Hershel House patch material

[herath]

At the end of "Building A Muzzleloading Rifle " video Mr. House demonstrates shooting the rifle just completed.It appears he is using terry cloth  for patch material .Does anyone know if this is the case and if so does anyone have details[thickness,heaviness,lubricant,etc]

[Don Getz]

Knowing Herschel, he could have been usiing almost anything for patching, even his shirttail, and it probably shot well
for him..............Don

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

That sure looks like a piece of Terry cloth. Kinda looks like he grabbed an old cleaning rag. Probably not pc/hc just goes to show patches is only patches.

[Kermit]

I'd bet it's 100% cotton stuff. Synthetics can be nasty.

[herath]

Thank you for the responses;they make sense.This makes me want to experiment to see if this works;lets see,He's using a large caliber rifle[.54] but what lube?Tallow,whale oil,water soluable oil,bees wax,probably something readily available and economical.Already got a new towel at wally world.Well off we go,we'll let you know.

[Don Getz]

Herschel...........I'm willing to bet the lube is "spit" or taller, as he calls it.............Don

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

Thank you for the responses;they make sense.This makes me want to experiment to see if this works;lets see,He's using a large caliber rifle[.54] but what lube?Tallow,whale oil,water soluable oil,bees wax,probably something readily available and economical.Already got a new towel at wally world.Well off we go,we'll let you know.

His video shows him putting his mouth on the patch after he stretched it over the muzzle before he placed and seated the ball with his knife butt. So I would say for sure that for that exmaple it was good old spit.

[zimmerstutzen]

I have heard of folks using just about everything, never terry cloth.  I use a heavy cotton flannel in one of my target rifles and thin muslin in one of my pistols. 

[SleepyHillBarrels]

if you look close its the center part of his tube socks.works quite well for cleaning also.
waste not want not 
   jim

[McClary]

Many years ago on my first bp elk hunt, I had an elk hit on my last shot - just carried a couple of extra quick loads with me. Not real sure what I was going to do about the situation, when along comes another hunter who heard me shooting. I was shooting a T/C Hawken 50 cal. and he was shooting a 45 cal. round ball with 100 gr. 2fg powder. He gave me a 45 rb and powder. I cut up my cotton longjohn top and folded it until I had 4 layers of material, enough for a good tight fit, no lube. I started the ball and cut off the extra material and rammed her home. I killed that elk with that load, just made sure I was real close and aimed real good. Like Hershel some days you just use what you have! With age comes wisdom, now I always make sure I hit them hard the first shot, and carry a heck of alot more powder and lead.

[Eric Smith]

I bet I watched that DVD 40 times. Love it.