Carrying pre lubed patches

hawkeye2 · Jul 23, 2022

erhunter said:
How about an old 35mm film container? They work great if you can find them.

You can find them on eBay. For range use I cut strips of patch material and ran them through melted lube. When they dried I rolled them up and put them in a 35mm film container. When I shot I took a strip out and pinned it to my frock. Someone posted a while back about using a film container with a slot cut in the side to pull the patch material out through.

Mike in FL · Jul 23, 2022

Loading block for me. The lube will not dry out during a several day hunt.

Bushfire · Jul 23, 2022

Mike in FL said:
Loading block for me. The lube will not dry out during a several day hunt.

What are you using for lube in that situation

Ed Pilkington · Jul 23, 2022

I like. Are the ball’s pre-patched in the block and the cross for protection?

LSB · Jul 25, 2022

I like a loading block for faster reloads. However, I am somewhat of a pessimist and always worry about running out of reloads. Therefore I carry extra round balls and prelubed patches, just in case. I have made tins out of Sucrets cans and they work great for the lubed patches. I realize this is not historically correct since Sucrets were obviously sold in linen bags in the 1760s but I do antique them a little to make them more acceptable. The one with the fish is blued and the one with the fox is browned. You just have to take a propane torch to them to burn off the factory covering and then blue or brown them.

maillemaker · Jul 25, 2022

I am currently reading The Muzzle Loading Rifle Then and Now by Walter M. Cline. He claims that pre-cut patches are not as good as cutting at the muzzle as your ball will never be perfectly centered in the patch with a pre-cut patch.

I recently switched to 10 oz. cotton duck (about .02" thick), soaked in 1:3 Ballistol/water mixture and allowed to lay out flat to evaporate out the water. I did get better groups than anything I've done so far with pre-cut patches. My patches felt a little oily compared to pre-lubed pre-cut patches. I will probably try 1:5 next time.

I'm basically following the instructions here:

Traditional Muzzle Loader - Developing an accurate load for a black powder muzzleloading rifle

Coinneach · Jul 30, 2022

Bushfire said:
I'm not new to muzzleloading but I still haven't got a practical way to carry my shooting patches in the field.

I use Peanut oil, not keen on using bees wax or wonderlube or anything that is going to want to hang up in the bore some. And mink isn't available here.

Because Peanut oil is quite wet and oily, I'm not going to just sit it in my bag. What I have done is keep it in a tin, but when hunting I'm not finding it practical to have to open the tin to grab a patch then closing it every time I need to reload. I feel like it adds probably 20% on to my loading time.

I knows there has to be a better way, so what do others do?

Like most things the simpler and more practical, the better.

I low dangle a vent pick from the shoulder strap of my Powder Horn, and centre pierce a wad of 10 pre-lubed patches so they hang ready to be plucked one at a time on the range.

When I use to hunt only had 3 at a time ready that way.
I keep a small japanned tin with back up pre-lubed patches in my shooting bag so I can spear them on the Vent pick if need be.

Fisherking · Aug 3, 2022

LSB said:
I like a loading block for faster reloads. However, I am somewhat of a pessimist and always worry about running out of reloads. Therefore I carry extra round balls and prelubed patches, just in case. I have made tins out of Sucrets cans and they work great for the lubed patches. I realize this is not historically correct since Sucrets were obviously sold in linen bags in the 1760s but I do antique them a little to make them more acceptable. The one with the fish is blued and the one with the fox is browned. You just have to take a propane torch to them to burn off the factory covering and then blue or brown them.

Those are fantastic!!

Dang. Why didn’t I think of that?

Carteret Kid · Aug 3, 2022

Would a horn cup or dipper work?

oldwood · Aug 3, 2022

In my .40 cal. small game rifle , I use the patch or grease hole in the right side butt . The patches are lightly greased , and stay plastered in the hole , until I need one. Sometimes , I use a loading block w/the prepatched ball ready to be short started . The .40 is a Appalachian W.Va. gun and patch /grease holes in the stock is PC.
In my .50 cal long rifle , I carry a Plastic electrical tape box , in my shot pouch to use at the range. . Admittedly , it's not historically correct , but when hunting , a patch ball board , with 10 grease lubed balls ready to short start. I prefer ball boards when hunting , that way I don't drop anything in the heat of battle....................oldwood

Fisherking · Aug 3, 2022

LSB said:
I like a loading block for faster reloads. However, I am somewhat of a pessimist and always worry about running out of reloads. Therefore I carry extra round balls and prelubed patches, just in case. I have made tins out of Sucrets cans and they work great for the lubed patches. I realize this is not historically correct since Sucrets were obviously sold in linen bags in the 1760s but I do antique them a little to make them more acceptable. The one with the fish is blued and the one with the fox is browned. You just have to take a propane torch to them to burn off the factory covering and then blue or brown them.

BAM!

Well that was half an hours work or maybe just a few minutes more but I think that this Altoids can is WAY cooler than the nickel tin I bought at TOTW. The nickel one is cool, it was cheap but it wouldn’t stay closed until I peened the lid a little.

