smooth bore tips & tricks

[ead]

I have read that there are those of you that roll the ball on a farriers rasp to dimple the ball but I've never heard it clearly explained exactly what this does. So, these are my questions.

1. Does this provide a tighter fit for an undersized ball without the trouble of using a patch?
2. Do the dimples serve as tiny reservoirs for lube?
3. Do the dimples somehow provide stability to an imperfect ball?
4.Does anyone out there truely understand what it does and why?
5.Does putting it in a standard paper cartridge eliminate the benefits of doing it?
6.Is the rough or finer side of the rasp used?
7.Is the preferable lube for this one that only becomes liquid upon ignition of the powder?
8.What lubes are used?
9.How many shots can be fired before fouling becomes unbearable?

I have a Potsdam that doesn't shoot worth a Potsdamn and would appreciate some advise! :x

[DAVE FRANCE]

Hello EAD,

I can't answer any of your questions, but I have read somewhere that dimpling the golf ball makes it have less drag thus helping to extend the range of the ball. That might be one reason to dimple a round ball.

David

[efritz]

I once investigated and talked personally to a respected mould making company about having them make me a round ball mould with dimples in it like a golf ball. I was willing to pay the freight on such tooling amd manufacturing if it had merit. In short I was told the dimpling only works on golf balls because of the speed of the ball. Kind of slow compared to a projectile with 80 grs. of powder behind it. Therefore the endevor ended. Now logically speaking it will make the ball larger and provide lube adhesion when put between two rasps.

There seems to be 3 different opinions out there in shooter land. One is ram a round ball with some lube on it down the pipe. Two, take a perfectly round ball, roll it around between two rasps, throw some lube on it, ram it down the pipe. Three, take that nice round ball, rasp it or not, lube it and wrap it in tin foil, ram it down that same pipe. The answer lies with the people that are winning. What do they do? My guess is 5% know what they're doing and do it well. Another 5% do well by getting lucky on some days and then have problems on others. 25% do ok, not so lucky very often. The rest are filling the air with lead and hopfully at least having a good time doing it. Again hopfully 100% are having fun.

I myself have have tried two methods with degrees of success. With a model 1842 I used as perfect a round ball as I could make and as close to bore size as possible. Either dipped the ball in lube or insert the ball in the precharge tube and place melted lube on top of the ball taking as much as possible, (a cookie). On another smoothbore (sighted) I use a round ball dipped in Alox but the ball is approx. .012 undersized. The 1842 would begin fouling around the 8th shot. The sighted gun lasts a bit longer but this is because of the difference of sizes.

Suggestion. Talk to the winners. But remember, they're not only doing things right, they're good shooters too.

[R. McAuley 3014V]

Likewise, I cannot supply an answer as to exactly why some are using this technique over some other technique except to say, wrapping round balls in aluminum foil before “thrice” dipping them serves to provide a means of physically holding onto the ball so to dip it in a melted or liquid lube and build-up a lubricant coating around the ball, which dimpling or roughing the ball surface accomplishes much the same goal but with less labor. Roughening the surface before covering with a lubricant serves to create frictive forces in the surface tension in much the same manner as is achieved by “stugging” the surface of a brick wall with a pointed chisel that is intended to receive a coat of plaster or stucco, or roughing the surface of plaster or stucco between coats for the next coating to adhere. Roughening the surface of round balls similarly provides the lube with a prepared surface in which to adhere, plain and simple.

[Greg Ogdan, 11444]

Well, my unit seems to do pretty well with the smoothie, and we do a little bit of everything. And just for the record, the results this past nationals did involve some luck on the part of our B squad.

[John Holland]

ead -

Here are your questions, and my answers to them...right, wrong, or indifferent!

1. Does this provide a tighter fit for an undersized ball without the trouble of using a patch?
1 – Yes.

2. Do the dimples serve as tiny reservoirs for lube?
2 – Not enough to matter

3. Do the dimples somehow provide stability to an imperfect ball?
3 – No.

4.Does anyone out there truly understand what it does and why?
4 – I use it to increase the diameter of the ball up to bore size. The round ball I use in my Potsdam casts at 0.715. By “rasping” it the diameter increases to .720 and the ball will just sit at the muzzle.

5.Does putting it in a standard paper cartridge eliminate the benefits of doing it?
5 – No.

6.Is the rough or finer side of the rasp used?
6 – I use 2 coarse Bastard files. When I’m done the ball sort of resembles a small Horse Chestnut.

7.Is the preferable lube for this one that only becomes liquid upon ignition of the powder?
7 – The answer to this one is so subjective you have to try them yourself to see what works for you. Personally I use plain old Crisco globbed up on top of the ball. I’ve eaten so much Crisco in my years of skirmishing that it’s kind of just like the inside of a Twinkie to me now ! ! !

8.What lubes are used?
8 – A search through this page will provide you with most all of the combinations that are used.

9.How many shots can be fired before fouling becomes unbearable?
9 – I have fired as many as 25 rounds without wiping the bore. The large amount of Crisco that I use keeps the fouling very soft...and gooey.

And one you didn't ask.
10 – Tinfoil – I have also used a less than bore diameter ball wrapped in tinfoil, with Crisco applied the same way, with success. The tinfoil seals the bore when the charge goes off, the ball shoves the Crisco out ahead of it, and the tinfoil scrapes the bore clean on the way out. I have fired over 50 rounds without wiping the bore using this method.

Just my experiences.

JDH

[Chris Sweeney]

JH

. . . which brings up a question - given the prohibition of "multipart ammo,"

I've had several people tell me you can't shoot tinfoil, you can't shoot revolver with wads, kapok ain't a legal filler etc. etc. etc. One line judge told me he would disqualify the team if I used lubed wads in my revolver

So what does the depitty regional IG say as the final word for all that?

CS

[John Holland]

He says "MERRY CHRISTMAS" to you too ! ! ! Followed by a "Raspberry!" and http://www.n-ssa.org/NATIONAL/RULES/RulesAug2010.pdf

JH
National Inspector General Corps

[jerry ashley]

Now John it is Christmas, just think of that fat man in the red suit bringing you a bib batch of Habbersett scrapple for being good, good, good once more GOOD, have a great one.

[ead]

Dear Members,
I just want to thank you all for helping me out with my smoothbore confusion. I don't think I got all the tips but thanks to you I know a heck of a lot more than I did.

Best regards and Merry Christmas,
Eric