Reading Patches ???

bandanaman

bandanaman

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Location
New Westminster
I am shooting round balls with a .54 cal Pedersoli Hawken with a 34 5/8 " inch barrel and a 1:65 twist .When it comes to reading patches it would be interesting if I could only find one.....I have used cva pre lubed ,ox yoke pre lubed ,dry cotton as well as pillow ticking lubed with mink oil and have yet to recover anything resembling a patch.One of the boys at the range tried to spot for me and got a glimpse of "something over there" but I couldn't pick it out of the litter.My guess is that I am burning them almost entirely up.Is this where I use a wad or fire wall like wasp nesting ? Any suggestions on where I go from here would be appreciated.... " I am still getting my feet wet with muzzleloaders."
 
The patch would certainly not be burning up. I assume you are using a proper charge. They do become blackened of course and be difficult to find if the ground is littered. They do not land very far away. Check out to 5 yards. Once found they should have the rifling marks on them and be in 1 piece with no cuts. Although if the rifle is new there may be some sharp edges in the bore. But I highly doubt that with a Pedersoli barrel. In all my years of using patched balls I have never seen a patch burnt up. They are out there somewhere. Good luck
 
I shoot hundreds every year. Your patches will be 10 - 15 yds in front of the firing line as they blow off the ball as soon as it clears the muzzle. Unless it is windy, they rarely deviate more than 10 feet either side of straight ahead. They may be scorched but will not burn up before they hit the ground. The dry cotton might blow to shreds but not the ticking or pre-lubed patches Some petroleum based lubes will cause the patch to smolder and can catch fire but that should not be your problem. Seek and you shall find...the truth is out there...
 
Find out when the range cuts the grass and go shortly after. Lots of round ball shooters at my club and I always have better luck finding my patches if I happen to be shooting shortly after a mowing. Other times I just keep finding everyone else's. Cookie.
 
I gave up using cotton of any sort. The only material I use now, is linen.

It doesn't stick to the ball and if you buy the proper thickness, it will give you great accuracy. I use Hoppe's Spit Patch Lube to soak the patch.

The combined thickness of two thicknesses of patch material and the diameter of the ball should be .005in to .015in larger than the bore.

That is the reason I use the Hoppe's lube. It is very slippery and allows the patched ball to be seated with relative ease. It even works well in a bore that has been fired several times, as it softens the crud when it passes over it to the powder charge at the bottom.

Patches are usually easy to find as the area on the top side usually doesn't get much flame. This is one way you can tell if your patch fits properly. If your patch is all black or even burned, it is to loose.
 
Thanks for the input fellas .I will have to make a concentrated effort to find my patches next time out.As far as accuracy goes for a newbie with old eyes I am somewhat content for now.I am still trying to get things dialed in but I seem to be in a 6" group out to 50 yds. Not what I would call hunting accuracy .I am expecting much better than that I hope in the future . Further than 75 yds isn't so great.On the paper but nothing to brag about .A trip to the optometrist is on my list. I have also fooled around with a bit of fibre optic on the front blade as I lose the front sight on a bright day.Getting it to stay there is a whole other issue.First I will see what the Doc says about my eyes before I get too excited messing with sights. If I can't find a patch next time out I may even try to trap one by maybe shooting through a rag or something .
 
Here is a web site that will be really useful to you in your quest to tighten up those groups. I have been shooting ML rifles for years, and it helped me immensely.
http://www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/
That Pedersoli rifle should shoot the eyes out of a snake at 50 yards, or 100 for that matter.
As for your eyesight, have you considered aperture sights? I am 60 years old, and my eyes are just like yours, fading. I bought a Pedersoli Gibbs rifle last year, and it has a long range soule sight on the tang, and a globe, or aperture sight on the front, with interchangeable apertures. To start with, I was struggling to see very will in some (most) light conditions, then I read about the "Hadley eye cup". It is a disc for the rear sight, and it has 6 different sized apertures on it, allowing you to flip from one to the other. What I found was that I could always find an aperture that allowed me to see the front sight perfectly, and by putting in the correct aperture in the front sight, I could also see the target. It is 1860' technology, but it works excellent! I have always shot with peep sights, but I only recently discovered the adjustable peep. Check out www.buffaloarm.com. They sell a good variety of sights, some compatible with muzzleloading rifles. Also, check out http://www.meritcorporation.com/products.html. They sell a sight that works like the aperture on a SLR camera. It's really cool, but not legal in some competitions. I guess the point of all of this is, that there are sights out the for us old guys, and they work! PM me if you want to chat....
Glen
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom