Ticking

[pat i.]

Don't know if this is the right area to post this but if making strips of ticking to cut at the muzzle how wide are people cutting them. I don't want to be wasteful but I don't want to be making a project out of cutting the patch either. Guns are .50 and .54 caliber. Thanks in advance.

[BruceB]

Make them as wide as the barrel is across the flats. Make certain your ball is centered and then short start. Cut and presto! (Don't forget the lube)

[flintboomer]

You want a little waste at the edges in case you get in a hurry when you are loading. I never measure mine, just pick a width that will work with what I am shooting. If you are using striped ticking you need it to be 4-5 stripes wide. I guess that would be about 1 1/4 -1 1/2 inches

If I am shooting one of my .40s and I have ticking that was for the .58 I just alternate sides of the strip to keep from wasting a lot of material.

I have seen a few shooters that use strips 4-6 INCHES wide. They just work with the whole piece and don't waste all that much of it. I don't like handling a piece that wide but you might.

One friend just cuts a square off the strip instead of cutting at the muzzle and it works ok for him but partly defeats the purpose of using the strips.

[dusty hill]

wash the ticking once or twice to remove the sizing and just keep the cloth as a whole. when you go to shoot rip off a strip 1 1/4" wide or so and lube as you wish. set over the muzzle and short start the ball. cut off with your patch knife and you should get a little cloth off all around. if you retrieve some of the patches you will be surprised at how perfect a circle you are cutting at the bore. at least i always am!

[William]

Don't know if this is the right area to post this but if making strips of ticking to cut at the muzzle how wide are people cutting them. I don't want to be wasteful but I don't want to be making a project out of cutting the patch either. Guns are .50 and .54 caliber. Thanks in advance.

You're in the right place.  As has been stated, you'll want the strips of patching material to be an inch and three quarters to two inches wide or 4-5 stripes depending on where you start.  You will want to lube the patching material beforehand and be consistent with the amount and type of lube you choose so that you won't have to deal with that variable when sighting in your rifle.  Straight olive oil works well for this but you will want to submerse your strips of ticking in the lube then lay the strips out flat on a rag or paper towel so that you don't have drips and differing amounts of lube in each patch your cut.  After blotting out the excess lube, roll the strips up and store in a closed container.  Old pill bottles work well for this purpose and help keep an even amount of lube in the material.  When shooting, load your powder then lay the strip across the muzzle and center your ball.  Now, you only want to start the ball even with the muzzle at this point. Most short starters have a little nub in addition to the short rod and that is what they are for.  Also, if the short nub on your starter ball pushes the ball too far into the bore you'll want to cut or grind it off until it just pushes the ball even with the muzzle.  Sanding a flat spot on a wooden ball will accomplish the same thing, but you want the ball just even with the muzzle so you can then grab the patching material all the way around the ball and cut it even with your patch knife.  Trim off any extra material that might remain, it takes some practice to cut it evenly and cleanly in one swipe of your knife.  Ticking is cheap, so don't worry about wasting it, you will eventually learn exactly how wide you need the strips to be for each rifle caliber you have.  Reading your shot patches is a good thing as they will tell you a lot about how you are loading.  Shredded patches are telling you that they are either too thin or you have some sharp rifling left over from the machining.  Burn through can mean that you don't have enough lube.  Never use a dry patch as it's a good way to get it all stuck halfway down the bore, which is a pain to remove.  The same goes with cleaning patches, always use some kind of lube, even if spit is all you've got.  Dry patches get stuck!  Ask me how I know....

[pat i.]

Thank you all for your replies. I cut the ticking into 1 3/4 inch strips and am going to try Hoppes #9 Plus for lube the first time out. I come from a cast bullet benchrest shooting background and am trying everything in my power not to overcomplicate this but I'm having a hard time. If I ask stupid questions or you feel like slapping yourself on the forehead over something I ask just try to be gentle with me.  I have a GPR coming tomorrow and am already looking at .40 caliber barrels. I wouldn't be the least bit insulted if someone came right out and said "Just shoot the thing the way it is and have fun". I already ordered a Davis trigger so it's too late to talk me out of that.

Thanks again

[Dogshirt]

Ok, just shoot it as is, cuz a .40 barrel on a GPR is gonna weigh a TON!

