The god thing about prelude patches is that it is likely that each patch has pretty much the same amount of lubrication.
Of course it might also mean that each patch is equally wrong for your rifle.
After about three years of fussing I was getting the balls to hit dead center as far as left and right is concerned butI was getting vertical strings of hits.
Now the powder was exactly the same for each shot, same patching, the same barrel condition so the only variable was in the lubrication of the patch.
Up to that time I thought Slicker is better. My experimenting gave me a surprise.
Having determined how to lubricate patching strips in increasing amounts of the oil I began with the slickest sample and got a circular group about 5" wide. Just like you get with insufficient powder charges. I almost gave up at that point but what the heck So fired five more shots at a new 3" target and the group was a tad smaller. I continued using progressively dryer patches and the group shrank markedly with each dryer
patching strip til the next to the last strip which was so dry I could smell the oil but not feel it in the material.
This gave me the tightest group ever. The last strip was very dry, so dry that I couldn't load without enormous whacks on the short starter (How to get short starter elbow)
That strip gave me three shots dead on and two dramatic flyers.
Apparently slicker was not better, it was worser. (New word).
In effect the more the load offered resistance the better the group.
My conclusions that with a slick lube, as soon as the powder begins to burn (we're talking nanoseconds here) the ball begins to move and before the powder has done its thing the ball is a good distance down range.
That is my thinking and why I think that way.
Your mileage may differ.
Dutch Schoultz
