where are the patches?

[hou5ton]

I've read in this forum to look at the patches after firing to determine the barrel condition of my new GPR, etc. .... but I've yet to find one of them. I know the eyes aren't what they used to be .... but still. :hmm:

How far do they fly, and any thoughts on why I haven't seen them .... (be nice. :winking: )

thanks

 

[roundball]

I've read in this forum to look at the patches after firing to determine the barrel condition of my new GPR, etc. .... but I've yet to find one of them. I know the eyes aren't what they used to be .... but still. :hmm:

How far do they fly, and any thoughts on why I haven't seen them .... (be nice. :winking: )

thanks

They may be burned / shredded up.
Unless there's a stiff cross wind that's blowing them off to the side, they usually flutter to the ground 10-20 feet in front of the muzzle, and ideally, should look pretty much like they looked when you loaded them...edges frayed some, etc.

Heres 40 patches...top 20 show powder/fire side, bottom 20 show ball side.

 

[hou5ton]

Hmmmm .... well .... I guess they are burning up or something .... because I would have clearly seen them if they looked like yours.

What to you think I'm doing wrong ... or need to do differently? I have a .54 GPR I just bought new, and have been testing it with loads of fff from 60 to 95 grains. I use some precut-precoated patches.

 

[boar]

Hou5ton Take a blue tarp and put it out about io yards in front of bench,put 40grains in and have someone stand off to side to watch for patch to go out,sometimes the person can see them go,I have done this.Put weight on corners for muzzle blast.If you are burning them up the low charge might help,should be some left? Dilly

 

[jtmattison]

I can watch my patches fly away when I shoot when I have a tail wind blowing the smoke away. After a session I can pick up just about every patch I fired even if I don't see where they fly. They all land within 10 feet of each other.

Huntin Dawg

 

[roundball]

Hmmmm .... well .... I guess they are burning up or something .... because I would have clearly seen them if they looked like yours.

What to you think I'm doing wrong ... or need to do differently? I have a .54 GPR I just bought new, and have been testing it with loads of fff from 60 to 95 grains. I use some precut-precoated patches.

My patch photo is from a .50cal with 50grns Goex 3F.

Goex 3F is so fast burning (hot) my experience has been that most anything 75 and up can start causing patch failure, and requires an over powder wad with strong loads to protect the patch.

However, my own target load in my .54cal is 60grns Goex 3F and it's patches look just like the ones in the photo above.

Are you using at least .015" thick patches? If not, I'd suggest .015" at a minimum...make sure they have plenty of lube and havn't dried out.

Better yet would be .018" pillow ticking for a thicker, stronger patch, tighter seal, and certainly shouldn't burn up with 60grns 3F.

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Greetings Hou5ton,

Those rsacally patchs can be darned hard to find to find at times. Mine are never found laying out on the ground all neat and pretty like Roundball shows. Only when I pick one up and smooth it out, does it look like that. Some do, but many do not.

I suspect Roundball smoothed those out for a good photo to show details. If he did not, I apologize, and he may reprimand me.

Those little pieces of cloth can fly much farther than you would think, and as Roundball said off to the side with a cross wind.

Keep looking. you will eventually start finding the them, even the burned up ones. They do not burn completely up. Unless of course you are using silk for that extra 40 yards. :winking: :haha:

Best regards and good shooting,

John L. Hinnant

If you are not an NRA Member, why not? I am carrying your load.

 

[roundball]

Greetings Hou5ton,

Those rsacally patchs can be darned hard to find to find at times. Mine are never found laying out on the ground all neat and pretty like Roundball shows. Only when I pick one up and smooth it out, does it look like that. Some do, but many do not.

I suspect Roundball smoothed those out for a good photo to show details. If he did not, I apologize, and he may reprimand me.

Those little pieces of cloth can fly much farther than you would think, and as Roundball said off to the side with a cross wind.

Keep looking. you will eventually start finding the them, even the burned up ones. They do not burn completely up. Unless of course you are using silk for that extra 40 yards. :winking: :haha:

Best regards and good shooting,
John L. Hinnant
If you are not an NRA Member, why not? I am carrying your load.

No 'reprimand' required...however to clarify, I did indeed pick them up just as they appear...all I use are prelubed/precut patches

 

[2172]

shooting .50 with a 40 gr charge in my backyard..had 5 shots with .017 ticking, 5 with .010 "imitation" ticking (pattern printed one side, 100% cotton) and I wanted to see the patches....couldn't find a one, but 3 days later began to discover them about 20 feet out, a little to the side against the prevailing wind (no explanation), so John H. is right...keep looking. I eventually found 9 of the 10...Hank

 

[captgary]

Was out friday shooting 54 cal GPR.

Used 60 grains Goex 3F, wonder lube .015

patch. Found most about 20 feet down

range, looked like ones in Roundball's reply.

Gotta be somewhere out there :hmm:

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I buy patch cloth at a fabric or secondhand store. I like bright colors because I can much more easily find red patches than white turned dingy gray. When shooting with others I also can tell my patches from others, no one else seems to shoot red patches.
Oh manure, I just gave away my trick! :rotf:

 

[Cherokee]

Careful now!
Dawg has skills. He has been known to kill paper with his patche also

Hope you remeber what IM talking about huntingdawg :hatsoff:

 

[410-er]

Found if someone stands about 20' to one side of the shooter they will easily see the patch fall.Once you know the general distance they should be in the general area the next time.

 

[musketman]

I've read in this forum to look at the patches after firing to determine the barrel condition of my new GPR, etc. .... but I've yet to find one of them. I know the eyes aren't what they used to be .... but still. :hmm:

How far do they fly, and any thoughts on why I haven't seen them .... (be nice. :winking: )

thanks

They could be burning up as suggested, hot gas from the FFFg will test any cloth...

You could try FFg, burns cooler, but not as clean...

I would suggest relubing the patch, just because they are prelubed doesn't mean they are prelubed enough...

Try adding more lube to them for a few shots and see what happens...

One last note, if the patch sticks to the roundball, it'll ride all the way to the target, check for spent patches there as well...

 

[Swamp Buck]

At the shooting range I too had a hard time finding my patches, especially when they were mixed in with other old ones laying on the ground. So, just to check the patches I resorted to walking up close to a cardboard backed target and shooting it. The ball went through while the patch would hit the cardboard and fall straight down to the ground.

Of course, after the "patch testing" phase was done - I could find most of my patches without looking too hard for them.