Manual

When a perfectly patched round ball is driven through the barrel, it will 
show cloth marks around the circumference of the ball. It will be heavily 
engraved where it bore on the lands and lightly engraved in the groove 
area. As it is too difficult to load by hand, a combination this tight is 
seldom used in a hunting rifle.
Ball Dia.Ball Dia.Ball Dia.Ball Dia.
The patch must be
thick enough to fill the
rifling grooves.
Ball diameter must make 
allowances for added
thickness of the patch
at the lands.
26
is spun by rifling that it never touches! It is the job of the patch to hold the
ball tightly against the powder charge until firing and to securely grip both
the ball and the rifling so as to transfer the spin of the rifling to the projec-
tile itself. If the patch fits too loosely, the ball will not spin and its flight will
be unstable.
If the patches vary in thickness, or manner of loading, or
the amount of lubricant they carry, shot to shot stability and accuracy
will be affected.
To perform its task properly, the patch material must be extremely
tough and it must be under considerable compression- not only in the area
where it bears on the lands but also at the bottom of each groove.
Patch and Ball Fit
For target shooting, an extremely tight fitting combination of patch and
ball is sometimes used. Often a bullet starter, shaped to the contour of the
ball, is employed and a hammer is used to start the projectile. Such a com-
bination is, naturally, too difficult to load under field conditions and, there-
fore, most hunting rifles use a slightly looser fit.
T/C Patch Material is available (unlubricated or prelubricated) in sizes
which relate directly to the proper round ball diameter and barrel dimen-
sions of each specific caliber. (See the current T/C catalog). T/C Patch
Material represents an optimum compromise between tight fit and load-
ability. Bear in mind that the ball must be seated firmly against the powder
without excessive battering or flattening of the pr
ojectile itself. To obtain
accuracy it is essential that the front of the ball remain round. When used
with the proper size (lead) round ball, T/C patch material allows the shoot-
er to load under field conditions and obtain fine accuracy.