paper Patching

[scrat]

Ok School me. What paper how thick whats the process. Who has done it. How was accuracy.

[cjskalka]

just watch Shooter?

[scrat]

lol
ya ok

There is a technique to Paper patching. bullets are sized smaller using soft lead then the paper patching is a certain thickness put on a certain way. as the gun is fired the paper acts as the rifling to avoid the bullet from touching the rifling and leading the barrel. I am having problems when shooting a Walker with an R&D cylinder. So i am thinking of trying paper patching. When shooting 45 colt i get severe leading of the barrel. Wasnt that bad this weekend as i used a different lube. but i need to know more about the technique. i am thinking of sizing down some 45 bullets and trying it out.

[J-cat]

You will need to know your barrel and cylinder mouth dimensions. You need to understand bore vs. groove diameter. You need a bullet sized to match your bore diameter as it will be riding the top of the lands. You wrap the bullet with wet paper until the resulting projectile diameter matches your cylinder mouth diameter. As the paper dries, it shrinks around the bullet. You then dip the projectile in alox and allow it to dry. It is then ready for loading.

The paper needs to be cut at a 45 degree angle. The length needs to be such that the ends do not overlap. The width needs to be such that the leading edge portrudes abouth an eigth of an inch onto the ogjive, and that you have enough at the base to twist it to form a tail. The thickness needs to be such that you can build up the diameter to fit snug in the cylinder mouth. You don't want to be under and you don't want to be over.

There was an articke in one of the gun rags about paper patching the 44 mag. I'll try to dig it up for you.

[J-cat]

I found it. It's the November 1988 issue of Guns magazine. They were patching the 44 mag and the 45 Colt, running 300gr bullets at 1400 FPS from Ruger revolvers without leading.

Also, get Paul Mathews book on paper patching called The Paper Jacket. It is priceless if you wanna take this up.

[buffybuster]

Paper patching is mostly used with rifle bullets. It was originally done with blackpowder cartridges, but it can/has been done with modern jacket bullets as well.

As to what kind of paper to use, you need to experiment. I've heard it needs to be >75% cotton rag content to hold together when wet.

Ross Seyfried wrote an article on paper patching modern rifle bullets about 25yrs ago.

[gunboat]

" The Paper Jacket " by Paul Mathews is sort of the bible on paper patching bullets.
Rag paper is correct - wetting the paper is correct -- size, length is three wraps not overlapping -- width is as stated above --
The shape is a parallelogram, the angle 40 degrees or less - this angle is somewhat disputed.
Some feel the wrap should be with the rifling twist others feel it should oppose twist --
there is a lot to paper patching and it produces good results, especially with the big fat slow and old cartridges.
my ha-penny

[scrat]

Cool thanks thats what i needed to know.