Heck, I could cut square patches with scissors! Nothing for me to do but see if Sam knew what he was talking about.

First, patching material must be (1) 100% cotton and (2) must be tightly woven and (3) must measure between .014 and .018 in thickness. I started by micrometer measuring the 100% cotton clothing in my closets. Nothing met the requirements but new T-shirts. So, micrometer in hand, off I headed to the fabric section in the local Wal-Mart, hoping to find the perfect patch material in some bright color like red or purple.

I quickly discovered that almost all the bolts of cotton fabric contained 35% to 75% polyester. The few 100% cotton bolts I found measured .007 to .009. Alas, my hopes of having brightly colored patches died. Then I put the micrometer to a bolt of 100% cotton pillow ticking. It read .018".

About 2,000 .32 caliber round ball patches in the rough. For some reason, the photo doesn't show the blue lines in the fabric. In the 4 o'clock position, you see the price slip still attached—$3.17.

When the Wal-Mart lady cut me a yard of it, folded it, then pinned a price slip to it, I asked, "How much does it cost?"

"$3.17," she said.

That's me holding it in the photo on the right. It measured 36" x 33". That's somewhere around 2,000 .32 caliber patches. To look at it in reference to money, that's more than 600 patches for a dollar or around 6 patches for a penny. Any way you look at it, it spells Cheap with a capital C.

To mark it for cutting I flattened it in the middle of my kitchen floor. I decided to cut it in 3/4" strips and to cut only two strips since that would give me 80+ patches. Using a black felt tip pen, I made black dots along opposite edges and spaced 3/4" apart. (Since the store-cut edge was crooked, I cut it out.) Then I aligned an edge of a 1" x 6" board on two opposite dots. Then I stood on the board so it would hold the fabric in place, and I then drew a line along the edge of the board, connecting the two dots.

Making .32 caliber patches from 3/4" strips of pillow ticking.

It was a simple and easy process to take scissors and cut along the lines, removing two 3/4" x 33" strips from the yard of fabric.

To cut the 3/4" patches from the 33" strips, I aligned a CD jewel case 3/4" from the edge of my kitchen table, gently shoved the end of a strip against it, and cut it with scissors aligned with the edge of the table. Quick, easy, simple.

If you prefer to cut your patches on the muzzle with a patch knife, leave the material in strips.

If you shoot a .50 or .54 caliber rifle, determine the size of your square patches by measuring the diameter of a round patch.

I lubed my square patches with Cold Weather Junior Lube and headed for the range. It was time to see if ol' Sam knew what he was talking about.

Here's a sampling of the results and with a penny included for scale:

5 shots in 3/4" .310 Hornady round ball 10 grs Pyrodex P, measured .018 square patch Cold Weather Junior Lube Av velocity = 1037 fps Ext spread = 99 SD = 39

3 shots in 5/8" .311 Lee cast round ball 20 grs Pyrodex P, measured .018 square patch Cold Weather Junior Lube Av velocity = 1495 fps Ext spread = 69 SD = 49

3 shots in 1/2" .310 Hornady round ball 10 grs Pyrodex P, measured .018 square patch Cold Weather Junior Lube Av velocity = 962 fps Ext spread = 61 SD = 43

A pleasant surprise was the great results with the Lee .311 cast round ball. With .014 round patches it had performed poorly. So not only have I bought my last package of factory-made patches, I've bought my last box of factory-made round balls.

Thanks, Sam.

REFERENCES

Dixie Gun Works

2001 Catalog No. 150.   Pg 288.

Lyman

Black Powder Handbook & Loading Manual, 2nd Edition.   Pgs 9, 92.