Teflon coated material?

[sonny]

I have a super accurate 32 cal that loves to use 20 thou. Teflon coated patching material. I bought a few yards about 15 years ago…… i think!. The guy was a target shooter that was well known at friendship. Mike? Or minuteman?? I can’t remember my connection to his teflon coated material. Can anyone give my thinking a shove to find this guy an order my teflon coated patching???……………. Sonny

[hudson]

This is Minute Man Patching it's what I have used, hopping the link is still good.
https://www.theminute-menpatches.com/
Log Cabin Shop sells it I believe.
This is the green colored which is not water soluble. There is also one at least in my past that was a blue color it was water soluble. Thinking Texas patching.

[smylee grouch]

Right on Hudson! the Texas patching ( blue ) was mad by ? Bonny ?and I think your right that it isn't mad now. There was a fellow in Florida I think named Francis S. IIRC that made it also but several years ago.

[EC121]

I once worked summer help in an Alcoa plant. All the Teflon is water soluble until it goes through the oven.  After that it is not soluble. Can’t say about the new types.  Maybe someone has a pre-oven source. 

[smylee grouch]

I'm curious if there is such a thing as " food grade "  teflon??

[Daryl]

Only the Teflon that came off the inside of non-stick frying pans.
No- wait, that wasn't food grade.

[Robin Henderson]

Log cabin at Friendship usually has it. Might be worth giving them a call.

[Pukka Bundook]

It's a funny forum this,
We can't mention any newer guns, and even rifle muskets are a no-no, but we Can talk about space age stuff like teflon patches and screw in chokes!

This not a complaint, just an observation. 

[hortonstn]

I love it new and better in my opinion why not shoot your best?

[Marcruger]

I found that a barrel that shot mediocre shot much better when I switched from Teflon to wet lubing with either Mr Flintlock or Hoppe's BP Lube & Cleaner.  The reason I quit using Teflon patching was that it will build up in your barrel.  I was getting like flakes that looked like mini Cornflakes coming out if I scrubbed hard with a bronze brush.   There is no known solvent for heat-ironed Teflon.  Y'all do what you want, but I like to be able to clean my barrel.   My target shooting friend that uses Teflon at Friendship says you either have to mechanically scrub it out, or replace the barrel.  That said, I do use The Minute-Men patching as it is amazingly stout and tight woven canvas, but I order it UNTREATED.   God Bless,  Marc

[Pukka Bundook]

I love it new and better in my opinion why not shoot your best?

Is new and better Always best, Hortonstn?
If so we should all give up on M -loaders..
 

[smylee grouch]

I love it new and better in my opinion why not shoot your best?

Is new and better Always best, Hortonstn?
If so we should all give up on M -loaders..
 

New and improved does have a place in some aspects or areas of muzzle loading , IMHO. NMLRA style unlimited bench, ( 40+ pound guns ), Light Bench ( 14 pound or less guns ) X Stix, Etc. I used Teflon in those types of guns matches but good old denim with bear oil for every thing else. Maybe ? this forum should censure talk of the high tech ML shooting matches and the guns & loads they use. ? 

[Maven]

Two points (and I don't really want to wade into the teflon v. uncoated patches debate).  First, wasn't teflon patching initially used by target shooters, most likely at Friendship, who used an extremely tight patch & RB combination?  Teflon patches would certainly help getting that down the bbl.  Second, is there any empirical data, e.g., a fully controlled field experiment where the only difference being measured was group size with teflon patches  v. uncoated patches of the same thickness?

[alacran]

When I was new to competitive shooting with ML's, the military was still buying pillows made with mil spec. ticking.
I was using that with moosemilk. Back then I was shooting a lot with my late friend Bruce Scwuindt. He taught me the ins and outs of cross-sticks shooting.
We were doing just that one day. We were at 50 yards that day . I was shooting a GMT barreled TC Hawkins. I was shooting pretty good groups, so I thought.
Bruce came over and gave me a strip of .018 Teflon coated Texas patching and told me to shoot another five shots with it. He said I needed to wipe after every shot with it. He also told me not to look at my target till I was done with the five shots.
I went ahead and shot five shots with the Texas patching, and we called a cease fire, and I was quite surprised that my group was half the size of what I was shooting with ticking and moosemilk.
Needless to say, I started using the Teflon coated patching with all my rifles.
I did very well with them. I never had any problems with it building up in the barrel.
I used the teflon coated patching until I got a Rice .50 caliber barrel with round bottom rifling.
Cleaning between shots would foul up the breech so bad I had to scrape it after five shots. The barrel still shot very well but this was a real peta.
About the same time the guy that was making Texas patching died. I still wanted to use Teflon for my crossticks rifle and what became available I did not like.
I experimented with different types of patching and found some guns like pocket drill lubed with bear oil, and some like denim and some others like canvas. However, my chunk gun with a 1 and 1/8-inch Douglas barrel shoots significantly better with .020 Teflon coated patching than with anything else I have tried.
I don't know about empirical data, but serious target shooters in most disciplines use Teflon coated patches.

[Daryl]

I've never tried Teflon coated patching in any rifles. I've not been able to shoot better than 1" to 2" consistently at 100meters. Maybe I should give it a try.
Does everyone using Teflon use bore sized or oversized balls?

[smylee grouch]

Mention was made that people started using Teflon because of the tight loads. Indeed, over bore sized ball loaded through a false muzzle in a lot of cases. My Light Bench gun, 520 bore shot a 530 ball and I used a 20\1000 Teflon patch. Once past the false muzzle it loaded like slick silk. Shooting 45 min. 5 shot relays usually gives you plenty time to wipe between shots, use a drop tube and read the wind flags. It ain't   rondyvo shooting. 

[Daryl]

I "see" that.

[bob in the woods]

My under hammer 1 in oct green mountain barrelled. 54 cal  rifle would shoot a 50 , 4 or 5X
at 50 yards all day long off the bench. If the wind was down, a 1 1/2 to 2 in group at 100 yards was common. All that with a .540 ball and washed denim   with a  WWF and neets foot oil soaked patch.  Some at out club did shoot teflon patching, usually picked up on visits to Fort Ticonderoga [ they had matches there back then ], but I never saw the need.  I think many use it because it's easy to develop an accurate load with it, but a bore sized ball and a nice heavy patch seemed to work as well for a lot of us. 

[Daryl]

I agree Bob. In my .69, a .690" ball and 10 ounce patch at .021" loads just fine with the rifle's rod.(short starter, of course - lots of lead to move)