doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Historically, what was "greased cloth"?

1880s Black Powder Express loadings often list "greased cloth" after the millboard wad over the powder. Anyone know or have an educated guess about what the greased cloth was? Was it heavily lubed felt? How thick was it? To fill up the empty space in a shell, it must have been pretty thick, or had several thicknesses layered until the bullet was seated firmly.

I dunno, maybe linen? Linen was supposed to have been the patch material of choice for roundballs, maybe it was used in some way here, too.

Good question.

SRH

Linen is probably the right answer. Linen is a fabric made from the fibers of the flax plant, which was widely grown throughout the world a long time before cotton.

I'm just guessing here, but my speculation is a patch of whatever cloth they had handy smeared with whatever grease they had handy.

For sure it was not this. Greased cloth was like all of the other load components in the British BPE rifles at the time: Exhaustively researched, carefully documented and tested, flawlessly functional. Nothing random about it. I wish I could upload photos to this site from my computer, because some of the rifle case labels have intriguing descriptions of the greased cloth they used. There's an 1880s Charles Lancaster rifle case label that describes the greased cloth as a "perforated green cloth," as though it were a felt wad with holes punched in it, dipped in grease. I have been experimenting with different types of materials, and one thing for sure, these wads were pretty thick, like 0.07" and thicker. Graeme Wright describes what he found inside the BPE cartridges: "a grease/ wax type wad." When the powder did not fill up the case, then these components had to be stacked upon each other until the air space was filled and the bullet could be properly seated.
Anyhow, inquiring minds want to know...
thank you!

One thing is certain... prior to Edwin Drake drilling the first oil well, black powder lubricants were not petroleum products. And it has been shown that the older plant and animal fat based lubes were less corrosive when used with black powder.

When I started shooting flintlock and percussion guns, I had after-rusting in my bores no matter how carefully I cleaned, dried, and oiled them. Then I switched to Thompson Center Natural Lube. I now clean with hot water only, and swab the bores with the same T/C Natural Lube after drying thoroughly. I no longer have any issues with after-rusting. The principle involved is the same as the process of "seasoning" a cast iron skillet.

Knowing what I know now, I don't ever want a drop of petroleum based lube or cleaner anywhere near the bores of my black powder guns.

A 'grease cookie' is part of a BP cartridge load that uses a paper patched bullet.

It takes over the function of grease in the grooves when a grease groove bullet is used.

The purpose is to leave a coat of grease in the bore to keep the powder residue soft.

As mentioned, it would be a non petroleum grease such as lard or tallow.

Taking up space is not the function, although it certainly does.

The concept of 'express' is a light-ish bullet driven to maximum velocity, so any space it takes up runs against the concept.

It's possible, likely even, that with light bullets in BP cartridges an extra grease bearing wad was a necessary evil to keep the rifle free enough of fouling for use in the field, the short bullets having insufficient grooves to do the job.

It's likely that any and all fabrics of the day were tried, as long as they would absorb grease and hold it. They are loaded over a tight fitting hard card wad, the powder being compressed before seating.

I don't know how far back it dates but a 50-50 mix of beeswax & Mutton Tallow has been stated as a most efficient lube for black powder. One thing's for certain, there would have been no shortage of mutton tallow in Merry Ol England.

It's according to what your need is. That mixture is fine for hunting, but unnecessarily messy and slow for exacting target work. Teflon coating is the best for that. Saliva works great for informal offhand target shooting and plinking.

SRH

I have been shooting black powder shotgun cartridges on doves for the last three years, in this case old production Kent Gamebore 2-1/2" 20s. These in a 12 ga twist barreled Brit hammer gun, with ChamberMates. I usually clean the day I shoot, but this trip waited until I got home. I was amazed at how crusty the barrel fouling was after about a day and a half. Stuff was peeling away in chunks rather than coming out on the swabs. I'm guessing this is why bullet lube is so important in BP rifles. So, I finally decided to use the bucket of hot soapy water to clean the bores, rather than multiple passes with Windex and Ballistol. A bit messy, but quicker than my old ways and I have more confidence in the cleanliness of the bores. I also just ordered a pack of T/C Natural Lube patches, per Keith's suggestion, for the final dry pass.

I also spent some time on Google looking for info on "greased cloth," for rifles. Found a number of mentions, but nothing definitive. Did see some passages that indicated that early patches may have been wool, because the Brits had so much of it.