Patch Thickness for a 45

[otter trapper 23]

I just picked up a sweet little .45 T/C caplock and have not got to shoot it yet. It came with a few supplies but Im wondering when I order more for it what patch thickness to get for the .440 RB. Also I really want to stick with the round ball but was wondering, any thoughts on shooting maxi balls or any of the other bullets?

 

[roundball]

I just picked up a sweet little .45 T/C caplock and have not got to shoot it yet. It came with a few supplies but Im wondering when I order more for it what patch thickness to get for the .440 RB. Also I really want to stick with the round ball but was wondering, any thoughts on shooting maxi balls or any of the other bullets?

Found excellent accuracy in both T/C .45cal standard and round ball barrels, using their .018" pillow ticking and .440" balls...easy loading with a short starter.

If you have T/C's standard 28" x 1:48" twist barrel, I also found their 255grn Maxi-Hunters to be proverbial tack drivers using both 90 & 100grns Goex 2F that I tried. Devastating on deer...a lot more expensive than PRBs.

 

If i were using 440's for hunting I would probably use 018 thick patches,should be fairly easy to load.....for target work in a TC Hawken I use 451's and 015 drill cloth,tough to start but shoot lights out in my TC 45

 

[otter trapper 23]

Thanks for the info cant wait to start shooting

 

[Pacobillie]

I use .018 ticking patch with .440 RB or .015 cotton patch with .445 RB in mine

 

[BE Wild Willy]

You may want to consider purchasing the pillow ticking from your local Walmart or fabric store, saves you a lot of $$. That's what I did and find it satisfying that I'm going back to the basics.

On a side note, kinda funny how I'm now trolling fabric sections of a store and the old purses at the local thrift stores. What have I become???

 

[paulvallandigham]

Your gun is a fairly well-known Make, with known bore diameter and groove depths. The answers given here are worth heeding.

HOWEVER, ".45" cal. barrels range in Bore Diameters from .433" to .440" to .445" to .451" to .454" to .457" :shocked2: :shocked2:

AND, to make patch selection more difficult, GROOVE DEPTH varies from .002" to as much as .012"!

ALWAYS CHECK THE RATE OF TWIST OF THE RIFLING IN THE GUN BARREL YOU HAVE OR WANT TO BUY. It will tell yu if the barrel has been made to shoot PRBs, or conicals, or both. There is an easy-to-follow Article here you will find up in the "Member Resources" Section towards the top of the index page to this forum, under " Articles", that tells you how to measure your ROT accurately.

Shallow groove barrels(.004" or less groove depth) with fast ROTs are intended to shoot conicals: Slow ROT barrels with deeper grooves are intended to shoot PRBs. The ROT for one or the other varies with the caliber you choose. A PRB with the correctly sized patch can be made to shoot well even in a fast twist, shallow grooved barrel intended for conicals; The Reverse is not always possible, ie. A slow ROT may not adequately stabilize a long, heavy conical(bullet) in flight.

Finally, whether you buy your patch fabric at a store, or buy pre-cut patches from a dealer, KNOW the fabric maker puts a starch-like substance in all fabrics, called " SIZING", to stiffen the fabric and flatten it for wrapping around a " Bolt" for shipping and sale. you must WASH THESE MATERIALS THOROUGHLY ( USUALLY TWO TIMES IN A WASHING MACHINE0 to remove the sizing.

This will soften the fabric, and cotton will often thicken a bit when dried after the washings.HOWEVER, that softened cotton fabric will then ALSO compress MORE when loaded in your muzzled, than the unwashed cotton fabric does.

Use a micrometer, or dial or digital caliper to measure the thickness of the fabric in the store when you buy it, or when you open up the packet of pre-cuts. Expect cotton patching to compress 1/3-1/2 it thickness when used. NOW, consider how much smaller the Lead ball diameter, you choose to use, is compared to the bore diameter, and then also consider the groove depth. One of the primary functions of cotton patches is to fill that groove to seal gases behind the PRB. To obtain consistent Muzzle Velocity, you want the grooves sealed adequately, shot after shot.

I recommend new shooters to this sport buy a copy of Dutch Schoultz's BlackPowderRifleAccuracySystem(.com) to learn how to quickly find the accurate combination of powder charge, ball diameter, and patch thickness for a given rifle. [ There is a long post about Dutch Shoultz's system under " General Muzzleloading" on this forum, with responses from Dutch, who is a member of this forum] :hatsoff: :hatsoff: