What's your favorite patch material or loads for your smooth bore muskets?

[Tyockell18]

I'm just curious what you guys like using for loads and patch material in your smooth bore's?

I'v set on .735 ball with 75 grains of 2F goex with a patch made from blue Shop paper towel that's lubed with bore butter. It's work's pretty good I think.

I need more muskets now...a lot more

 

[Mean Steak]

I use un-bleached cotton. The wife has lots of it in her sewing room. I just precut patches and lube with bore butter as well.

 

[Goldenlakepete]

I use cotton pillow ticking and a .620 dia round ball in my .625 smooth bore trade musket. Lube with Crisco.

 

[BernDawg]

I have a .58 cal Harper's Ferry Rifle and I cut ticking as well but I keep them in my cheek and use spit as my lube.

 

[tonyg]

I use strips of denim , which I spit lube by just placing an inch or so into my mouth , then cover the muzzle with the lubed spot , tap the ball in and then cut of the excess with a patch knife.Ram it home and kerpow...
60 grns 2f , works for me in my .50cal.

 

[Tyockell18]

Do you find the denim works pretty good for helping keep the fouling down?

 

[Ol' Flinter]

I use denim in both my trade gun and rifles with good results. Now have some ticking but it is hard to find in Canada, in my experience but found it in Walmart in the USA at half the price of denim so will be experimenting with it. Nice thing about denim is it comes in 3 different weights/thicknesses so you can experiment to see which works best for you. Don't get the stretch type denim as it has synthetic fibres. I don't think denim really reduces fouling directly but it does carry the lube well so keeps fouling soft to make loading easier and it no doubt scrubs out some fouling. The best way to reduce fouling is to go to a finer grain powder:i.e. switch from FFg to FFFg and reduce the powder charge by 10% or so.

 

[tonyg]

Do you find the denim works pretty good for helping keep the fouling down?

I have done trail walks with anywhere from 15 to 25 targets without any cleaning. Funny , on hot dry days it will get tougher to drive the ball down so I will then run a wet patch down about halfway through the trail , use a cap to clear the nipple and carry on.
I have a Doc Sharon barrel , (might have become Green Mountain Barrels) which is about 30+ years old.Rifling is shallow but still there.

 

[Tyockell18]

Cool, thanks for all the info guys.

I'm into the flinter's specifically the big bore military guns of yester centuries.