Shiloh Rifle Forums

1 Some here swear by 55W at 0.0015"
2 others 0.002" (can anyone tell me a good source for this paper?)
3 I have an endless supply (local surplus store has 200 foot X 4" rolls for $0.25 each) of the old instrumentation chart paper which is very tough when wet and measures 0.00175" It resembles tracing paper. Just wondering if anyone has methods to determining suitability for patching.

Thank you,
Charles

There is a lengthy post on castboolits.gunloads.com and high goes into great depths if you want to read it.
It is in the subforum BP paper patching and is a sticky at the top about the third one down.

I started patching with K&E graph paper, and the log/log version as well. It worked very well. Hard, tough, crinkly and easily shredded by the rifling.

The Analytical people at school told us that such paper was specially made to be dimensionally very stable and of a very uniform thickness. This was because (in the dark ages before computers and hand calculators) the only way to get an idea of the proportional extent, percentage and so forth, of what it was you were graphing or recording off an instrument was to actually cut out the paper under the drawn lines or curves, weigh the piece in an analytical balance, and compare each cutout weight to the weight of the others.

I would say the stuff you have is gold. Wish I could find more myself. The only downside is that the orange or black printing patterns don’t allow the ammunition so made to look as “period” as plain white. I always rolled mine onto the inside, which helped a little.

I’ve found that Strathmore Tracing paper is 0.0015” and Strathmore Vellum is 0.002”, but my preference is for the thinner paper. Never been able to intuit paper thickness from that number given for “weight,” I always have to measure it directly. As powderburner said, there is a post called “Paper 101” on the Castboolits site that has to be the last word on the subject.

A good source is one that is available in sustainable quantities that doesn’t have a high clay content. If you like what you found buy it then have your mould made. That’s simplest.

I made it back to the store after the snow and was concerned that the box was gone. After looking around with the clerk we found a box but the blue boxes had printing on it. So sad, but then i noticed a whole bunch of plain boxes and they all had "RAG" stamped on the end label (could this be true?). So I took them all and to fill out the cart I even took a couple of dark colored boxes and thought what the heck. Then I noticed on one of the labels it was printed "100% Rag"! And it looks just like the rest of them. I hope that I can get the 0.00175" to work. And I need to find a cheap way to ship to those in need.

It will work. No doubt.

I have a push thru sizer that just fits my rifle bore, with about 0.0005 over bore size. This gives me a snug but not tight fit and I can use any paper I can find. I use 9 pound and up to 10.5 pound paper. It all shoots the same for me.

Keep on hav'n fun!
MikeT

Sorry for posting so much but... This is what it looks like (yes I need to work on my technique and trapezoid patch instead of rectangular) and it stays when wet wrapped.

https://www.amazon.com/Strathmore-370-9 ... B0027AAIB2

matt

How much does this other paper add to your bullet diameter Charles?

I paper patch with Office Depot Translucent Tracing paper, item number 253-342.

A 9x12", 25 pound paper, available in 40 sheet pads. Tried it on a whim as Office Depot is close by and found it worked. Bought 15 pads as later on I did not want to find the product is no longer available.

https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/ ... ing-Pad-9/

bpcr shooter wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 10:29 am https://www.amazon.com/Strathmore-370-9 ... B0027AAIB2

matt

Matt what is the thickness of this paper? Some measure with calipers, but can you tell me with a micrometer?
thanks
kw

All of the papers add 0.007" to the diameter. I will most likely make up a sizing die and start with a bullet size that gets me 1 to 2 thou over bore diameter and do as MikeT to match individual rifles.

Good luck on seating that...mb

kwilliams wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 2:05 pm

bpcr shooter wrote: ↑Thu Dec 01, 2022 10:29 am https://www.amazon.com/Strathmore-370-9 ... B0027AAIB2

matt

Matt what is the thickness of this paper? Some measure with calipers, but can you tell me with a micrometer?
thanks
kw

.002 is what I get. Ive tested it against .0015 paper and that leaves my bullet loose in the bore. the Strathmore is nice and snug.

matt