5+ shots per patch!

[Flint62Smoothie]

Not that I advise it, but just for kicks, since I was only 1 of 2 at the range yesterday, I was able to pick up my 'spent' and once shot patches off the hard crusty snow-covered ground and shoot them again. So I did ... again, again, and again ... until they burned through.

As the picture shows, I was using 'cheap' home-spun 100% cotton patching that is only $2 per yard from Wal*Mart, lubed with Track of the Wolf's awesome Mink Oil. Above 70grs of FFFg in my 20-gauge, 62-caliber smoothbore shooting 0.600" cast roundballs, I thought this was ample proof my load is OK. The material mics ~0.010" as I buy it off the bolt, and then ~0.012" after washing gently twice to remove the sizing, with a final air dry after the 2nd wash. I use a Starrett 0-1" 1/10,000 micrometer with the ratchet knob.

And the accuracy sure didn't suffer either! I kept all 40+ shots fired that day the size of a ~baseball offhand @ 25-yards. These last 3-shots were all shot with patches having had 5 previous shots on them. I tell you, I just LOVE this TOW mink oil. As I sit here in front of my PC, I can still feel the lube on them. And I purposely try to add just a thin even coating, with my fingers, they were not dunked in melted lube.

One final note ... as I've been shooting 30+ shots each weekend to get ready for the upcoming Primitive Biathlon season. I had to switch back to Goex after burning up my last 5-pounds of Schuetzen black powder. The accuracy is still there, but it took me twice as long and twice as many patches to clean the bore using my standard cleaning routine.

Off to buy more Schuetzen powder!

 

[pa woods roamer]

Started using T.O.W. Mink Oil last year and also like the stuff. Can`t be beat for cold weather shooting...

 

[MSW]

well, five shots per patch... and my kids say that I'm a cheapskate!

all kidding aside, that is kinda neat

 

[Sherlock]

Yes, pick up your patches laying in front of you, just the same as if a half flat round ball erodes out of the backstop. Waste makes want. There are even some that wash cleaning patches in a nylon stocking, when the lady of the house is not looking. LOL! Wonky

 

[longfowler]

picking up your patches to reuse them is really gonna slow down your biathlon time!LOL
good luck and see ya there!

 

[brew]

I cant thank you enough for sending along that package which included the Mink Oil. It is amazing. Just yesterday I shot 10 rounds in my 62 smoothie and didn't have to swab the barrel once. My gun loads much easier as well.
The patch material you sent is working out great as well. My gun has been burning through the blue patches but the red patch material seems to be doing just fine. In fact I too picked up my patches in the crusty snow and will be reusing them again. I cant wait for the biathlons.
Thanks again!

 

[kayja]

did you measure the thickness of them after they had been fired, i've picked up hundreds of them but never reused them, i just figured that an .015 patch would be maybe .013 or smaller after they were squashed and the fibers stretched when the powder drove them down the barrel.

 

[brew]

Interesting point. I will have to examine them and let you know.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

did you measure the thickness of them after they had been fired, i've picked up hundreds of them but never reused them, i just figured that an .015 patch would be maybe .013 or smaller after they were squashed and the fibers stretched when the powder drove them down the barrel.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, I still have them so I can easily check. You can plainly see the 'ring' where the portion of the ball tangent to the barrel compressed the patch, to that's really the only area that's likely to be compressed to any degree. And I doubt I could superimpose one load exactly concentric to the previous one.

Then again ... I don't need to worry about that. I didn't save these to be a 'cheap bast#$d' and re-use my patches. I did it as an experiment to verify the effectiveness of my patching, my lube, in my arm, with my load.

To that end ... I think I greatly succeeded :thumbsup: !