[William]

Please continue to ask questions, we've all been beginners at one point in our lives.  I've only recently started cutting at the muzzle and was intimidated by the entire process until I just got used to it and was assured that I was doing it right.  You can always warm some olive oil and beeswax in a 10-1 ratio and use that for lube too.  The addition of the beeswax makes it less likely to drip and ruin the powder it comes in contact with and everyone has their own idea of how stiff the mixture needs to be according to the local climate.  Just be sure to store you rolls of lubed patching material in a closed container so that it won't dry out and you will always have the same amount on every patch you cut.  Also, measure the compressed thickness of your ticking so that you can make adjustments if you find that it's either too easy to load and gives poor accuracy (too thin) or is so hard to load that you have to flatten one side pounding it down with a wooden mallet (too thick), which affect accuracy as well.  Since you come from a cast bullet benchrest experience, check out the Dutch Schoultz black powder shooting booklet; http://www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/  

[pat i.]

Ok, just shoot it as is, cuz a .40 barrel on a GPR is gonna weigh a TON!

That's what I'm talking about and good point. I never thought of that because I'm used to shooting off a bench 100% of the time and I want to shoot offhand matches with the GPR.

Thanks for the tips William and I'll look at the site. I do have some Emmerts lube in the fridge which is 50% beeswax, 40% Crisco and 10% Canola Oil but it's probably (maybe) too stiff for patches. I'll have to spread a little on a piece of ticking and microwave it.

[William]

Guns are .50 and .54 caliber. Thanks in advance.

PS- if your muzzle loaders have new barrels on them, particularly if they are made by Investarms such as the Lyman then you may need to do some final polishing of the bores in order to get the best accuracy.  There are many ways to accomplish this but you can just "shoot" it in, which is the most fun IMHO but the slowest.  In fact, maybe all new bores can benefit from a little polishing; no?

PS- I highly recommend JB's Bore Paste for that final, fine polish.
http://www.brownells.com/gun-cleaning-chemicals/solvents-degreasers/bore-cleaning-paste/j-b-reg-non-embedding-bore-cleaning-compound-prod1160.aspx
You can find it cheaper but I never know what anybody charges for shipping, you'll just have to see for yourself and maybe there is somewhere local that you can find it.

[pat i.]

Will JB work?

[flintboomer]

The whole point is to have fun shooting while learning. You will make some mistakes, just be sure you stay safe.
Keep asking questions and you will get opinions from several of us and you can pick and choose among the answers to find what works best for you.

When you get the new gun be sure to do at least a quickie clean with an alcohol patch and then snap a couple of caps before you load up the first time, it will save you some headaches.

You will love the accuracy of the .40 drop in barrel if you get it, but it will be heavy.

Opinions will vary on this, but on both rifles start with a target load of 40-45 gr 3f or 50-60 gr 2f. A hunting load will usually be 1 1/2 to 2 times that charge. Your rifle will need to tell you exactly what it likes but there is usually no need to use your hunting load as your target load.

If you have not yet heard the term dryball you will learn about it soon enough.

[William]

JB's works very well, although I would combine it with 4-O steel wool to begin with.  Get slightly undersized cleaning jag and wrap the steel wool around it, just enough to make the fit snug but not tight enough to get it stuck, then put a few grams of JB's on it. Swab the bore several dozen times the full length and change the steel wool as it gets worn down.  Clean the bore thoroughly and check to see if it's getting polished, then apply JB's to a cleaning patch and give it a dozen more swipes.  This should speed the break in process considerably but you can also use a Scotch Bright pad instead of steel wool, same process just be careful not to wrap too much around the cleaning jag and get it stuck in the barrel.  Every 10 swipes or so you may want to check and see if the jag is screwed in tight as those are a pain to remove from the bore as well.  You can even get special bullets that are rolled in polishing compound and fire lap your muzzle loader; http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech_notes/archive_tech_notes.htm/48
There are folks that use other grinding compounds to polish the bore but I'm not comfortable with that technique to offer advice or suggest which ones to use in conjuction with steel wool or scrubbing pads.

[pilgrim]

     To polish the barrel with 4xxx steel wool, try using a Bronze wire brush jag wrapped with the steel wool.  This works great and there is no worry of the steel wool  dislodging and having to retrieve from barrel.  The brush bristles hold the steel wool in place.  And use the polishing compound on the steel wool as William stated

[Bulldog lady]

Not to add formulas everyone has their own favorite method -  but ticking does come in different weights -