Sore hand

[2Barrel]

Hi all. Went to the range today with my 54 cal. Rocky mountain Hawken. I tryed for the first time the .018 pillow ticking patches. Im also using a .530 round ball and Mink oil tallow for lube. I must say, Im having a heck of a time getting the ball down. Its hard enough to get down where I wish I had a hammer. I must say, I beat the liveing manure outa my hand. Its even swollen :cursing: Im swabbing between shots with a spit patch followed by two dry patches. Do they make a .015 pillow ticking patch ? I checked TOTW but all they had was .018

 

[Dave Rosenthal]

You might want to try just a regular .015 patch with all of the trouble you're having. Hitting the ball with a hammer knocks 'em outta whack past 25 yards distance till you think that you're using a shotgun when a "pattern" developes :thumbsup:

I shoot BP matches at 3 clubs here in NJ. Give me a PM with your email info and I'll fill you in on some fine shooting opportunities.

Dave

 

[410-er]

Check fabric stores.I think the green stripe is close to .015.

 

[2Barrel]

Thanx for the reply. Smokin .50 PM sent.

 

[musketman]

Measure some old blue jeans you have around the house and see if you find any with .015 thickness, denim makes a very good patch.

 

[Trench]

I've had the same problem with my .36. It's a hard start and even harder to get down after the first shot with a .350 ball and .018 pillow tick. .015 isn't that much better in my case. Myself, I'm going to go down to a .340 ball and see what happens.

You might just have a tight bore. The cheaper route is to first go with the .015 patch and see if that works for you first. Then, you can try a .520 ball and a .018 patch.

 

[CZMark]

You might try a different lube as well. I've recently been working up a load and found tight patch/ball combinations load MUCH more easily with Stumpy's Moose Snot than with mink oil. :2

 

[Dphar]

Hi all. Went to the range today with my 54 cal. Rocky mountain Hawken. I tryed for the first time the .018 pillow ticking patches. Im also using a .530 round ball and Mink oil tallow for lube. I must say, Im having a heck of a time getting the ball down. Its hard enough to get down where I wish I had a hammer. I must say, I beat the liveing manure outa my hand. Its even swollen :cursing: Im swabbing between shots with a spit patch followed by two dry patches. Do they make a .015 pillow ticking patch ? I checked TOTW but all they had was .018

If its from overseas it might be a .53 caliber.
You might need a .526 ball. Or a thinner patch.
If a new rifle it may not be all that smooth.
A cloth patch with a layer of 0000 steel wool may or may not help.
I would also try some PURE Neatsfoot oil. I bought a mostly full gallon at a yard sale and its the best loading lube I have right now. Better than Fiebings or the Sperm Whale oil I have (which could be adulterated).
The problem with very tight patches is that they will often squeeze a lot of the lube out/off of the patch and cause it to load hard.
I can load a .018 and a .535 in the Douglas barrel without starter so I suspect the bore is tight or rough.

Dan

 

[ohio ramrod]

Taake a mic or good calipers to "Wally World" their brown pillow ticking measured .013 the last batch I bought, which is the same as the last ".015" that I got at log cabin. Cloth is not made by the thousands but by the thread count so one batch of a type of cloth and the next might or might not be the same. In trying to buy .015 from gun supply places I have found it will run from .013 to .017. So now I just go to the fabric stores with my mics. Just check the label and make sure it is 100% cotton and has no polyester in it.

 

[BrownBear]

If your rifle really "wants" .018, have you considered coning the barrel? Sure helps. And even if you find you can get by with the .015, coning will still make loading easier.

Coning is real easy and foolproof with a hand tools, which is relatively cheap. Someone around here sells the tool, but I don't remember who.

 

[2Barrel]

Thanks for all the help. I realy do appreciate it :thumbsup:. If I go to a fabric store with a set of calipers to measure the pillow ticking, what is the proper way to measure it ? And, do they call it pillow ticking, or is it under another name ?

 

[Coot]

If your rifle really "wants" .018, have you considered coning the barrel? Sure helps. And even if you find you can get by with the .015, coning will still make loading easier.

Coning is real easy and foolproof with a hand tools, which is relatively cheap. Someone around here sells the tool, but I don't remember who.

Joe Woods sells the tool which is caliber specific. I found it easy to use and am happy with the results. Look at at the info at the top of the "General Muzzleloading" section of the "Firearms" section of the Forum.

