I am assuming that you are doing one of two things ,or both, with the thicker patches. 1. you are tearing the thicker patches. Or 2. You are loading so hard you are deforming the balls.
Another possibility is the thicker patches are not pure cotton or linen and are being compromised when shot. :hmm:

 

[TrevorAaron]

The load is really tight and i have been told that maybe the ball is damaged. I will try .10 patches and see if the pattern tighten up a lot.

thanks for the comments

 

[nchawkeye]

Yes, the patches do make alot of difference, lube can as well, just depends upon the rifle...

 

[Lonegun1894]

Everythign makes a difference. That's what makes this obsession of ours so frustrating, yet rewarding at the same time. Check the thickness of patches, try different lubes, different powder charges, and even make sure your RBs are consistent. The rifle will tell you when you find the right combination, and should shoot surprizingly well once you figure it out. I first figured this out when handloading for modern guns, but for some reason couldn't transfer the same level of consistency to MLs. There is much information here and the members here cant seem to be able to stop being helpful.

 

[DoDabber]

Smoothbore and patches. I usualy shoot a Bess with .73 ball without patches. James Adair in his 'The History of the American Indian' pub 1775 states "the chewed bullets flying". I know of at least three persons other than myself that have tried this. While we do not actualy chew the balls we do roll them under a very rough wood rasp. This apparently gives them dimples similar to a modern golf ball. A good coating of lube, without patch and no appreciatiable difference in accuracy at 50 or 30 yard ranges. We fired 10 rounds first with patches then cleaned the weapon and fired 10 rounds with out the patch. I no longer use any patches in my Bess or NW trade gun. Makes life easier for me.