Patches do make a difference

[Capn Jack]

I had an opportunity to exercise my Matchlock Musket Sunday and verify P.O.A. of the new sight I had installed. I thought I would try some new patches.
I have been using cut to size, "T" Shirt material. The new patches were 2" round, cotton, "Make-Up" pads. First, I seated the ball, (Marble) in the muzzle and
trimmed off the excess patch. This seemed to give fairly consistent results. Then I tried not trimming the patch and just shoved the whole thing down the
bore.

WOW ! The bullet strikes which had been pretty much on target at 25 yards, became wildly erratic as to vertical spacing. A few as much as 2 feet on the 2'x3'
piece of cardboard I was using to backup my targets.

The marbles I'm using are 5/8" dia., about .62 cal. and weigh 86 gr. I'm using 30 gr. of FFG and priming with FFFFG. I don't expect, "Tack Driving Accuracy"
with a Musket, but off of the bench, it will shoot a 4" , 4 shot group at 25 yards. Looks like it's back to the, "T" Shirt patches.

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[Roundball58]

With a smoothbore, you might try wadding vice patching. Without any rifling to spin the patch all that extra material in a 2" patch out front of the ball may be getting in the way. The extra light marbles vice a 320 grain lead ball probably aren't helping either.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

For my flintlock 20 gauge , when shooting round ball
I use 60 grains of 2F , sometimes a shotgun wad...sometimes not , a flannel sheet patch and a .600 lead round ball....

I would suggest sticking with lead round balls....marbles , tacks , rocks , nails and such....can be shot , with you gun , not mine... but its not really a good idea to do so....
Andy

 

[ARFrog]

For my flintlock 20 gauge , when shooting round ball
I use 60 grains of 2F , sometimes a shotgun wad...sometimes not , a flannel sheet patch and a .600 lead round ball....

I would suggest sticking with lead round balls....marbles , tacks , rocks , nails and such....can be shot , with you gun , not mine... but its not really a good idea to do so....
Andy

My mother used to tell me not to put everything I touched in my mouth. My father said the same thing for rifle barrels.

P.S.- now I know why my flannel shirts are missing off the line!

 

[Capn Jack]

Andy,
I'll have to look around, but I hate to invest in another bullet mold.
Besides, that, recoil from a glass marble load is kinder to my rotator cuff tear.

 

[ARFrog]

I love these type of threads because I get to learn something about that which I currently know nothing about. Given that I have nothing of substance to add, let me provide the humor for the day and note that patching has been a problem for some time - (at least since my childhood )

 

[Capn Jack]

Yesterday I was watching a YouTuber show how a single shot shotgun could be used as a muzzleloader.
He was loading the piece with a live primer in place. Maybe I'm a little paranoid, but that kind of made my skin crawl.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Yesterday I was watching a YouTuber show how a single shot shotgun could be used as a muzzleloader.
He was loading the piece with a live primer in place. Maybe I'm a little paranoid, but that kind of made my skin crawl.

Yikes !
Um...Yeah don't do that...
Prime or cap...after you have loaded is the preferred method...ifin ya want to avoid holes in yer head...
Andy

 

[Marine Airedale]

And/or missing pieces of or your hand in its entirety.

 

[Capn Jack]

Did anyone ever see a follow-up of how that young lady was killed while loading a muzzle loading rifle?
Traggic, but it sounded a little strange to me.

 

[titsonritz]

Does silk really make a difference or just Hollywod BS

 

[Roundball58]

Did anyone ever see a follow-up of how that young lady was killed while loading a muzzle loading rifle?
Traggic, but it sounded a little strange to me.

Have not heard off that. Got a link?

 

[Roundball58]

Does silk really make a difference or just Hollywod BS

Another 40 yds. Just more made up crap. The rifle wasn't correct for the time period either. And it didn't follow the book. Probably would have been more entertaining if I wasn't aware of the discrepancies.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Does silk really make a difference or just Hollywod BS

Well it sure won't give you another 40 yards...But it will make you spend more money on patching....
Andy

 

[Capn Jack]

Have not heard off that. Got a link?

It was within the last year, but I don't remember where I read about it. I remember it happened at a range.

 

[rick benjamin]

ok, not my first error today

 

[Roundball58]

Bosnian police crack down on organized crime

Authorities in Bosnia launched what they called a major operation on Wednesday against several organized crime groups suspected of involvement in at least six murders, several major robberies, illega…

www.timesreporter.com

Given that was 7 years ago and the result of a gun fired into the air from 1.5 miles away, I don't think its the event Capn Jack is talking about.