Paper Patch.

[Bake]

Has anyone tried paper patching their favorite old rifle? Always liked the idea of a BIG, HEAVY, SOFT, and FAST moving bullet being a good choice for hunting at short ranges.

 

[Goatwhiskers]

Bake, I PP for .357Max, .44Mag, and .444. One of the things I like is the fact that the bore is clean except for a trace of powder residue after every shot. It's a process with a learning curve, just like everything else. I suggest that you do some heavy reading over on the castboolits.gunloads.com website, there is a forum on smokeless PP, also one on BP PP, they're different. You'll find more factual info there than you can digest in a couple of sittings, along with more rumor busting info on cast boolits than you could imagine. Try it, you'll like it. Good luck. GW

 

[Bake]

Thanks Goat, I'll check it out.

I was thinking about trying PP on my Contender 14" 357 Maxie, I guess I'm not the only one with too much time on their hands (LOL)...

 

[Goatwhiskers]

I hope you have a proper rifle chamber on that Contender, absolutely necessary for best accuracy. If you want to, read on Mike Bellm's site about that. Anyway, I'm using the RD359170 for plinking, and the RD359190 for serious work. Shoot 'em both GC and lubed with Lee Alox, or preferably PP, consistent groups less than 3/4". When I PP I don't even have to resize the case on any of the calibers. GW

 

[Picher]

At a dual club annual match, I tried a guy's original open-sighted, 6.5x55 Swede military rifle with paper-patched handloads and won a "military rifle" benchrest stage. It shot a 1 1/8" 5-shot group at 100 yards.

That was the only time I've fired a rifle with cast bullets, much less paper-patched and was very impressed with the results. (Used an aperture on my glasses to clean up the sight picture.)

 

[Romeo 33 Delta]

Paper patching is enjoyable and puts you in a unique club. It's a MUST for my Martini-Henry MkIII .577-450 otherwise it leads up like crazy.

Goatwiskers is dead right about clean up ... it just amazing! Yes, there's a learning curve because you are going to combine science and art ... and it's the "art" part that takes a bit of dedication. However, I found it well worth the effort.

A very good book to get hold of is: THE PAPER JACKET by Paul Matthews.

 

[myfriendis410]

Don't let 'em kid you; it's a pain in the rear! Because once you start you won't be able to stop.

I've been paper patching for my repro Sharps and it's been a long road to get the velocity and accuracy that I demanded. The best place to start is the castboolits website as there are people there that have already worked out what works and what doesn't. Of course; your rifle is going to be a unique case but reading up on it will start you off right.

 

[Scorch]

I learned to paper patch 30+ years ago when I picked up an 1871 Mauser in 11X60Rmm (11mm Mauser). Couldn't find the proper size bullets for the bore, so in desperation I learned to paper patch. Voila! Problem solved!