Sq. or Round Cleaning Patches??

I never buy patches. I use a piece of paper towel; the blue shop towels work really well. If it's too loose a fit, I fold it over once.
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Are they as strong as the fabric commercial patches? Cheaper I imagine...
 
Butterfly shaped is what is correct.
The real answer is: what difference does it make?
As long as the patch makes full contact with bore, shape is immaterial.
 
That's impossible to answer until I know what kind of cleaning system you have. Those awful slotted jags are nearly useless. Same for the so called "bore snakes", that drag a jag through the barrel.

I have the Tipton boxed set of speer tipped jags,(nickel plated)* and bronze core brushes. Coupled with an adjustable bore guide for bolt guns and the AR.223, and muzzle guides for leverguns, auto loaders and revolvers. Then a good stiff ONE PIECE cleaning rod. A cradle or vice to hold the gun being cleaned is also necessary.

After all that, what shape the patch is means nothing. The thickness, and size IS important. The spear tip jag works by forcing the sides of the jag into the patch, transferring the tightness to the bore. A good fitting patch should be a very tight fit. It should be difficult to push through the barrel. Same goes for the brushes.

*The nickle plating of the jags is important when using copper solvent on your patches. A brass jag will give a false reading that copper fouling remains in the bore. The copper solvent also discolors green from the brass jag. Same goes for the bronze brushes. The copper brushes will actually dissolve over time from copper solvent. Wash them right after use!
 
I'm frugal; ah ... cheap

You can buy cleaning patches??????? I thought that's what old shirts were for.....learn something new every day!
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I get that and my wife does not appreciate my rag-pile. Heck, I even use some "washed" worn out socks. T-shirt fabric is great for my M/L's as the weave is more open and retains more powder-mud. ..... ;)

Shape really does not matter to me as most of the time, mine are tailor made. That is, I have to cut, to get the fit I want. For cleaning, I go for tight and for protective coating, I go for loose. I might also make multiple passes with the same patch. . ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
I use round patches - make 'em myself - both for muzzleloading and cleaning.

I can make several sizes depending on need. If you want a 1 1/8 patch (or thee a bouts) pick up a hole saw at Lowes the right size. I remove the teeth with my table top belt sander and then chamfer the edge of the altered hole saw on my disc sander - followed by a good buffing with the dremel.

Go to Joannes Fabrics or similar - pick up some lightweight cottone flannel (for cleaning patches) - I usually keep track of their bargain table. Buy a few yards of it - wash it and dry it to remove the sizing and then iron it. I fold it so there are for or five layers and then using a piece of 2 X 4 as a backer - chuck up the altered hole saw in the drill press and "have at it". In a very short time, you can cut out enough patches to last you a long time. I then just bag 'em up in a large "baggie". Walla . . . home made round patches . . . .
 
What is the difference between round patches and square? Easy/sleazy, the round patches waste some of the fabric, square patches waste no fabric!

As for the cleaning effectiveness, both work, one no better than the other. If you think that a round patch "fits better" because the bore is also round, think again. The patch must fold around the jag, it'll fold the same whether it's round or square.

What I'll do often, is turn the patch around to make another pass through the bore. Double duty!:D
 
Are they as strong as the fabric commercial patches? Cheaper I imagine...
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They are definitely not as strong as a fabric patch, and in some circumstances that can make using paper towel patches a problem. When cleaning revolver cylinders, for example, getting a paper towel patch started without tearing it can be a little tricky because the chamber edges are sharp and not tapered.

Once the paper towel patch is in the bore, it won't tear. It's only getting it "swaged" down so that it fits in the bore that can tear it.

On a few rare occasions I have been forced to used fabric patches. I have some that I bought years ago and haven't used up since I use them so rarely and, of course, I also have old rags that can be cut or torn up and used as patches.

I've never noticed that the shape makes any difference.
 
In terms of pressure against a bore, if you take a round and a square patch made of the same material and the radius of the round patch or the distance from the center of the square patch to the middle of a side are both long enough to reach the back end of the jag, then there is no difference in cleaning pressure. The round patch manufacturer found it cheaper to make scrap than to ship it, while the square patch maker concluded it was cheaper to ship the excess than to remove it and deal with the scrap.

In the real world, you seldom find different brand patches of truly identical material, nor do you necessarily find the rear of a rifle jag reached by all parts of the patch. For these reasons, it is best to choose the patch that gives you the best fit, and not to fret about its geometry.
 
Should have guessed that I'd be the oddball. I think it's connected with having a degree in engineering and being a card carrying nerd.

While I use some rounds/squares/triangles, my frequent go to patch is a strip, which is long enough to wrap up one side of the jag, over the jag point and down the other side of the jag. Tight fit is achieved by varying the width of the strip. Also use the strips with worn brushes. The strip will hold cleaning solution better than a brush, but some brush bristles will poke through thin patch material. Works for me.
 
It's a great question that I wish was the worst dilemma I face. For me, it was answered well in the first reply. I need squares to use a slotted jag. The corners simply provide a good edge for threading.
 
I'm itching to get the real poop..I mean scoop...on whether the premimum patches come from boxers or briefs? Then there's going to be the tee shirt clan vs the flannel fans. We have barely scratched the surface ...
 
I'm itching to get the real poop..I mean scoop...on whether the premimum patches come from boxers or briefs? Then there's going to be the tee shirt clan vs the flannel fans. We have barely scratched the surface ...
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For thoroughly scratching the surface, you need a stainless steel brush. Round or square, you ask? Easy. Round for round barrels and square for square barrels. It's just common sense.
 
And then there's those wierd triangular barrels on Remington rifles, and don't forget to use polygonal patches for polygonal rifled barrels
 
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