Paper cross patch

Anybody tried it? I came across the paper cross patch while reading Ned Roberts book " The Muzzle-loading Cap Lock Rifle"
I think I am going to give it a try on my next trip out instead of the regular wrapped paper patching . Instead of a cutter like the ones pictured I am going to just cut 2 individual rectangles of paper to form the cross . I will let you know how it goes

Please do! I would be interested in doing this myself. I wonder how well it would seal? What kind of paper would be best for this?

I sized some of Eds bullets for the experiment
Then I cut some linen paper at about 1/2"x 2" but I think it needs to be maybe 7/16 instead
I lubed the paper with some of my old White bullet lube
I thought about cleaning the lube off Eds bullets but decided to try them as is for now
I checked the fit with bullet and paper and it felt about right
So next trip out we shall see what happens
Gonna try 90 gr powder to start

that is all that the bench slug boys at Friendship Shoot.

The paper extends to the last grease groove. One thing I may try is also varying the length of the paper to cover all grooves .
As well as clean the grease off some and try them without lube except for the lube on the paper .

45cal said:

that is all that the bench slug boys at Friendship Shoot.

Click to expand...

That's encouraging then. It must work ok. I have always wrapped mine , never came across the cross patch before

I cross patch all the time in one of my .54's

I started playing around with this awhile back, i got the idea from the top photo. I was looking to tighten my cold clean bore bullet up for hunting, as you can see i just used 1 small strip, my bullets loaded good and tight! No fear of it backing off the charge, it worked like a charm!! I group shot and I couldn’t have been more pleased!! Anyone wanting a tighter fitting cold bore bullet for carrying in a hunting situation I HIGHLY advise you try the above. The paper i used for my strips was the new stuff from the Paper mill store, it is GREASY SLICK stuff and is thinner than the old vintage Cockle texture stuff

Curious as to what did you size them to? Will buoy still be shooting them in a 45 or 50 cal?

edmehlig said:

Curious as to what did you size them to? Will buoy still be shooting them in a 45 or 50 cal?

Click to expand...

I went down in stages and kept checking . I ended up at .445 for this particular 45 cal. gun and the cross patch . Good and snug .not sure how it will be on a fouled bore yet .might have to go down to .444

No facts to backup what I’m going to say. But wouldn’t the cross patch be better if it was up to the top band to improve accuracy?

edmehlig said:

No facts to backup what I’m going to say. But wouldn’t the cross patch be better if it was up to the top band to improve accuracy?

Click to expand...

I think so too which is why I want to experiment with different lengths of paper as stated in post 5

I don’t see any purpose in the use of Lube with a Paper Patched bullet? Wouldn’t the lube compromise/weaken the paper? I would think it might cause stuck papers as well? Might be ok from a bench in a load n shoot scenario, But I personally wouldn’t trust the lube/paper in a hunting rifle that might be loaded for long periods of time.

I would also think it would be best for the paper to extend up, and even slightly above the top band. I have always wrapped mine up on the Ogive of the bullet just a little bit to create an ‘Umbrella’ effect, I’ve always felt like it would help with ‘Shucking’ the paper upon exiting the muzzle. It would Be easy, and accurate enuf to trim the strips at the muzzle with a Carving/Scalpel type tool once you have the bullet seated where you want it, (cut the strips a tiny bit longer than needed) Should Be easier than guessing the center of the Cross over the Bore. I would pre make my cross patches by using a Dot of glue to bond them together

I would think cross patch is probably the oldest method of PP.
2 wraps, short patch and chase patch are other methods I can think of.

Here is the top of a slug gun false muzzle at Friendship for X-patch.

52Bore said:

I would think cross patch is probably the oldest method of PP.

Click to expand...

I would think so as well, they didn’t have all the fancy sizer dies and things we have today. The Cross patch would have been the easiest method I’d think? The Single strip i used on the already patched bullet above worked flawless, Again i was looking to TIGHTEN up my Hunting bullet so i could trust it would stay put on the powder and not budge if it was bumped hard, barrel down on rough roads etc. I found The Single strip to be perfect for that application, and accuracy was not effected by it in my testing. I prefer a looser ‘slip fit’ bullet when target shooting from a bench, Example being my 45 Cal Green Mountain LRH barrel, i run my double wrapped 9 onion skin BACO .444-400 bullet through my .449 Sizer die, no resistance felt, just slightly ‘irons’ the paper which creates a little easier loading at the bench, the weight of my brass range rod will push the bullet to the powder.

A few more pictures i ran across of cross patch