 

[2Barrel]

Thanks Coot

 

[BrownBear]

Joe Woods sells the tool which is caliber specific. I found it easy to use and am happy with the results. Look at at the info at the top of the "General Muzzleloading" section of the "Firearms" section of the Forum.

That's it! Good tools, well made and easy to use. I sure like the results! :thumbsup:

 

[Stumpkiller]

This is supposed to be fun! If you're beating your hand up you're not only miserable but probably heading towards unsafe practices. I'll trade a bit of accuracy for the pleasure of being able to fire five shots without wiping between them or needing a short starter (or titanium range rod, ball peen hammer, etc.).

Track of the Wolf used to sell patch material in several thicknesses. Seems like 0.010", 0.015" and 0.018", and possibly a 0.021". I found a bunch of cotton tick at a Joanne's Fabric store in a 0.017" to 0.018" thickness and bought them out. I think it was eight yards long at 54" wide. :haha: That's a flock o'patches.

Cherry's muzzle is not coned but it has an L.C. Rice barrel with what he calls a "medium radius crown". I can seat a .530" ball with 0.017/0.018" patch by thumb (with some effort) and start it down by just choking up on the rammer; and then the final drive home is with fingers. I don't like the practice of "palming" the rod tip - I've seen guys skewered when their rods split. I use the same tapered rod that she carries in her thimbles for all my shooting - range, hunting, whatever. You shouldn't need a support wagon for your gear or a table to shoot from. The tapered rod also makes pushing down much easier . . . though a dry-ball can be a bit more of a hassle to pull.

With my T/C New Englander in .50 I prefer a little 1-1/2" long stub starter to drive the pre-patched balls out of a block and into the muzzle. But I can still choke up on the rod and start them if needed. Even with a "lesser" 0.017" patch and 0.490" ball she's a tackdriver.

Check around for some lube alternatives. Can make a lot of difference in loading effort.

They invented guns to hurt somebody else . . . not the shooter. :wink:

 

[2Barrel]

Great tips Stumpkiller. Thanks........ :thumbsup:

 

[2172]

It's called pillow ticking,but sometimes mattress ticking..I think they are names for similar, but differing in thickness, stuff. I just got a .54 Cherokee and beat the snot out of the .53 ball I'd just cast from a new Lee mold. I miked my patching and found it was .022...I used some .015 stuff, and I could load it, but it was still stiff. I just got the .52 brass mold that I ordered from jeff tanner, and know I'll have a usable and comfortable loading with one ticking or another...as someone said, it's supposed to be fun, not a pain inducer..I doubt if the old timers carried mallets, and I don't want to ,either...Hank

 

[Billnpatti]

If you don't already have a good micrometer, go buy one. Learn how to use it.....it isn't as easy to read as some instruments. Then go to your local fabric shop, ask the clerk to show you some pure cotton fabric. You will want to look at a material called "pocket drill" and similar weight fabrics. Make darn sure that your micrometer is CLEAN. You won't be very popular if you leave spots of oil on their fabrics. :cursing: Just go through the fabrics measuring each thickness until you find one of the thickness that you want. Buy a small amount. They will usually sell as little as 1/4 yard and that much will cost only a buck or two. Make some patches of this fabric and give it as try at the range. If it works for you, go back immediately and buy several yards of it. Don't count on it being there anytime you want some. Buy it now while they have it. The next bolt may not be the same exact thickness.

Buying fabric from a fabric shop and making your own patches is a WHOLE LOT less expensive than buying precut patches. Just be absolutely sure that there are no synthetic fibers in it. Pure cotton is what you want. Check the label on the end of the bolt to be sure it is pure cotton.

Patches don't have to be round. Square patches work just fine and are easier to cut. Best of all is to cut your fabric into strips of the proper width and then cut your patches at the muzzle. If you really want round patches, buy an arch punch of the right size and you can cut all of the round patches you want. I think you can probably find an arch punch at some place like Harbor Freight. Put your fabric on an old board to cut it. You will cut up the surface of the board but just throw it away and get another when you need to.

I like to be as self sufficient as I can and this is just one way of doing it. Well.....self sufficient isn't the whole story......I'm just too damn cheap to pay the prices that factory pre-cut patches cost. :rotf:

 

[Stumpkiller]

When making long stips try tearing them instead of cutting. Its faster, easier, more consistant and the little cut threads don't shed everywhere.

 

[2Barrel]

When using a micrometer what is the proper way to measure the fabric ? Screw down hard or just enough to touch the fabric ?