Poly Patch Question

[Dave in NGA]

I have a very early TC Hawken rifle in 45 caliber. Fourty years ago I used to shoot round balls using the then new Poly Patch plastic wads. These were much easier to load and shoot than cloth patches. I recently scored several 'old inventory' bags of these Poly Patches at a local gun store. I'd been looking for some time with no success. Because of the age of the patches, they appear to be much stiffer than I remember them. Maybe the elastimer in the plastic has dried up over the years. So my questions are;

1. Are poly patches safe to shoot?
2. Why are they no longer available?
3. Has there been any history of problems using poly patches that I've not heard?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[gwp]

From:
Lyman®
User’s Guide for
Black Powder Products

Do not use Poly Patches or any synthetic wad with a round
ball. The ball can separate and act as a bore obstruction.

http://stevespages.com/pdf/lyman_blackpowder.pdf

[top1eye]

I've been shooting conventional and black power for almost 40 + years. I have two 45 cal, two 50 cal. and one 58 cal. smokers. I to have been looking for the Poly-Ball-wads. I have shot well over 4000 in both my .45 rifles in total. And about 1000 in my 50's. I'm glad I bought 4 cases of each some 30 years ago. But, alias I've run out of the 50 cal, but Hornaday makes them and they do well.

As for the .45, I only have about a hundred left. According to Lyman they were suppose to cause the ball to separate or malign and obstruct the barrel. Never has this occurred with either caliber. I even pushed the total top end of the long barreled .45 and the only problem I had were the balls had to be perfect, or the shock caused them to break up in the barrel maybe, definitively in flight. One target at 200 yards had two half holes, and there was only one shot. Took a nice 12 pointer at 175 yards that fall, found the intact but deformed ball in his spine in his neck. Exactly where I shot for. I tend to be a head shooter at shorter yardages, and I'm not a trophy hunter. But, my son didn't want his rack ruined.

I digress, I hate cloth type patches, they get off center and occasionally severely effect both range and accuracy. My sniper background does get me in trouble sometimes, as I tend to...try to reach too far out with Black Power (BP). These poly wades never failed, even out to 250-300 yards. With the exception of my new in line (bought it for long range and sabot round. It has a scope), all but one of my smokers have been fitted with a special peep sight in the rear, and a daylight type front sight. My eyes aren't what they use to be, but this set-up works well for me. But, the Poly-wads have prove to be five fold better then patches, in loading speed, accuracy, range, and constant ballistics at a set loads of powder. Still searching for a replacement wads, and have kept the remaining Polys' for hunting. I prefer the .45!!

[Doug Ford]

What is a poly wad? I suspect something plastic. Like a sabot?

[Doug Rammel]

Those patches will give you dangerously pressures. I've had more than one person tell me about shooting deer at 300 yards. That's a bunch of BS. Shoot a deer at 300 yards with metallic sights. How big are these deer?:icon_rolleyes:

Look at it this way , If they were any good you could still buy them.

Try to use them at the NMLRA and you will get escorted off the firing line.