pillow ticking patches

ciffer

Inactive
today i started making my own shooting patches from pillow ticking. i tried loading my rifle, which is a .50 cal Lyman great plain rifle. i was not able to get the ball (.490) into the barrel. i have been shooting traditions .015 patches with a .490 round ball with very good success.

if i remember correctly, pillow ticking is .018 thickness. is there a slightly smaller ball i need to buy in order to use pillow ticking patches?
 
Yup that's what I get at Wally World, the blue striped tickin'... be sure to throw it in the wash before use in' it... I stick the end of a strip about 3.5 stripes wide on a .50cal...that's tied to my possibles bag & patchknife.
 
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I don't precut them, I cut the tickin' when it's in the barrel with a ball in it and flush to the barrel. Usin' my patchknife to cut from the strip... It's alot faster and easier...

A standard .490" R.B. with .018" blue tickin' work for me ...
 
just tried a .020 patch, works fine. maybe i'll have to work the lube in better, or try the pillow ticking from walmart.

i have heard of people using strips of cloth for patches but don't like the idea of fumbling with a knife during muzzleloading season. it is often to cold for me to have much in the way of manual dexterity, wouldn't want to cut myself.
 
Some folks say there's no difference in ticking but the blue I have is .020 and the red is .015.
 
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