Who has the .018 prelubed patches ? Also is there material like at walmart or what ever to make yur own ?, I have plenty of beeswax for the main ingredient.Any of you guys make your own ?

Bulletman, You can try Ox-Yoke products in Milo, ME, but it's easier to go to a fabric store, micrometer in hand, and ask for assistance. Once you tell them what you're looking for and why you need it, you'll get all the help you need. Pillow ticking, calico, and the material that's used for pants pockets are but three possibilities. ...Maven

Ask for pillow ticking, though it may be a bit thin for 0.018". Wash it to get the sizing out before use. I cut patches on the bore so I leave it in long strips.

ANY Cotton or NATURAL fiber materials may be used. Ok, any and ONLY natural fibers.

I use TC Wonder Lube on the strip and keep it in a sealed 35mm film canister. I have also cut some equal sized squares and lube them which seemed to work just fine also.

LouisB
Works for me, may not work for you.

Thanks !

I think some patch and ball shooters are using a lightweight denim cloth with good results.

I go to the fabric store with micrometer and get the denim that jeans are made of. It has a tighter weave than most cotton. Be sure to check a cut edge and not the factory edge on the bolt of cloth. Sometimes the factory edge of the cloth is thicker for some reason. .018 is pretty easy to find in denim. I buy 4 or 5 yds at a time due to the amount of shooting I do. I wash it to make it a little softer and then cut it into 2" wide strips the width of the fabric and roll them up and store them for shooting. I use the strips in 2" cause I shoot .50, .55, .58, .62, and .76 cal. This works for all and I have molds made by Rappine in the size ball that I can use .018 patching on all rifles. Saves having too many varibles and messing up at a shoot. Good luck.

Mike..OK

[ 10-29-2003, 19:11: Message edited by: McClura ]

Most fabric stores have mattress ticking which is thicker than pillow ticking. Most often comes out .018 after the sizing is washed out. Now for your prelubed patching. If you are using ready cuts, and like the natural lube, soak the tube in hot water (not boiling you'll blow the cap) Then lay out patches on a paper plate and microwave. Now for a good prelube patch in the strip. Get some water soluable cutting oil, (the stuff they use in machine shops for tooling metal, with the white colored fluid coolant) You can get this in a ready mixed for called TC #13. This is for shooting wet patches and works well, as it is a 10 or 20 to 1 mix. If you get the oil from an industrial supply or lubricant supplier, I get mine from Mobil. You can get a gal for about $22 US. They sell it in smaller containers, if you are thinking 10 to 1 thats 10 gals of wet patch lube, get a few muzzle loading friends together and split a gallon. Now down to the nitty gritty, for hunting use 1 tablespoon oil to 3 tbs of water, wet your strip of ticking and let it dry smoothed out on a piece of glass or formica. You have removed the water and left the oil in the patch. Roll it up and store in a 35mm film canister, it will last a long time. This will get you a patch that will shoot to the same pt of aim as the wet for the first round, but you must wipe the bore for the next shot, a dry wipe is ok, but if you don't the next round is harder to get down the bore, and won't shoot as well. All in all it makes a good patch for hunting, I do use this but use some sort of wad in between it and the charge, don't seem to make much difference in my .54s.