Ball starter wear

[Bob J]

Do wood ball starters cause significant muzzle wear? Or is it better to use brass ball starter with a muzzle guide?

 

[Packdog]

I use a muzzle guide on everything (wood or brass)except when loading in the field under hunting conditions. Just not worth taking the chance of messing up the muzzle.
PD

 

[roundball]

All short starters that I use at the range have stainless steel shafts and brass muzzle guides captive right on the shafts.

I don't use a muzzle guide for my wooden short starters in hunting pouches.

I do use nylon muzzle guides with all the brass ramrods on all my hunting rifles...I keep the nylon guide slid right the jag in each caliber's pouch so it's right there when I thread it onto the ramrod for after-shot cleaning.

 

[wwfeatherston]

Mine is aluminium. I don't think it will hurt the muzzle!

 

[Stumpkiller]

The wood won't. The dust and grit on the wood will. My carved-from-one-piece maple stub-starters are doweled only 1-1/2" long and they seldom touch the barrel walls. I haven't used my oak, witch hazel or aluminum 5" or 6" starters in years.

With reasonable care you shouldn't need worry over it. The danger is when you give it a side-slap and run it across the muzzle on the way down. Solution: use a shorter short starter, a looser fit patch, or slipperier lube. You can also intentionally cone the muzzle, which is like being worn but very, very evenly around the entire muzzle, and you can then just push the ball in with thumb pressure. I compromised and had a "medium radius" crown that funnels the patch in easier. I can use a 0.010" undersize ball with 0.018" patching and no starter at all, just choke up on the rammer to get it started.

I've known benchrest shooters who won't use anything but one-piece steel cleaning rods (that includes brass, alumnium and fiberglass) because they say it is the only choice that grit won't imbed itself in. But they are somewhat fanatical and trying for five shots in a bore-size hole.

I just wipe my rammer off frequently and keep it waxed up (Minwax Hard Finishing Wax)and clean.

 

[Bob J]

I just wipe my rammer off frequently and keep it waxed up (Minwax Hard Finishing Wax)and clean.

Good idea. Just bought some Flitz gunstock wax. Think I'll wax the guns' ramrods and short starters (I use stainless steel range rod with bore guide at the range).