Load for a tight bobcat

[mashaffer]

In another post (in perc forum) I posted about my new Bobcat (my first ML) and those first experiences. It appears that mine is rather tight as .490 ball and .015 patch couldn't be hammered down the bore if my life depended on it. So I shot a few with some thinner cleaning patches that I had on hand but the patches got totally detsroyed and accuracy was of course terrible.

Since I don't have a local source for balls (just conicals around here) I decided to try to buffer the patches and it helped some as the best load had vertical spread of only about an inch at 50 yards but 5 inch horizontal spread is common (or at least a lot of flyers).

I loaded powder and then a cardboard wad (hand cut) seated on a smallish piece of patch followed by 2 .38 special cases full of powdered milk and patched ball. The cardboard wads were not well cut and when seated without any patching material under them allowed powder to get on the wrong side of the wad.

With deer season hard on our heels I may try some conicals for this season if I can get a good load with them. However I would like to work up a good ball load eventually. So I think that I have established that I NEED to use proper patches which probably means smaller balls. The Speers that I am using actually measure about .492.

Can anyone mic some Hornadys for me and see if they run any smaller? How thin can you go with patches as a practical matter?

Any advice appreciated.

mike

 

[silverfox]

I haven't heard of anybody having that kind of problem with their bobcats but I guess it could happen. There are .485's out there if you can find some to try. What conicals are you planning to use. If you have already then what kind of groups are you getting with them.
Hope your deer hunt works out.
Fox :thumbsup:

PS: What lube are you using on your patches.

 

[Tim Clark]

Those .490's WOULD be a bit big for that .45 Bobcat you bought!!!

Okay, only half kidding... I've never heard of that problem. Mine loads sweet until I've had about 5 shots with no cleaning at all in-between shots. I would also recommend finding .485's, or whatever you find that the proper ball would be after slugging the barrel.

 

[boar]

I have 2 BCats and gave my grandson one to hunt with, he is 12. I made my RBs with a Lyman steel block mould(490) and used them in all 3 guns, Pillowticking from Wallys. No proublem. Deer tallow lube. I don't load his too heavy(60 to 70 grs 2ff.Also have aPanther too and shot it the same way. Dilly

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

Please don't take any of this as an insult to your intelligence, as this may just be a bit of confusion on my part....

I did not notice anywhere in your commentary that you mention putting lubrication on the patches??? A dry patched ball is next to impossible to load--even if it is the correct thickness and ball diameter. It just really kind of stood out that maybe you need to put some lube on the patches.

If you are indeed using lubrication on your patches please let me know, as that will clear up my confusion... Thanks!

If you need lube, just for a quick shot, you can use a "spit patch", which is exactly what it sounds like. (some people find it repulsive to do, but saliva does work as a luberication).

I have never heard of any Bobcat having a problem with the barrel being undersized, but it is a possibility.

Regards, and good luck on your problem,
WV_Hillbilly

 

[mashaffer]

Sorry, Forgot to mention the Bore Butter. :}

Of course it is possible that the patches were oversized... I guess I need to stop by the craft dept at wally world. How is the pillow ticking spec'ed? What size do I look for?

Appreciate all the help for the greenhorn.

mike

 

[marwat06]

I have a Bobcat, now my son's, and we use Hornady .490 and Precut Lubed .015 Patches. Is your patch store bought? I know my Wal-Mart Ticking is a bit more than .015. Wondering if the patch is truely .015? As you described it, it should load alright.

 

[bwhoffman]

FWIW,
I have a 8yr old cva hawkenand an older cva mountainrifle with the douglas barrel, both 50's. Neither one of these like wallyworld ticking,which mic's at .017-.018, too tight to load easily. .015 they both love, prelubedwith homespun .490's. I can beat them in, but opt for the thinner patch.

Brett

 

[Slamfire]

I picked up some prelubed 0.015" pillow tickin' patches on one of the auction sites, don't remember which one. It's gettin' hard to find in the regular gun stores, guess poly sabots are sellin' good enough that they don't need to sell anything else.

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

Sorry, Forgot to mention the Bore Butter. :}

Of course it is possible that the patches were oversized... I guess I need to stop by the craft dept at wally world. How is the pillow ticking spec'ed? What size do I look for?

Appreciate all the help for the greenhorn.

mike

Your choice of lube should not be causing the problem. The pillow ticking at Wal-Mart is either blue/white or red/white striped. The blue striped seems to be a little heavier than the red by a few thousandths. I also measured the blue striped at about 0.018" (18 thousandths), and the red is more in the neighborhood of 0.015 (15 thousandths).

Another thing is that you must wash the ticking before you cut it into patches. They use some type of sizing on the cloth and you need to wash it to get rid of it. That will make the cloth much softer, at least it seems that way to my rough old paws. You might want to coat the patches thoroughly with your favourite lube and then I use a plastic putty knife to squeegee/scrape the excess lube from the cloth. I usually let them "age" 3 or 4 days to let the lube completely soak into the cloth. Many people might disagree with my methods but I am a stubborn old cuss and I've found that this works best (in most instances) for me.

Do you have access to a dial or digital caliper (maybe a fried has one?) that you could use to measure the bore size of the rifle? If there is a quality control problem with the caliber being undersized, you need to measure to be sure.

Do you use a "short (ball) starter" to get your patched ball started into the muzzle? I didn't remember if you mentioned using one, but it is almost essential to have one unless you are very adept at loading. (I don't have the strength anymore to start patched balls without a ball starter.)

Have you discovered any other things that might be causing you a problem?

Regards, and hang in there, you are gaining experience!
WV_Hillbilly