... Linen for patchin'

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  ... Not seeking a lot of technical advice , just some thoughts on shootin' at paper ...what are your opinions on pure linen cloth for patchin' round ball ...have access to some, and also some Irish linen from napkins woven and made in Ireland ... will be used mostly in .40 caliber with flat bottom rifling, .390 round ball ...sometimes w/ .45 and .440 ball ... have always used pillow tick cloth in past .... anyone using linen ...  

[L. Akers]

With adequate thickness linen is a good patch material.  100% cotton, linen, or a blend of the two.

[Hungry Horse]

I prefer linen to modern cotton pillow ticking. Get an old tablecloth from the thrift store, and you'll have years of patching. Cotton degrades over time, but linen doesn't.

  Hungry Horse

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I have never seen linen for sale in yard goods store that was of a thickness appropriate for patch material.  I need .018" - .022" material.  Yet sails were made of the stuff in the 18th and 19th centuries.  I have had great results from cotton denim, drill, and twill materials.

[Daryl]

Years ago, in the late 70's or early 80's, I came across a bunch of linen that was .020" thick. Although not as tightly woven as denim, it worked a treat. Of course, I shot it all off in a week or two.

I've been using Denim or heavy pocket drill, or mattress ticking every since. The 10 ounce, .022" compressed is more easily obtained than anything else around here.  I would like to get some more

of that mattress ticking (red/drk blue/white/light blue), that ran .0235" compressed hard in calipers. It shot well in every gun I tried it it - same for ALL of the lads around here who tried it.

[mark esterly]

i know an old irish woman that would have a stroke if she heared you ask that.

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  ...Mark ... lived in Galway before ... Daughter still there  ... access to the charity shops with plenty of linen napkins on the cheap .... !!!

[Hungry Horse]

Very often chefs,and prep cooks, aprons are linen. It is often a tight square weave, and is tough as a burned boot. Over time, these usually white aprons get stained beyond what normal laundering will remove, and the companies that supply them, get rid of them. Some of these are pretty thick, and make great patching. It might be worth your while to check out the area linen service, to find out what they do with them.

  Hungry Horse

[Black Hand]

I've used linen to patch roundballs in the past. Expensive way to shoot and not notably different than inexpensive cotton cloth....

[Hungry Horse]

As I said modern pillow ticking is not tightly woven to hold feathers as it was in the past. Cotton degrades with time, more in direct sun, but, degrades without sun as well. Linen, does not. Stained linen tablecloths, and napkins, from the thrift store are cheap. In fact I have a standing order for linen that is stained at both of the local thrift stores. It doesn't come along often enough to be a storage problem, and for me it shoots better than anything I can consistently get at the fabric store.

  Hungry Horse

[yulzari]

No help to anyone here but in my village we had the annual 'vide grenier' boot/garage sale with tables of 'stuff' along the main road. At one end some enterprising relatives had inherited their grandparents house and needed to clear it to put it on the market so they held a 'vide maison' house sale the same day. In one bedroom was a pile of the strongest coarsest bed sheets you ever saw. Home hand woven from local flax way back past 100 years ago. Stiff and as good as they day they were made. Big double sheets which must have been in the family since the days of Napoleon III. 1€ each (about $1). I bought three and have linen enough for patches until the end of the century.

[Sharpsman]

Whatever works.....use it!

[Jerry V Lape]

yulzari,

Before you cut up those linen sheets you might want to try sleeping on them.  Linen sheets are absolutely great on beds.  And getting new ones is quite expensive.  I know because my wife just bought a set for over $300 dollars and we aren't about to go back to cotton.  If they are large enough for double beds I would be interested in buying. 

[Dphariss]

... Not seeking a lot of technical advice , just some thoughts on shootin' at paper ...what are your opinions on pure linen cloth for patchin' round ball ...have access to some, and also some Irish linen from napkins woven and made in Ireland ... will be used mostly in .40 caliber with flat bottom rifling, .390 round ball ...sometimes w/ .45 and .440 ball ... have always used pillow tick cloth in past .... anyone using linen ...

