Round ball and patch / patch recovery

[dmbruce]

Shot .50 caliber early 1980s Investarms flintlock and .50 cal Trapper flintlock pistol from same spot at same target. Found patch roughly 12 feet away. Imagine that was the pistol patch. Like to find the rifle patch. Would imagine the rifle patch went further.
Loads: Pistol. 38 grains of 3F 50 cal roundball with patch
Rifle. 78 grains of 3F 50 cal roundball with patch. Target at 50 yards.
Any ideas please on the approximate distant patch from rifle might travel?
Wind 0 to 2 mph. Rifle barrel 32”

 

[centershot]

When shooting my .54 Renegade I usually find my patches about 15-20 feet downrange, if the wind hasn't gotten hold of them.

 

[kyron4]

Like centershot said, I find mine about 12-18 feet slightly off to one side depending on wind. Try shooting over snow , would be easy to find them.

 

[TDM]

Agree, 12’-20’. But they sure like to hide in the leaves.

 

[tenngun]

Agree, 12’-20’. But they sure like to hide in the leaves.

Yes even on bare ground it’s a job to find patches sometimes

 

[freedom475]

My 58 KC sends a moose milk patch about 15 yards...not feet

 

[nchawkeye]

Simple solution...Put a tarp in front of your barrel, patches are easier to see....Sometimes I elevate the end farthest away with sticks to help stop them....

 

[ohio ramrod]

If you live in an area with snow on the ground it makes finding patches really easy.In fact if the snow is deep enough you can recover what you shoot as well. A few years back the son of the woman I am care taker for was looking for arrow points in the no till corn field and found a mini ball he asked me if there was any way to tell how old it was. I looked at it and told him :"it is a 45 caliber two band hollow point hollow based mini about six months old" I had sighted in a deer rifle the previous fall shooting into a paper target with a thick snow bank behind it. The mini was in good enough condition to be shot again!