Can you put multiple balls in at the same time? or do they have to be done singly?
Can you put multiple balls in at the same time? or do they have to be done singly?
I shoot a stock Armisport 1842. I'm using an RCBS .678 mold, casting wheel weights. I did some measurements on 12 random unprocessed balls and 12 random processed balls and the measurements are as follows:I assume that given the near bore size ball that results, some sort of lube that softens fouling has to be used rather than Alox I often see referred to when shooting smoothbores. Correct?
So you can see that the ball, on average, grew about .009 inches.
I then dip in Xlox (a cheaper Alox equivalent) and let it dry, and then dip again and let them dry.
In my gun, it results in a near air-tight fit going down the bore. Some people don't like this so they use a smaller ball to start with.
I tried it using a hand drill and it basically does not work. It's hard to get sufficient pressure to the ball and the Rotary Head moves around too much. You really need a drill press. A cheap-o Harbor Freight will do, or find a used one on Craig's List. If you want a refund, let me know.I've ordered one. Hopefully it will work with a hand drill. The round balls shown are properly stippled, look good.
Steve
Steve:
No need, I’ve got access to a press. But I thank you for the offer.
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I would not recommend putting multiple balls into the ball rolling cavity.Can you put multiple balls in at the same time? or do they have to be done singly?
If you are careful, it can be done. If you position the balls at opposite sides of the cavity, sometimes they will stay away from each other while rolling around in the cavity. But if they collide, and they often do, they grind against each other, sometimes hard enough to jam the machine to a halt. So I do not recommend it.
I experimented with various "races" to place inside the cavity to hold a number of balls simultaneously, but the balls tend to polish off their texture as they rub against the race walls. The original design had like a 5" cavity with a inner race with holes for 10 balls. I'm still experimenting.
Steve
Steve,
Just sent you a PM
Sharon Whipple 10136V
149th NYVI
Sharon Whipple
149th NYVI
Comp # 10136V
Email sent to Sharon.
The first batch of rollers is going out on Monday.
I've got one more that will go out on Tuesday (ran out of Flat Rate envelopes).
I'm currently out of hardware for making the Rotary Heads - should be in by Thursday of next week.
Steve
Can anybody show me even a single, objective study or experiment which shows that dimpling, stippling, or pimpling your balls results in better accuracy than not doing so?
Glenn M. Kaye
73rd New York Volunteer Infantry
You might research golf balls as they use dimpling for a straighter flight.
Lou Lou Lou Ruggiero
Tammany Regt-42nd NYVI
There are plenty of folks shooting naked round balls, and getting good results. Certainly, shooting a sighted smoothbore has a significant advantage over a non-sighted smoothbore, but that is not to say that you can't get a tight group with a run-of-the-mill '42 musket with just a front sight. Last spring, I had four consecutive shots at 25 yards, three within the black, two of which were within the 10-ring....with a 30" Macon the first time out with the musket. Some folks here don't even lube the balls and shoot tighter groups. Go figure?
First Cousin (7 times removed) to Brigadier General Stand Watie (1806-1871), CSA
1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles | Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation 1862-66
To be clear here, I don't make any claims about accuracy with this device or any particular way of making up your ammo. All this device does is rough up balls in a similar manner to rolling them between two files.
There are lots of different ways to get good accuracy from a firearm. Some people wrap their balls in aluminum foil. Some people shoot them as-cast.
I started roughing up my balls with a file because our team's top two smoothbore shooters did it that way. One of our guys sometimes shoots entire smoothbore team events without missing. Is it his sighted H&P or is it how he prepares his ammo? I don't know, but I figured I'd do what he was doing with the ammo!
To me, the main reason I filed my balls was to get the lube to stick to them. I tried lubing them with Lee Alox without filing them, and the Alox tends to flake off of the ball while being put in and out of the plastic cartridge tube, and during loading. I feel like the stippling, in conjunction with the thin barrier of Alox, results in a snug but still-loadable fit that seems to give me good accuracy. But, some people shoot with loose-fitting balls and also get good accuracy.
I just got tired of rolling the darn things between files because it was time consuming, tedious, and it made my hands hurt.
As for my own accuracy, my first and only trip to the Nationals I made it to 10th place Expert class 25-yard smoothbore. Locally, I do OK.
Steve
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