Round v. Square Patch

[Notremor]

I am about to start cutting out patches for my new .36 cal rifle. It seems that most precut patches are circles. It would be easier for me to cut squares.

Any accuracy (or other) advantage to a round patch over a square patch?

Thanks. TLD

 

[tg]

I have been useing square patches for a couple of years and see no difference between them and round or cut at the muzzle for typical offhand shooting...give it a try and se how it works for you.

 

[bulletman]

Same here, I just bought a few yards of ticking, and cut sqaure patches, they work great, I dipped a cut strip about 3 feet long and as wide as the patch will be, through hot crisco, hung up to dry, then cut down the roll into squares, works great.

 

[Haggis]

I've always kept a "ribbon" of patch material about 2' long and 1 1/2" wide tied to my possibles pouch. I just set the ball with a short starter and trim patch flush. I sure saves frustration when you're trying for a quick second shot at another squirrel or rabbit.

 

[Stumpkiller]

What Haggis said. I also usually load from a five round loading block I hang from my pouch strap or carry in the pouch. When the block is empty I 'recharge' it, which is faster than pulling out the fixins for poking in one at a time at the muzzle. I carry a ribbon of ticking and a tin (shoe-polish) of Natural Lube 1000. I open my pouch (the balls are held in a small pocket inside or in a draw-thong bag) drag the end of the ticking strip over the lube tin in my left palm with the empty block in my left fingers, lay it on the block, push in a ball with my thumb, slice off the excess with my small patch knife (held in my teeth between cuts, and repeat until the block is refilled. Once shot, you can't tell the spent patches from precut circular.

Lets see if I can do this. A ball traveling 1,500 fps out of the muzzle of a barrel with 1 turn in 66" rifling is spinning at 16,363 RPM. With 1:48 rifling it would be 22,500 RPM. At those speeds the patch is opening up to centrifugal force and blowing off the ball so swiftly once it leaves the barrel that the shape has little effect.

 

[Birddog6]

I have cut my own square cut patches for over 30 years. Only time I use round patches is when I find a Extremely good buy on some & it is much cheaper than buying material & cutting my own.

However over the years of shooting square, round & cut at the muzzle, my shooting cannot tell the difference. A true marksman that can shoot one hole groups off hand at 100 yards could possibly tell, but I would guess to say he does allot more than worry about round or square patch.

 

[musketman]

quote:Originally posted by Birddog6:
A true marksman that can shoot one hole groups off hand at 100 yards could possibly tell.Let me tell you then...

I use TRIANGLE patches... (just joking)

I use round patches, I've tried cutting at the barrel but I'm shorter than the gun is tall, so I have to jump every time I load it...

Again, just joking...

I use pre-cut circles...

 

[Deadeye]

For most shooting, especially if your shooting offhand, you will never know the difference, however in a recent MuzzleBlasts magazine the Bevel Bros. did some tests for this very question.
They used heavy, very accurate bench guns and proved, at least to their satisfaction,that the patches cut at the muzzle were the most accurate
because they were centered and they are round when cut that way. It's very hard to perfectly center a precut patch wheather round or square.
I just stick the end of a strip in my mouth and chew on it til I'm ready for the next shot, works for me.

 

[Notremor]

Thanks for all the great advice. I really like the Crisco prelube idea. I will experiment with cutting the patch off at the barrel but have had trouble in the past with sharp objects.

 

[Stumpkiller]

"I will experiment with cutting the patch off at the barrel but have had trouble in the past with sharp objects."

Ain't no law agin using blunt nose scissors to trim the patch at the muzzle. But you really oughta get your toten'chip card from a Boy Scout eventually. Sooner or later you're gonna kill sumpin and have to clean it and skin it. ;-)

A variation on the Crisco theme is to lay the strip on a flat surface and smear the lube out along it with a putty knife. I used to mix up a concoction of beeswax, mutton tallow and Crisco for patch lube and to dip shotgun wads into. I gotta tell you, Wonder Lube/Bore Butter 1000 works several times better (but is a little runny in the summer).

