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9/16" Glass Marbles

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BrownBear said:
And that's the truth. :shocked2:



My turn to shoot. Not being too smart, I aimed at the knot rather than bothering to walk up and hang a target. I must be a better shot, cuzz I hit the knot first time. Got a knot on my head to show for it. Getting stupider by the minute, I tried it again. Matching knots on my head.
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Brother I just about fell out of my chair! :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: aint it amazing we ever lived through out youth!!
 
When I was a kid we used to take glass marbles and boil them in hot water then dunk then in cold water so they'd crack but still hold together. Then we'd dunk them in paint or varnish and let them dry to sort of "glue" them together and keep them from falling apart.

This made great ammo for shooting small varmints with a wrist rocket because they'd shatter when they hit.

I don't think cracked marbles would stand up to being shot out of a gun but a solid glass marble ought to.

If it hit anything solid it would probably shatter pretty nicely too.

Might do some excellent schrapnel damage on the terminal end!
 
You should save the cat's eye marbles for hunting in low light conditions... :hmm:
 
Age and wisdom are all that's left once you wear off the thin coating of youth, eh?

I'll be a little smarter where I point them, but I also keep wondering about alternative round balls. With the price of lead headed where it's going, it seems to make some sense to have alternatives available for "toy" loads anyway. When the time is right for whangin away for the sake of whangin away.

The more I think about lightweight roundballs though, the more I wonder about fouling. There's just not as much resistance in the bore as with lead balls. Seems like the looser the patch and less the resistance on conventional loads, the worse the fouling.

I'm betting a tight patch is going to be important, but also wonder if the reduced loads would give an edge to 4f.

Any experience out there?
 
BrownBear said:
Age and wisdom are all that's left once you wear off the thin coating of youth, eh?

I'll be a little smarter where I point them, but I also keep wondering about alternative round balls. With the price of lead headed where it's going, it seems to make some sense to have alternatives available for "toy" loads anyway. When the time is right for whangin away for the sake of whangin away.

The more I think about lightweight roundballs though, the more I wonder about fouling. There's just not as much resistance in the bore as with lead balls. Seems like the looser the patch and less the resistance on conventional loads, the worse the fouling.

I'm betting a tight patch is going to be important, but also wonder if the reduced loads would give an edge to 4f.

Any experience out there?
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As little fouling as 50/60grns Goex 3F makes, seems like even a lighter charge of only 20-30grns would foul even less.

I did experiment with a whole can of 4F for VERY light loads in .45/.50/.54/.58...worked fine...I didn't try anything even close to as big as 3F target loads.

Burned extremely clean and was extremely accurate...only problem I noticed was that when seating a patched ball, the fine 4F powder blows out of the vent...had to plug it with a pipe cleaner and still had to seat slowly after that.
 
Good to know. I "inherited" three pounds of the stuff, and been kinda wonderin what to do with it and how to use it. Maybe I'll try it in my Crockett just for giggles. It's real happy with 20 grains of 3f (actually Pyro P), so there might be bonus points with 4f true blue. Pipe cleaner in hand, of course.
 
Use split stove wood as a backstop. When they start getting rough, take a piece of sheet iron and make a depression in the center with a hammer. Burn the wood blocks on top of the sheet iron and the lead will collect in the depression and the trash will be on top. Use it again.
 
Rikeman said:
horner75 said:
You might have to call those steel ball bearings "RALPHIES"!...Ya must of never shot a BB gun at a hard surface?...I think your ooos'n for a bruise'n!.. :shake: BOOM DUUUUCK! :shocked2:
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Well I am not sure what you use for target shooting, but I use paper/cardboard targets with a high dirt mound backstop. I suppose I do sometimes shoot steel with my pistol, but never with my rifle and it is always lead out of the pistol.
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Rikeman, ....Key words in my comment!..BB gun and hard surface!...I think just about every KID has did this, when they were young...Hell, I did!
 
I have been looking for marbles to try in my .60 smoothbore for a long time, it always seems that they are either too big or too small. I know that ball bearings really zip out of the barrel with a full charge. I was thinking that the marbles would be just about as fast with a half charge. With a ball bearing I can hold dead on at 100 yards. I would imagine you will find that the marbles will do about the same.

Have fun, but make sure your targets are at least 25 yards away, just in case it turns out that you are shooting a new improved type of shotgun.

Many Klatch
 
Many Klatch said:
I have been looking for marbles to try in my .60 smoothbore for a long time, it always seems that they are either too big or too small. I know that ball bearings really zip out of the barrel with a full charge. I was thinking that the marbles would be just about as fast with a half charge. With a ball bearing I can hold dead on at 100 yards. I would imagine you will find that the marbles will do about the same.

Have fun, but make sure your targets are at least 25 yards away, just in case it turns out that you are shooting a new improved type of shotgun.

Many Klatch
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The batch of 9/16" I got seem to range .560-.580...might surprise you in the .60cal using a thick patch.

I'm most interested to try some in the .54cal smoothbore barrel...so far the closest common size made seems to be 1/2" (.500") so I have to order a bag...might do well with some .020" or .022" patches I have.
 
I sure have got a good chuckle out of this thread. Here's my "when I was a kid" story.

In the late 60s I was about 12 years old. I got a pop gun that looked just like a double barreled shotgun. You broke it open just like a real shotgun to cock it which also pumped up the air chambers. I could cock it several times to really buld up the pressure. Of course, being the inquisitive kid, I looked around for something to stuff in the muzzle to shoot. After trying various things I found that malted milk balls where the perfect size to fit the muzzle! I used to go down to the local IGA market and buy malted milk balls in what looked like milk cartons for .39 cents a box.

It was great fun and cheap shooting. Not to mention have a snack handy too.

Hmmm, maybe I'll give 'em a try in my Brown Bess :thumbsup:
 

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