recovered patches

[William]

For the very first time I was able to recover some spent patches today, thickness was .010 & .015.

[roundball]

(deleted duplicate)

[roundball]

It looks like you either have sharp ends of some lands cutting the patches at the muzzle when seating the ball, or a couple of sharp edged lands as the ball is being seated down...but I'd put my money on sharp ends at the muzzle.

As a side note, at least from my experience with a variety of MLs over the years, I've never found a thin .010" patch to be good for anything by itself...they are too thin to hold up against the lands, too thin to hold up against a hot fire, and they don't hold much lube, etc.


Here are a few examples to consider:

GM .40cal  x  Oxyoke .015 patches.




T/C .50cal  x  Oxyoke .015" patches.




GM .54cal  smoothbore barrel  x  Oxyoke .022" patches




GM .62cal rifled barrel  x  .018" Oxyoke pillow ticking

[William]

Possibly it is the jag that is cutting the patches which has some sharp edges I noticed upon further inspection, but it came with the ramrod on my new rifle.  I'll use my range rod next time and see if the patches look similar.  The rifle is an older Lyman .50 cal and has been used but well taken care of, so I'm wondering if maybe the crown has developed some sharp edges over the years?  The .020 patches are so tight that the ball is getting deformed ramming it down.

[roundball]

Possibly it is the jag that is cutting the patches which has some sharp edges

The jag should not even be able to touch the patch where those cuts are located...they are located down around the circumference of the ball, where the ball pinches the material against the lands...classic looking land cuts...same place on all patches.

Have you closely checked the bore with a bore light?
There might be a small rough spot of rust/corrosion on a couple of lands causing it...and caution against using a light that's too bright as the overall glare can actually hide any irregularities, particularly if the're small.

[William]

Possibly it is the jag that is cutting the patches which has some sharp edges

The jag should not even be able to touch the patch where those cuts are located...they are located down around the circumference of the ball, where the ball pinches the material against the lands...classic looking land cuts...same place on all patches.

Have you closely checked the bore with a bore light?
There might be a small rough spot of rust/corrosion on a couple of lands causing it...and caution against using a light that's too bright as the overall glare can actually hide any irregularities, particularly if the're small.

No, haven't inspected the bore thoroughly yet, but will do so soon and report back.

[William]

Couldn't find any sharps edges or similar but switched to a thicker patch and after shooting with them found no more holes in the material.  Friend gave me some pillow ticking lubed with a Balistol/water mix then dried in various thicknesses that seem to work well, and I've been able to adjust the sight enough to get it into the bullseye more frequently too.  55 grains of 2F Goex seems a good, consistant target load, now I'll see how she groups with more powder.  Had the fast twist barrel cut and crowned, now it's getting some sights so we'll see if it will shoot conicals well soon.  The shorter barrel seems better balanced but I suppose it's all a matter of how it shoots.

[William]

After several applications of JB's bore cleaner I'm finding no more torn patches even when using very thin ones (.010).  Accuracy is about the same, although every time I've gone to the range lately there has been a crosswind of 10+ MPH.  Have increased the charge to 70 grains with a corresponding rise in impact but have limited the distance to 50 yards.  I'm toying with the idea of having the muzzle coned to I can get tight fitting patches started easier.

[roundball]

Sounds like you're on your way !

[William]

Thanks!  I still don't care much for the adjustable sights on it but learning to use them better with every trip to the range.