 

[musketman]

When I did cut patches at the barrel, I used an old straight edge razor...

It makes a nice, clean cut...

It'll make a nice, clean cut in yourself too, if you don't pay attention...

I too, have limited sharp edge contact...

 

[Notremor]

What is better about wonder lube? Is it easier to push the ball down , more accurate, easier on the barrel, or less messy ? Pardon my ignorance since I have never shot a BP rifle (I am "fixin to" though) and don't know what to look for in a "good lube". I do know that when you search the topic of "lube recipes" on the Internet, most people out there aren't lubing a lead ball in a cloth patch.

 

[Zonie]

quote:Quote TLD: I do know that when you search the topic of "lube recipes" on the Internet, most people out there aren't lubing a lead ball in a cloth patch Gol Durn it! How many times does I hafta tell ye don't believe anything ye see on that durn Internet!!

I kin believe they arn't a tellin what they use but I dont kno hardly no one who doesn't lube their patches. Even them teflon thin's gotta have some kind o grease or spit ta mak um work rite.

Whil ah'm at it tha only trouble with anamal fat aint no trouble at all iff'n your into Catfishing. After a while it dooo get ripe. The shortnins like crisco can also get a lil powerful after a while but what the hell, the Black Powder smokes fresh aroma wil jus drown it out 'n get everythin stinkin good oncy ye start a shooten.

'at Wonderlube shor smells pretty 'n it don't get ta stinkin after a while. It's also nice 'n slik 'n damp so's it helps rammin down a tite ball 'n patch. Once ye fire the gun I'm a thinnen it kinda vaporizes 'n mixes with the powder gasses 'n makes the fowlin' a lot softer so's a loadin' the next round is a lot easier. (Ever notice thar a still a callin' am new cartriges a round? Wonder where that came from?)
Give it a try 'n you'l see what Ahm a talkin' 'bout.

By tha way, when's one o' ye a gonna figer our what 'air a puttin in that stuf so's we kin make our own?

 

[Deadeye]

TLD, the only time you need to use that greasy kid stuff is if your hunting and planning to leave your gun loaded for a week or two where spit might cause rust in that amount of time.
Other than that use spit, it's more accurate, cleans the barrel with each shot, can shoot all day without cleaning and you have a mouthful of it.
Deadeye

 

[roundball]

You might want to try a bag of OxYoke (or TC made by OxYoke) prelubed patches and wonder wads...I've used them for years with outstanding results.

They're lubed with wonder lube 1000 (natural lube 1000) which is non-oil type lube, they eliminate fouling buildup and I shoot 40-50 shot range session without wiping between shots...and they produce smaller, more consistent groups than unlubed patches.

 

[Rocky Johnson]

The T/C bore butter is food grade safe but it don't say any thing about cholesterol on the tube so maybe I should stick to bacon grease for my eggs. What do you think? Rocky

 

[Notremor]

Thanks again for all the replies. In reading past posts, saliva seems to be a contraversial subject. Has anyone ever "bench tested" lubes for accuracy?

Tld

 

[musketman]

quote:Originally posted by TLD:
In reading past posts, saliva seems to be a contraversial subject.No one said it had to be your own saliva...

 

[Deadeye]

TLD, Yes, they've been tested many times over many yrs. Spit wins in all the tests I've seen or done. Ox yoke pre lube has been the worst in my guns. I have won hundreds of muzzleloader matches with spit so can say, it works for me.
Hope you find something that works for you.
Deadeye

 

[Ironwood]

TLD, I've been using Moosemilk for a patch lube for about a year now. If you want to make your own Moosemilk there is a recipe on this site: http://mamaflinter.tripod.com/beginningguidetomuzzleloaders/id10.html

I also cut square patches. I haven't noticed any difference in accuracy in my .50 cal. The recovered square patches look just about the same as the round ones.