Do you try to recover your fired patches?

[Ironwood]

When I'm at the range I try to find the patches I use.  I feel the recovered patches tell me a lot about what's going on inside the rifle barrel.  I was just wondering who else read their fired patches?

[Dryball]

I'm afraid I'm guilty of the same sin.

Ned

[roundball]

I do if I'm makiing "some sort of change"...powder charge, patch size, lube type, ball size, or starting out with a new barrel...but once settled in to whatever the new thing is I don't keep checking them

[n5lyc]

same here, only when a change is made, or something starts changing in the way it "feels" when it shoots or accuracy changes
Ian

[BruceB]

Guilty as charged! I only look at a few, just to make certain they aren't cut, burned, etc. Random sampling at it's most rudimentary.
Bruce

[DelSnavely]

How about you Pro's telling us newbies what to look for and what the different things you find means. Things such as burned patch, torn patch, etc.. We need the knowledge.

Thanks!
Del

[kit_carson]

here's the deal, you read a patch to tell you what is happening in the barrel, for example if its burned you might be using to much powder, or if its cut, the patch might be to thick, or the sign of a bur in the rifling

[Ironwood]

A patch that is burned through usually means the patch is too thin.  Try a thicker patch.   A patch that is almost destroyed might indicate you have some bad pitting in the barrel.  If you don't have a bore light you can try a bobber light from a sporting goods fishing department.  A destroyed patch can also mean the rifleling is very sharp, or as Crow Killer said, has a burr.  A few passes with some 0000 grade steel wool on a cleaning rod will probable take care of that.   

[Chaffa Hosa]

This is the best I can do these are normal cut at the muzzle patches from my 54 shooting a 90 gr charge of ffg Goex

[Ironwood]

Jerry I haven't cut any patches at the muzzle.  It's interesting to see what they look like.  That's one fine looking patch knife!

Here's some I recovered after being fired from my .50 caliber CVA St Louis Hawken.  I'm not sure of the powder charge but I'm pretty sure it was 85 grains of FFG Goex.  The lube was Mama Flinter's Moose Milk.  Napa cutting oil, Murphy's oil soap, and tapwater.

[DelSnavely]

Thanks a bunch fellers. When I gets me a rifle I'll know what ta look fer.

Del

[roundball]

Some once fired patches...note half are turned fire side up, and half are ball side up.

.40 cal



.50cal


.62cal

[n5lyc]

Jerry, we must be doing something wrong for all these years. my patches all look similar to yours, SHOT.
some of these guys patches look like they were ran through the wash after retrieving them.
My rifle is clean, but i bet i can run a patch down it right now and it it dirtier than some of those.

What's yalls secret?

ian

[Ironwood]

Not a Rock Knocker... I don't know about Roundballs patches but I'm sure I swabbed between shots with those square patches. 

[roundball]

Unlress I'm sighting in a barrel or a new load, I don't wipe between shots at the range...the 40 and 50cal patches were from 50 shot range sessions, the .62cal just those shots in the photo.

IMO, a good quality lube is the key to eliminating or at least minimizing fouling...keeps it super soft so the next PRB wipes the bore walls clean when its seated, deposits the little bit of fouling on top of the powder, it gets ejected at the next shot, then there is only one shots worth of fresh soft fouling on the bore walls again.
The cycle repeats every time...there is no more fouling in the bore after 50 shots than there is after the first shot.