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Patch analysis please

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dallas10c

40 Cal.
Joined
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I am still new to BP and spent the morning with my sons at the range. I was bale to recover 4 of my patches and am asking for some help with the analysis of the patches. The photo and details of what I was shooting are on my website.
[url] http://nepaoutdoors.com/shooting.htm[/url]

Thanks...Bob
 
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Recon said:
I am still new to BP and spent the morning with my sons at the range. I was bale to recover 4 of my patches and am asking for some help with the analysis of the patches. The photo and details of what I was shooting are on my website.[url] http://nepaoutdoors.com/shooting.htm[/url]
Thanks...Bob
In my opinion, .010" patches are almost always too thin to survive the fire, and they don't hold much lube.

I'd suggest moving up to at least .015", or better yet, .018" pillow ticking...and in either case, make sure the patches are well lubed.

There are Oxyoke .015" prelubed patches in .50cal with .490 ball and 50grns Goex 3F.
1594484IMG0401800Pixels.JPG
 
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pretty darned good looking patches there, fella, rifle don't look too bad either
 
Slake said:
pretty darned good looking patches there, fella, rifle don't look too bad either
Well, I know they're not expensive, custom, historically correct rifles but they sure get the job done, particularly since TC got their lock perfected... :thumbsup:
 
It looks like the lands are cutting the patch. I would leave it alone for now. You are getting good groups with a new barrel, shooting it will burnish off the sharp edges very quickly. You could run a brush with steel wound around it to speed up the burnishing, but I'd shoot it it a bunch 1'st.
 
Hey I think T/C's are sweet. They are very fine rifles. I have cheap junk mostly CVA's and Traditions but they shoot well for me and I keep them nice and shoot them often. The gun that wins me my medals and fills my freezer is the cheapest junker I own but it's brutally accurate.
Back to the patch analysis I would agree on the .015 to.018
 
Thanks for the help everyone. The groups are getting better, but I though the patches were a bit thin. We put about 15 rounds through it today and had a blast even though it was COLD! That makes it around 40 rounds through the barrel so far.
 
The lands are cutting the patches. Check the muzzle to see if you have sharp edges. If not, then the patches are too thin.

Roundball is really the TC expert around here. Your patches should look like his. Use the .015" patches, because they will hold more lube.

You can just wait to burnish the lands by repeated firing, or you can speed the process by using JB Bore Cleaner or auto parts store available lapping compound to take the edges off the lands.

At least now you understand shy its so important ot " read your patches.". Thanks ofr the posting. I suspect you are educating a lot of other readers, and new BP shooters.
 
Thanks for the info, I just ordered some .015 and .018 patches that I'll try next weekend.

Bob
 
Be aware that FFFg powder burns hotter than FFg does. Sometimes you will get burned patches using FFFg powder, when the patch will not burn if you are using FFg. I also use the same lube that Roundball has in these pre-lubed patches. Wonderlube, a/k/a Bore Butter, a/k/a/ NL1000, formerly known as Young Country 1000. Lube a stakc of patches the day before you go to the range, and let them sit together in a reasonable warm place. If you forget, do it at home before going out on a cold day, and zap them in the microwave for about 5 seconds. You want the lube to flow, but you don't want it to burn. You may have to zap the patches a couple of times to see the lube begin to flow to the edges, so use your eyes, and use your best judgment. I found that using 5 second bursts in the Microwave kept the patches from burning, but melted the lube enough to get it to flow. It really depends on the relative humidity in the house as to how many times I have to heat it in the microwave oven.
 
Like the others, I think the lands are cutting the patching material. I would recommend that you reduce the diameter of your ball by 0.005" to 0.010" and use a thicker patch. If you are using a 0.500" ball then I think the 0.490" ball is the next choice. You didn't say how easy the PRBs were to load. I would think they were pretty tight.

Not bad shooting on a cold and windy day.
 
If you are shooting .490 balls in the .50 cal. you should be using .015 minimum patch thickness.

Your patches are way too thin and are being torn by gases escaping around the ball on the slack side of the rifling.
 
Log Cabin Supply will tell you a new barrel needs 200 shots to break in. They been in the ML 60 some years, thats what they told me when I didn't know. Dilly
 
Mad Monk said:
If you are shooting .490 balls in the .50 cal. you should be using .015 minimum patch thickness.

Your patches are way too thin and are being torn by gases escaping around the ball on the slack side of the rifling.
:thumbsup:
 
That 200 shot thing applies to rifles with cut rifling. Shallow-groove rifling made by button rifling does not have the jagged edges on the lands that is seen in cut rifling. T/C barrels are very smooth inside right from the factory. Ditto for Investarms button rifled barrels. Land edges on a cut rifled GPR barrel look like saw blades under magnification. Button rifled lands have no such jagged edges.

The assumption has been made that the so-called .010" patching is actually .010" in thickness. The Ox-Yoke .010" patches I had looked at before they folded were something of a joke.

I have two 100 meg ZIP disks of photos of various patches showing how gas blowing by a loose patch shreds the threads in the patching.
 
Again..thanks for all the follow up info. I am going to try and get out this weekend with the thicker patches and try again. I'll post the results if I am able to get out, but they are saying 25 degrees and snow flurries and I am getting to old to freeze my butt off every weekend.

Yes the Hornady's are .490 so the thicker patches should help. What lubes work best when it is this cold out?? Last weekend I kept the lubed patches in my pocket to keep them thawed out, but I figure there are some that work better then others at cold temps.

Thanks,
Bob
 
Recon said:
Again..thanks for all the follow up info. I am going to try and get out this weekend with the thicker patches and try again. I'll post the results if I am able to get out, but they are saying 25 degrees and snow flurries and I am getting to old to freeze my butt off every weekend.

Yes the Hornady's are .490 so the thicker patches should help. What lubes work best when it is this cold out?? Last weekend I kept the lubed patches in my pocket to keep them thawed out, but I figure there are some that work better then others at cold temps.
Thanks,
Bob
Mid-20's hasn't caused patch problems for me at the range...but it's usually very dry, low humidity during those cool winter temps so I switch from NL1000 lube to Hoppes No9 BP Plus in the winter for that reason.

As a semi-liquid I use Hoppes to get the patches very damp, just short of wet...and each patch wipes the bore clean when it's seated so I don't have to wipe between shots...hate wasting time wiping betwen shots...especially when it's 25* with a few mph breeze in January...shoot 50 shots and get back home in the garage :grin:

Hoppes No9 BP Plus does fine at the range in those temps
 
Roundball, I often wonder why some patches are brown, some white and some black. Any ideas?
 
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