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What kind of material is good for patch and ball patches and where can i find it?

NH_Hunter

NH_Hunter,

I am in a similar search for the right material and the right thickness. What I am hearing is to use pillow ticking. I guess the thickness depends on which ball you are using. If you use a .490 ball, you will need ticking that is between .015 to .018 from what everyone says. If you use a .495 ball, it will require a thinner patch somewhere in the .010 to .013 area I guess. I went to the fabric store the other day, and after the lady got over the shock of a man in a fabric store, she was quite helpful. Take your dial calipre with you, as they have no idea how thick their ticking is. Like it matters to the feathers in your pillow how thick the material is. Will let you know how it worked out. I am also trying to figure out which RB works best in my flinter.

Blue jean denuim found at the fabric store works good.Made of 100% cotton.ticklings good also but there is a lot more sizes of denuim to choose from.
You need a mic or a caliper.Need to measure the fabric at its uncompress depth to its compressed depth.
the denuim i shoot in my 54 measures 24 that compresses to 13.
Once you find the right fabric for the given ball size you use that shoots the best then you can measure like this and buy it by the yards.
You want a patch that fits snug that wont damage the ball when loading.
Or tear the patch.Once you shoot you need to find the shot patches to see if they have burn holes,tears from the lands and groves or how frayed they are on the edges.
You want a patch to have no holes and not frayed too bad on the edges.Sould be able to see black powder fouling on the back side of the patch that shows the marking of the rifling but not burnt threw.
Cut at the muzzle patching for me is the best way to go.Hope this helps and dont confuse anybody <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

If there is a JoAnns hobby store near you go and get some cotton drill cloth. The last batch I bought was very consistant .018" everywhere I checked. Cut it into 1 1/4" strips and soaked it in a bucket of Moose milk, let dry and cut 1x1" patchs. The drill cloth was a snug fit on a .490 ball but didn't need a hammer to seat it.

Darkside

Ask at your local Wal-Mart Fabric Center. They stock the real pillow ticking made with blue and white thread (not the dyed pattern). One yard only cost about 4 dollars or less. A yard of that stuff will make lots of patches. What I bought measure .015" thick. I read someplace that square cut patches work just as well as round cut. I haven't tried that yet but that's my next project. Mamaflinter's Moose Milk is a great patch lube.

NH, if you end up as I have where you use a 490 ball and have to use a thin patch you will find that the patches burn through. Accuracy suffers when a patch loses its seal. the answer is to use the paper from a Hornets nest over the top of your powder charge. This is a old remedy for burnt patches. The hornets paper is very near fire proof. The thin patch if well lubed sems to help in accuracy....at least in my T/C Hawkin 50. This is one very accurate rifle using round balls as it was made to do. Accuracy was always fair until I read about the thin patch and the hornets nest paper now the rifle is super accurate. Same 95 gr FFFG black powder. All other junk(read Pirodex) is not worth the bother. Goex is my personal favorite because it is avaliable here.

Happy shooting

Bullwnkl.