Just thought this would be of interest. In paul matthews book, The Paper Jacket, on page 7,last paragraph it says ( to the best of my knowledge paper patches were always applied by hand) , as we all know there isn't very much info floating around about how they used to do this. The other day I was reading a book that I bought form Lindsay publications, lindsaybks.com a few years ago , I ran across a few lines which goes like this. On page 76 paragraph 2 (The next operation is bullet-patching, or covering the rifle bullets with paper, to prevent the clogging of the grooves of the barrel with lead. This is sometimes done by hand, sometimes by machinery. In the bullet-pathching machine the bullet are fed to the machine by hand, and the patch is presented to the bullet and secured by a minute drop of mucilage, fed automatically, and is rolled closely around the bullet, and the end is folded up by the fricton of flexible rolls, 45 or 50 bullets being patched in a minute, and, including stoppages, full 20,000 in ten hours. Two attendants are required.) The name of the book is, Fire-Arms Manufacture 1880. The book was done by the U.S. Dept of Interion Census Office. Published in 1883.
The interesting thing to me is, and I ask anyone who would know, If the patch was secured with a drop of mucilage, wouldn't the paper have to be put on dry. Gives me something new to try :grin: . I wouldn't glue the patch to the bullet , but might try just a drop at the tail end of patch, What do yall think.