Thanks for the idea LSB!

I love this place for these kind of reasons exactly!

SDSmlf · Aug 4, 2022

Personally I like loading blocks, but only for single day use or woods walks. Carry them around for a while and find that the pre-lubricated patches go from too sticky (think fly paper) contaminated patches to dried out patches.

When hunting I find that a few oversized patches preluded with mink oil in a tin are all I need. I typically reload after a shot, but find even taking my time with a pre-lubed oversized patch I can trim it and reload quickly. When I am very confident in my shot (animal drops within sight) and feel I have a few minutes to spare, along with it being early in the day, I have ‘cleaning kits’ ready to go in Ziplock bags, but only HC and PC ones

. They include a couple of patches pre-lubed in something like Hoppe’s 9 Blackpowder formulation, a number of dry patches to be wetted with alcohol from a small bottle, a few dry patches and a pipe cleaner. In a matter of minutes I am back to a nearly perfectly clean barrel before I reload. While I have taken a few second shots, I usually find that field dressing and dragging game back to camp or transportation pretty much eliminates the opportunities for that second shot, though I want to be confident if an opportunity presents itself. At the end of the hunting day I pull or shoot off the load, followed by a proper cleaning before reloading. Find everyone has a cleaning reloading variation that works for them. Figure that out and you will know how to carry pre-lubed patches - and other fixings.

LSB · Aug 4, 2022

Fisherking said:
BAM!

Well that was half an hours work or maybe just a few minutes more but I think that this Altoids can is WAY cooler than the nickel tin I bought at TOTW. The nickel one is cool, it was cheap but it wouldn’t stay closed until I peened the lid a little.

Thanks for the idea LSB!

I love this place for these kind of reasons exactly!

Thank you for the kind words.

Bushfire · Aug 4, 2022

SDSmlf said:
Personally I like loading blocks, but only for single day use or woods walks. Carry them around for a while and find that the pre-lubricated patches go from too sticky (think fly paper) contaminated patches to dried out patches.

When hunting I find that a few oversized patches preluded with mink oil in a tin are all I need. I typically reload after a shot, but find even taking my time with a pre-lubed oversized patch I can trim it and reload quickly. When I am very confident in my shot (animal drops within sight) and feel I have a few minutes to spare, along with it being early in the day, I have ‘cleaning kits’ ready to go in Ziplock bags, but only HC and PC ones. They include a couple of patches pre-lubed in something like Hoppe’s 9 Blackpowder formulation, a number of dry patches to be wetted with alcohol from a small bottle, a few dry patches and a pipe cleaner. In a matter of minutes I am back to a nearly perfectly clean barrel before I reload. While I have taken a few second shots, I usually find that field dressing and dragging game back to camp or transportation pretty much eliminates the opportunities for that second shot, though I want to be confident if an opportunity presents itself. At the end of the hunting day I pull or shoot off the load, followed by a proper cleaning before reloading. Find everyone has a cleaning reloading variation that works for them. Figure that out and you will know how to carry pre-lubed patches - and other fixings.

My first red stag with a muzzleloader was a small 6 point, I tossed up reloading but decided it wasn't worth it, especially at nearly midday. Packing out a couple of legs and wouldn't you know it came face to face with a thumping 14 point stag 100 yards away. Would have had ample opportunity to take the shot had I been loaded!

Its more the second quick shot. One example, I missed a fallow buck once, he paused at 60 yards just long enough for me to stuff around loading the gun and then took off. If I had everything at hand I'm certain I would have been able to get another shot in.

N.Y. Yankee · Aug 4, 2022

Always keep your gun loaded in the field. Regret for missing an opportunity is way tougher than figuring how to clear the load when the hunt is over. I know from experience.

smoothshooter · Aug 4, 2022

Snake Pleskin said:
I also thik the loading block is best. Sometimes I have to re wet the patch a bit if I have not used the loading block in a while, but that is simple to do. I still carry powder in my horn, deer antler measure, and use a brass pan primer.

If you will take a round file and file 4 to 6 grooves in the inside of each hole in the loading block the patches will stay moist longer because the lube is not being squeezed out of the patches for the 360 degrees of the circumference of the ball.
The grooves filed in the loading block will look like the rifling grooves at the barrel muzzle.

Surrywoodman · Aug 4, 2022

Does anyone NOT lube their patches at all? I know some folks use the spit methods, but what about dead dry?

Fisherking · Aug 4, 2022

In a fouled bore, a fry patch gets stuck. Like really stuck and it is an operation to try and get it back out.

Don’t ask how I know.

Surrywoodman · Aug 4, 2022

Fisherking said:
In a fouled bore, a fry patch gets stuck. Like really stuck and it is an operation to try and get it back out.

Don’t ask how I know.

Ok well I don't need that problem, thanks :thumb:

Historian · Aug 4, 2022

Just try using an old Altoids can. Works like a champ! Here is one used to carry patches in. Cheap and very effective. See the top picture. The bottom one was used for rifle or smooth bore tools.

Carrying pre lubed patches

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