paper patched bullets

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freire

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Today went shooting some paper patched bullets in a .308 Win, i was getting 2.5" to 3" groups at 100 yds and an average of 2500 fps no leading at all.
Anybody else shoot paper patched bullets? and whats your experience with them?
 
I haven't tried much for accuracy but I've used them for cleaning up dark but sharp milsurp bores. The mild abrasive quality of paper did a great job of polishing a barrel.
 
Haven't shot them enough myself to give a verdict but lots of favourable reports.

Paul Matthews claimed to have removed leading with PP.
 
They've alway's worked great for me. Started with 45-70 then went to 30 cal's. Next was 577-450 and next up will be 577 Snyder
 
I use them a bit and plan to do more with them. I paper patch Lyman Minnie's for my 54 hawkens . It makes them a tighter fit in the bore and better for hunting . I polished the new bore of my ruger scout rifle with unlubed paper patched bullets. I did up 60 of those and went plinking with them , I should have tried some groups with them they seem to hit what I was shooting at while plinking I think they were pretty accurate. The bore on the scout rifle copper fouls a lot less now . They are showing some potential in my 250/3000 , and were a dismal failure in my Mosin . They are definitely a good thing to add to the hand loaders bag of tricks
 
I paper patched some "modern" minie (AKA soup can) from as-cast .495 up to .515 calibre to get a 50-95 lever shooting. Super accurate (overlaps at 50m), but the flat nose wouldn't feed. Bought a custom 380 gr from Mountain Moulds.
 
I'm interested in trying it out since I have been casting more and I have an enfield with a .316ish bore. What type of paper are you guys using and how are you cutting it?
 
Get this paper at Staple's

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This also

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After some mod's

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Not trying to discourage PP usage by anyone (I've done it my-own-self) but one thing everybody should realize is that the practice is hard on rifling lands. I have looked down the bore of many many old rifles from the Buffalo/PP era, most are almost to the "smoothbore" stage. The common argument to that is that it may just be "cleaning rod/string damage but I think not. There is enough antidotal statements in this thread alone to warrant concern, if 60 rounds will "polish" a bore, every round after that continues to wash a bore out at the same rate. I know some very serious BPCR shooters use PP in every competition/practice round they shoot...but I've read that they have a barrel on their gun, a new barrel with them and another on order.

Just be aware that PP is very abrasive compared to copper or lead.
 
Good to keep that in mind. My cast loads are working great just wanted to try something new. I won't be shooting pp bullets in my good bores that's for sure now!
 
I understood it was less abrasive than copper jackets. Sure takes a lot less effort to push one through a barrel.

I find that the bullet should be bore diameter or a bit over and the finished patch should be the diameter to lightly press fit in a fired case mouth. I load them by hand into unsized cases and then dip into a light mixture of beeswax dissolved in isopropyl alcohol. It leaves a really light lube on the patch and keeps them seated.

As for wrapping I put a piece of masking tape on an angle across my paper cutter and a mark for legnth. I've wet wrapped but prefer dry wrapping. It helps to have a textured board for dry wrapping. I use the lid of my deep freeze. Exhale once on paper, start wrap, stretch and roll while pushing a bit to keep the paper tight. The dry wrapped paper goes on nice once you get the hang of it and is a lot tougher with no drying required. The more "air" in the paper the better it works. Sizing them after wrapping removes that.

Been patching for .308 and 6.5, started with .45-70 shooting full weight and pistol bullets. FYI the diameter of the handgun bullets (.451, .452, etc) work perfect for patching for .45 rifles. You can get them zinging right along too.
 
freire said:
Today went shooting some paper patched bullets in a .308 Win, i was getting 2.5" to 3" groups at 100 yds and an average of 2500 fps no leading at all.
Anybody else shoot paper patched bullets? and whats your experience with them?
Click to expand...

...all the time...thousands of .308, .314, .375, and .458...have yet to use a gas check in over 20 years of almost exclusively shooting cast bullets...and I cast A LOT

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...so that I can shoot A LOT

...if you are serious then read Paul Matthews' books, 40 Years With The .45/70, and The Paper Jacket (the later was OP and if you are serious I will make a copy and mail to you on your dime)

...there is no wear on your barrel...you can shoot up to 2300 fps without leading...recover a shot patch and it will be uncut

...there are tricks to this...I size, patch, and resize with lube...do not crimp...and you'll have to work up your loads per normal...under 2" at 100 is good accuracy for most pp'ers I run with

...i shoot my 45-70 with a 500 grain Lee cast bullet at just under 2" at 100 yards, using 13.5 grains of Unique = 1290 fps...using primers I've had for a long time, it costs me $.09 per round...I'm in heaven

wish you well

PS - last i counted I have 3/4 ton of free, salvaged lead...no, it's not for sale ;)

i also use rendered deer tallow from my animals and bee's wax from my own hives

PM me if you want the book...probably $20 - $25 shipped off a copy machine, 8.5 x 11 pages
 
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Dry paper will polish a bore a bit but lubed paper won't . I lube my paper patched bullets with a mix of soy wax and vasalene approx 50/50
 
As for paper I use what thickness I need for the particular rifle . 9 lb tracing paper to 22 lb printer paper . For smokeless powder cartridges I try to have the bare bullet .001- .002 larger than bore diameter and the patched diameter at least .001 bigger than groove diameter
 
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