Linen is higher ignition temp and stronger than cotton. It will not compress as much either so a little thinner linen works OK. I like the stuff.

Dan

[Carney Pace]

Have used linen for patches since the middle 1960's.  Use pre cut pre lube patches, store them in quart mason jar.  They do not deteriorate like cotton patches under the same conditions.  Patch lube is sperm oil.

Used to go to the local fabric store, they had several thickness's on the shelve.

At one of the Nation Western Rendezvous there was a fabric dealer with Russian Linen for sale.  He had a bolt and a half, bought it all.

Find something that works buy it all.

Carney

[tnhillbilly]

100% cotton linen can be hard to find.  I look for old linen calendars at yard sales.  The older the date, the more likely it is 100% cotton

[Hungry Horse]

Linen is not made from cotton, it made from flax, that’s why it doesn’t degrade with age like pillow ticking.
Old linen napkins, and tablecloths, from the thrift store, linen services, or restaurants, are the best sources.

  Hungry Horse

[crankshaft]

 In an antique store they had a mannequin wearing a vintage linen gown and robe.  So thin one could read a coin heads or tails thru both garments.  And It looked as new.   They were asking a good price.  It would not make decent patching .

[Daryl]

I came across some linen hand towels back in the 70'sa when I first got started in this hobby.  It did not take long before I was looking for MORE of that material or other materials and came across some 'brushed denim' I measured at .022" compressed hard.  Once washed, this soft fuzzy sided denim was very supple.  Both Taylor and I found it to be a good patch.  This set me off on a long love affair with this 'weight' of denim - an affair that's still an ITEM on today. 
Since the 70's, I've only found one material that is equal to or better than denim although I've spent a lot of time and years searching.
 
The one I found that is as good, perhaps even better as it is softer, was that railroad mattress ticking, red/light blue,white/dark blue ticking. The lady in the yard good store called it denim, but it did not have a denim weave that I could see.  Perhaps all the colours confused me.  Bright colourful lights!!!!!!!!!!!

 I measured this material in my calipers compressed, at .0235". It shot amazingly well in every gun I had at the time, expect for the heavy hunting loads in the .69 - That rifle with THOSE loads prefers 12 ounce denim I measure at .030".  This is likely due to it's less than perfect bore (cross-reamer marks), although it does feel smooth these days.  I do have a few yards of 14 ounce at .034" that shoots just as well as the .030", it's just a bit tighter, as you can imagine, especially with the .684" balls.
The reamer marks are still visible, but cannot be felt.

[Tim Ault]

Very often chefs,and prep cooks, aprons are linen. It is often a tight square weave, and is tough as a burned boot. Over time, these usually white aprons get stained beyond what normal laundering will remove, and the companies that supply them, get rid of them. Some of these are pretty thick, and make great patching. It might be worth your while to check out the area linen service, to find out what they do with them.

  Hungry Horse

   Is there any way to tell linen apart from  tight weave cotton ? My sons friend gave him a apron he got from the grocery store he works in the Bakery section , it's a tight weave and feels about the right thickness to possibly be useful . Gonna give it a flame test and mic it tonight .

Tim

[Hungry Horse]

Chances are that if a chef or kitchen help from just about anywhere is going to be linen. Restaurant linen is almost always linen, because bleach doesn’t rot linen like it does anything made of cotton.

  Hungry Horse

[Daryl]

Good point, do a bleach test on a small swatch of it - or just test/shoot it and see if it works. That's simpler.

[Hungry Horse]

Linen is usually more tightly woven than cotton. It is often a square weave as well. It will usually look like woven canvas, only in miniature. I would give it a burn test just to make sure it not a blend.

  Hungry Horse

[Black Hand]

Is there any way to tell linen apart from  tight weave cotton ?

Try ripping the cloth. I've found heavier linen impossible to rip, while cotton of the same thickness rips relatively easily.