This morning my couriosity got the better of me. I had been doing a lot of research into patches and loading for my .50 cal. JB Browning smoke pole. I found a lot of reference to patches of different thicknesses being tried and the different methods of measuring. So i pulled out a dozen or so different store bought ones. I used both a set of calipers and a 1" micrometer. Both were checked with a ribbon of known thickness to check their calibration. That was as good as it gets for them. Then i measured the patches.the variance was pretty much across the board of apx. .002 between the two methods. The calipers were dead on with the labeling and the micrometer showed under size. So what i come away with is that what ever method is used should probably be mentioned when giving patch information and recording your information.
The other information is on ball and patch tightness. I have been loading the .490 balls and .015 patching as measured with my calipers and as labeled by the sellers. It takes a fair amout of pressure to run them down the bore and then another firmer press to seat them into the powder. I used a bathroom scale to see where i was and i varied between 40-50 lbs. on compressing the load. Had not measured what it takes to run the ball and patch down.
Is any of this even worthwhile or am i just looking for something to do?
The other information is on ball and patch tightness. I have been loading the .490 balls and .015 patching as measured with my calipers and as labeled by the sellers. It takes a fair amout of pressure to run them down the bore and then another firmer press to seat them into the powder. I used a bathroom scale to see where i was and i varied between 40-50 lbs. on compressing the load. Had not measured what it takes to run the ball and patch down.
Is any of this even worthwhile or am i just looking for something to do?