What paper for patching?

I'm wanting to get into paper patching, and I've read the stickys, but I'm having trouble deciding on what paper to use. The general consensus seems to be that 16lb green bar printer paper is the best place to start. The problem is that I can't really find any. I found some 15lb and 18lb, but most of it is 20lb. There's also the issue of the stuff only being available in 3000 sheet boxes that cost $100. I don't want to spend that much just to try out paper patching.

Mead tracing paper seemed to also be a popular choice, and it's cheap. It's also unavailable at my Walmart and it's not on Amazon. There's other tracing papers though. Mead doesn't list what weight paper their stuff is other than that it's "medium weight". There's other brands of tracing paper on Amazon like Strathmore (25lb) and Bachmore (32lb). Would those work, or are they going to be too heavy?

Alternatively, there's drafting/design vellum which is 100% cotton 16lb paper. Would that be better?

Finally, what about just standard printer paper? Is there any reason I couldn't jut grab a couple sheets of that and get to patching?

You could try some regular printer paper. The trick is to get your boolit diameter just right. You can also try Office Depot or Staples, do a search for "tractor bar paper". They probably have smaller quantities available.

I used tracing paper when I was experimenting with it.

I’ve used college ruled notebook paper for my smokeless 45-70 loads for the past 28 years and get consistent 1 1/2” groups with a generous dose of 4895 under a slick, 420 grain, 0.452 Hoch mould

The higher rag content papers are less likely to tear and will put up with more abuse. It’s been a while since I bought any but seem to recall it was on the lighter side - might have been 9 lb onionskin, because my patches measure .002-.003 thick when dry. Unfortunately, really high quality paper is either hard to find or stupid expensive, so I’d recommend experimenting until you find something that works. As others have noted, there are a lot of ways to skin the cat.

Buffalo arms sells 9 pound onion skin in small amounts . But if you want to try I can send you a couple sheets in a envelop to try out .

I've got some printer paper and a ton of notebook paper lying around, so I'll just give it a try with that and see how it works. I'll probably pick up some tracing paper too. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

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Originally Posted by toallmy

Buffalo arms sells 9 pound onion skin in small amounts . But if you want to try I can send you a couple sheets in a envelop to try out .

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Thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it. Don't worry about having to do that though. I order from Buffalo every so often, so I can just grab a pack or two next time I order.

It's going to depend on a number of things..... I am assuming you are patching to groove diameter. What is the diameter of your bullet? That will determine the paper that might be best for you. Strathmore tracing paper is around .00015 thickness is readily available and works well (for me at least) in smokeless, patched to groove diameter. PM me with your address and I'd be happy to send you a couple sheets to try.

Green and white striped Dot Matrix printer paper folds with the holes on tear off ends dampened will give you .007"-.008". It has a grain and you can experiment with go with or cross grain for wrap and what direction. I went down this rabbit hole years ago, and a deep hole you will find. Make Boolit fit .001" over land and wrap to 001"-.002" over groove, these were the instructions given to me. Then lube? Wrap direction? Amount past Ogive? Twisted tail, cut and flushed tail? Cereal box under base wax side up? Throat type? You heard me say Rabbit Hole?

It's a little bit of a rabbit hole (challenge might be a better word) when you first start out. Once you get things dialed in though, it's well worth the time and effort. I use either White Label BAC or Rooster jacket for patch lube What caliber are you intending to patch?

Put the word out, smoke signals! Somebody you know or someone they know or an old established business has a dusty half box sitting somewhere.

If I recall Buckshot wrote a article on the best cast patching paper to look for. Interesting read.
As for me. I use Greenbar paper. Got no complaints.

There's a couple I want to paper patch for. 7.5x53.5mm Swiss and 30-40 Krag. How's the best way to measure the bore diameter? Just take the depth gauge on a pair a calipers and stick it in the rifling marks on the slug? I can definitely see how this can be a rabbit hole.

Would Lee alox be a good lube choice?

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Originally Posted by Jeff Michel

It's going to depend on a number of things..... I am assuming you are patching to groove diameter. What is the diameter of your bullet? That will determine the paper that might be best for you. Strathmore tracing paper is around .00015 thickness is readily available and works well (for me at least) in smokeless, patched to groove diameter. PM me with your address and I'd be happy to send you a couple sheets to try.

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I haven't gotten quite that far yet. I need to slug my barrel and see what I need. Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it. I'll probably just see what's at Wally World for now and go from there though.

I’ve heard about people who use cigarette papers.

I used Meade tracing paper, it is .0015 thick. I found it at Hobby Lobby. It has a grain and will stretch more in one direction, I rolled bullets with the grain. A couple drops of dish detergent in the water seems to help. Another trick I found was that you can use a cheap cigarette roller.


Lee Alox works fine for a lube, just a light coat. You don't want any to soak through the paper and stick the patch to the bullet.

I'm currently using baking parchment. I've previously had success with common grease proof paper, but it seems it's all Teflon coated nowadays and that doesn't work at all.

I've been using brown craft paper for years for heavy 45-70 loads. Has always worked great for me.

With printer paper, there are essentially three types. Cheap wood pulp, cheap wheat straw and high grade. I'm sure the high grades would vary too. What I found with the cheap wood pulp paper is that it is highly compressible which makes for easy seating and a snug throat/leade fit without much force. And it comes of easily. It's probably better suited to worn throats. It is also great for fitting a boore sized boolit in an unsized neck because of that compressibility. I roll the patched boolits on a STP soaked case lube pad. The porous printer paper quickly soaks it away but it stays long enough to allow seating. Once the STP soaks away the boolit sits tight in the neck.

This is a cheap wood pulp printer paper patched boolit fired in a two-groove Brit at quite low velocity. These same boolits fired in a very rusted and oversize barrel were very accurate.

https://i.postimg.cc/VLp4MyCb/Untitled.jpg

Many variables and a very deep rabbit hole but a lot of fun. :mrgreen: