I have small balls now.

[Rollover Jack]

Greetings...

On a recent visit to the only store in my area that still somewhat caters to the Traditional aspects of our interest, I ran across a box of Hornady .520 swaged balls that I obtained for my T/C non-Hawken. Using .530s the loading was difficult with a clean bore, harder after about 3 shots. And the .535s well, forget it! The loading was much easier, and I did not notice any decrease in accuracy. Oh, yeah, .018 spit-patch Wal-Mart pillow ticking, washed. Recovered patches were in very good shape. I haven't been able to measure the bore as it has an odd-number of grooves, so I am just going by performance.

If the balls work out, I will then know what size of mould to obtain, did not want one that would make life difficult.

On a side note, I will now have to obtain more patch material, because one of my cats tore the grocery bag that I kept my material in open and TOOK A DUMP IN IT! :cursing: Perhaps I could have washed it, but as mentioned above, I spit-patch. I fear that spit-patch plus cat's poop may just have a whang to it, worse than the sizing, that I would rather not experience. :barf:

"Less powder, more lead.
Shoots further, kills dead."

 

[Musketeer]

You can still use that patching, though you might get sorta crappy performance out of it now. :rotf: :blah:

 

[bioprof]

This thread is killing me. :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[Stubert]

I use a Lee .527 mold. probably easier to find than a .520

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

The cat was just helping you out by prelubing the patch material. They're helpful that way. Or it may have heard you say SPIT patch and thought you said S... well something else. :rotf:

 

[rafterob]

:hmm: There was a thread here somewhere about small game(cat)skins making good patches. Seems like an appropriate punishment to me.

 

[Rollover Jack]

Russ...

Thank you for the suggestion! Although it is too late now, trash has already run, in the interest of furthering knowledge I should have at least made an attempt to see if this new-found patch lube had any redeeming qualities. With all of the discussions concerning different lubes and methods on this forum, I don't seem to recall any that implemented this variable. After all, it would appear to be relatively inexpensive, the supply assured and even the actual constitution could be modified slightly. Too dry? Castor oil.(vegetable product) Too runny? More dry dog food. The possibilities multiply as I think about them.

Once again, Thank You for the suggestion, you may be on to something great! I shall not hesitate should there be a repeat performance.

"Less powder, more lead.
Shoots further, kills dead."

 

[Pork Chop]

One more reason to not have a cat...

 

[J.D.]

Hmmmm, cat, the other white meat. :wink: :v

 

[Rogue River]

Sounds like a personal problem to me! :grin:

 

[Pork Chop]

Cat - the reason that we have the catapult. :rotf:

 

[musketman]

If you do any primitive reenacting, you could have turned the feline lubed patching material into char cloth...

 

[Musketeer]

Well, at least the cat's out of the bag now. :haha:

 

[MikeChapin]

When I saw the topic title I thought this thread was about a medical condition. Now I see it has drifted to a discussion of exotic patch lube. Can't you guys stay on topic? :rotf:

 

[torn moc]

he is explaining his CATtasophe.... :rotf:

 

[reddog]

I take it the cat has eight more to go,,,

 

[shootemup]

"...in the interest of furthering knowledge...all of the discussions concerning different lubes and methods on this forum, I don't seem to recall any that implemented this variable. After all, it would appear to be relatively inexpensive, the supply assured and even the actual constitution could be modified slightly. Too dry? Castor oil.(vegetable product) Too runny? More dry dog food..."

And when you hit on just the right combination, you could say "Man, that was some good sh*t..." :rotf:

 

[Many Klatch]

On a more serious note, I find that the .526 ball work well in my .54 rifle. I also use spit patching. Fortunately I don't have any pets in the house but I have grabbed the wrong patching material and wound up shooting some that had been used to wipe down an oily barrel. Boy that's a taste that sticks with you.

Many Klatch

 

[paulvallandigham]

Washing the material a couple of times is all that is necessary to remove both the sizing and the cat feces. If you are still worried, just add some bleach to the wash cycle. You are not going to taste anything in that fabric, other than soap, and bleach, if that. It may depend on your rinse cycle. And you can usually re-rinse things twice to get more of the soap and bleach out of the fabrics. Use a little fabric softener, in the rinse cycle and that will also help remove the soap and bleach.

 

[Oldnamvet]

If you saw some of the places that fabric was in before you bought it, you wouldn't have worried about it. Then again, you might wash any new fabric multiple times before you would touch it with your tongue. :wink: