Patchbox contents

[mglampson]

My new flinter has a simple brass patchbox. What do you all keep in the thing, cleaning jag, tools? Might be interesting what the preferences would be.

Britches

 

[Boonetract]

Tow, worm, ball puller and, two small feather quills. Thats it. I only open it for cleaning. I keep my turn screw in my bag, so thats where the flints go.

 

[rich pierce]

I keep a strip of patch material and wrap 2 flints in it. Then a worm tip for the rammer, a small vent pick or feather, and a pan brush.

 

Mostly nothing in mine and one of my rifles has no box at all. I have carried patches in them. One original I saw a few years ago had two original paper cartridges laying sidebyside in the box. I thought that was pretty good idea--two quick follow-up shots in case of 'war' or dangerous beasts...

 

[Stumpkiller]

In mine right now is:

Tow worm wrapped in clean tow

Cleaning jag for patches

One spare flint

Ball puller

Forged vent pick

Vent feather

Little extra tow to silence the whole mess

Piece of paper with my name, load info
and range for what the sights are regulated to.

One round ball (that's so's I don't have to be captured by Baptists if I run out of ammo defending the house)

 

[Rebel]

He asked what was in yer patchbox, not yer shootin' box. :: Just how big is yer patchbox? Sounds like ya could carry yer lunch in there. :crackup:

 

[Shooey]

In mine, you'll find:

- ball puller
- patches
- henway
- flint

-Shooey

 

[musketman]

On my guns with patch boxes I keep band-aids...

Some of us are accident prone...

 

[musketman]

In mine, you'll find:

- ball puller
- patches
- henway
- flint

-Shooey

No one is going to ask what's a henway... :crackup:

Nice try though... :thumbsup:

 

[thomas]

In the one rifle I have that has a patchbox, I carry nothing in it. Just never pick-up the habit of putting anything in there, I guess.

Thomas

 

[mglampson]

No one is going to ask what's a henway...

I figure about 4 pounds...

Good answers for the most part. I will be making a new hunting bag for the new rifle and want to make the best use of space, this needing more care then my caplock.
Some notes on what has been mentioned. 1st the ball puller. I have a wooden rammer and don't know if I could pull a ball with less then a range rod. Has anyone done this? If not then is it worth the space in the patchbox and if it is wouldn't you want it in a bag with tools? 2nd if you carry a spare flint wouldn't you want it stored with the screw driver needed to install it?
The feather quill, jag or tow worm and patches or tow sounds like a great idea, as well as the vent pick.
Does anyone really use the pan brush? I would be more inclined to used a small piece of cloth (my shirt) or strip of patching to wipe the lock.

Britches

 

[Stumpkiller]

He asked what was in yer patchbox, not yer shootin' box. Just how big is yer patchbox? Sounds like ya could carry yer lunch in there.

I pack carefully. Just the other day I was shooting and after loading I lifted the gun, saw I'd set the butt on some dirt that stuck and brushed it off. Hitting the release catch in the process. "BOING!" That's how I know just what's in it. I spent 15 minutes pawing through moss and leaf litter and that's what went back in.

Heck, all them gizmos fit in a 1-1/2" x 3" x 3/4" space, plus the catch and lid leaf springs is in there, too.

Ball puller ain't nuttin but a 1" x 3/16" rod with woodscrew threads on one end and an 8-32 bolt threads on 't other & fits inside the tow worm. Vent pick is 5/64" x 2" heated & twisted coat hanger wire with a loop formed in one end. Jag is just a 1/2" x 1/2" cylinder with a bit of 8-32 thread. Tow worm just a tad longer. Flint is just 7/8"sq. x 1/4". Tow fills the cracks. One .530" ball. The feather don't count 'tall.

I'd toss a patch in, but I usually have a shirt-tail if the need is that desperate.

It's like a Swiss Army Box. :haha:

And 'course they's all double duty. Stumblin Buffler taught me that. ::

Tow worm, flint & tow make a strike-a-light kit. Ball is for bitin on when minor surgery is required. Ball puller goes on the rammer to make a fishin spear. Vent feather is to torture information out of captives. The jag doubles as a candle base. Vent pick is to serve hors-de-ouvers on and pick my teeth after (Hey! That's three uses!)

 

[Stumpkiller]

I have a wooden rammer and don't know if I could pull a ball with less then a range rod. Has anyone done this?

:redface: Yes. Several times. I don't own a range rod. About the fifth shot with my new rifle last month was dry-balled. Puller works like a charm.

Just make sure the head is pinned. :shocking:

I don't use a short starter, so the balls go in easy enough that they come out even easier once deformed to the rifling.

2nd if you carry a spare flint wouldn't you want it stored with the screw driver needed to install it?

There's five more in the pouch-carried tool roll with the turn screw, brass oiler, dozen cleaning patches, spare vent pick, two spare feathers, flint knapping tool & drift pin (actually, I just have a nick cut in the turnscrew so I can nibble the flint with that). :haha:

Now if that tool roll gets lost (or left on the kitchen table) at least I can use my knife blade to replace that durned flint. I walk miles when hunting. I'm not going back home or to the car and lose precious time in the woods because I wasn't prepared. :front: I also walk a half-mile up the back hill to my "shooting range" and what I carry is what I have to work with. I carry what I need and I need what I carry. If I haven't used it in a couple months it gets "reevaluated" in a box in the closet until such time as need arises.

Does anyone really use the pan brush? I would be more inclined to used a small piece of cloth (my shirt) or strip of patching to wipe the lock.

Bought one many years ago. I think it's a law you have to buy one. It's like the manditory fish scaler in your tackle box even though you either cook 'em skin on or fileted, and never in the boat or on the shore, anyhow. :hmm: Ended up making a mess of it trying to wipe pan goo away. For 25 years I've relied on a 6" strip of cotton attached or tucked in the bag or strap to wipe the pan and flint. I wash it when I clean the gun until it eventually falls apart. ::

 

Funny you should ask..... :hmm: There are three milk-duds in my patch box complements of my son. :crackup:


TheGunCellar

 

[Puffer]

Funny you should ask..... :hmm: There are three milk-duds in my patch box complements of my son. :crackup:


TheGunCellar

Made my day :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:

Puffer