Anyone try coffee filter paper for patching ??

[bufflobob]

Thought of this some time ago -- not sure if regular coffee filters made for your home kitchen counter are made from cotton or just wood pulp. However they are relatively strong even when wet. They are obiously quite porous, just tried holding one up to a light, --- so would hold lots of patch lube. Should not be anything in them chemical wise ( I hope ! not good for drinking the coffee --  ). Not overly abrasive -- remember should hold lots of lube, -- and don't believe any fillers such as clay put in typing / printing paper. Available most grocerie stores - reasonable priced.

I tried wrapping last night -- took one of the white bleached ones, the type with the  curly sides, come in a stack of 100. Pressed it out flat on the kitchen counter and drew appropriate spaced lines with ruler --- then used my homemade template to draw several patches, and cut out with scissors. When wet with tap water the patch becomes instantly nearly transparent and limp, but still easily wrapped over 45-70 cast bullet without tearing even with pulling gently to wrap with some tension. When the few I tried wrapping and left on floor heat outlet dried an hour later, seemed to hold together with the two layer wrap just fine.

The only negative so far, besides being a relatively small circular shaped piece of paper to work with, is the sidewall wrinkles. Tried taking one and laying out on plastic kitchen countertop and wetting with water to get to lay flat. Took paper towel and patted out excess water and made sure laying flat with no wrinkles -- let dry. After couple of hours -- much easier to work with flatter piece of paper. It looks like with one filter you could get about 10 -12 patches for a 45 cal. bullet.

Now to try loading and shooting them for evaluation....

---Nice group there Kurt !!

Happy hunting and shootin ... Bob.

[JBMauser]

Well, I read your post and said ..What?? then I went and pulled out a filter and looked it over.  I then decided to say WHAT?  It is not smooth, it is very irregular in composition, it may be absorbant but when was that ever nessessary? or even desirable?   When I pull it through my fingers thoughts of 220 grit emery paper come to mind.  I do buy generic brand.   I will be interested in your results but I will not use it even if you find it acceptable.  I will admit that I have used freezer tape to PP for an 8mm with only fair results but I think it was less abrasive than my coffee filter.  I do not think it will cut easily agianst the rifling.  but that is only a guess.  Good luck with it.  I will opt for my smooth paper with a light tumble in lee liquid alox.  JB

[bufflobob]

Thanks JB for input ---

    Had another look at the filter paper, mine are also generic. The ones I'm trying are  white - bleached - and are fairly soft. Also have some tan colored ones  - unbleached - they are noticeably harder with the sandpaper feel to them. Have read that the original paper used for patching was mainly linen or banknote - made from flax fibre -- would that not have been somewhat abrasive had it not been lubed, in the original softer barrels? I use beeswax and vaseline for lube and like the idea of extra porosity to hold lube.
   
    The main reason I wanted to try this tougher paper is the idea of getting a second or third shot to group well on a fouled and unwiped barrel, as in a hunting situation. Hopefully the tougher paper will plow through the fouling - with the use of a good grease cookie.  But - as you pointed out - the possible problem of the paper not cutting easily by rifling, may arise. Should hopefully see what happens at the range in my next days off from work, weather permitting. --  For my regular shooting and practise, likewise prefer to use smooth cotton based paper.

   Couple more days to range time --- good excuse to get out and try something new...Bob.

[Lead pot]

Buffalobob.

I remember Buffalo Bob, Couldn't turn on that 10" round screen TV fast enough to watch Princess Summer Fall Winter Spring   
If you want to make follow up shots with PP you might try Vellum paper. I like using it, it's a very tough 100% cotton fiber paper .0015 thick and it will take repeated shots with out fouling control.
The paper I use is made by Alva.

Kurt

[olduvai george]

I've never heard that "holding lube" was an issue. The thing about rag bond or quality cotton bond is that you stretch it when patching, and it shrinks when dry. Stays there . It is utterly consistent. Remember the advice about the grain direction. The worst part of patching is of course the time investment. The old timers patched bullets because time was "different" in those days. The buff hunters bought patched bullets in bulk in many cases and some cast and patched and loaded, but they often had lots of down time and people on payroll. Look at what we are doing today in the context of how it was done and circumstances then. BTW put your wet patched bullets nose down in a modern pistol bullet tray to dry. Good shooting.

[JBMauser]

bufflobob, I do not think you should dwell on fouling ie. second or third shot.  I will not be an issue.  The 8th and 9th yes.  I think in hunting mode the first shot, the fouling shot will be the one that will be further out than the 2nd and 3rd and even the next few.  If after you find a good paper and a load your rifle likes you can always play with adding a soft gas check along with your card wad.  This bit of wax/lube down below the bullet is supposed to keep the fouling soft between  shots. JB

[bufflobob]

Thanks everyone for the great feedback!!  Looks like I'm going to have to wait for the next days off for trial run, in the middle of a cold snap here. Minus 20 celsius yesterday morning --   I work four on -- four off. Still want to see if this paper works fairly well, but in these temps it's far colder than hunting season.
Found a source for the vellum, that looks real good Kurt, thanks for sharing that, definitely have got to give that a try.
JB - your point about the first shot being the fouling shot is a good thing to consider for the hunting setup --I might try running patch with lube down barrel to 'season' for that first shot hopefully to keep on group. So many things to try- so little time --- hahaha.

Happy hunting and shooting - and keep warm ... Bob.

[bufflobob]

Well --- I finally got down to the range yesterday -- winter weather closed our rifle range for a few days -- hope nobody was holding their breath.    Of the one bullet type I tried, results seemed somewhat mediocre. But it does work somewhat. Group size about 3 - 4 inches at 100  yds, with just a couple of breaths down the bbl. for five shots.  I have a slightly smaller dia. bullet mold I want to try it with yet, before I write it off.

On a side note, the coffee filter paper does seem to compress and polish very smoothly, such as when I pulled back out a seated bullet, when initially determining and setting up the compression of Fg. Have to say I think the stated concerns of this paper being abrasive are unfounded, at least in what sample I had.

Happy hunting and shooting....Bob.