Ball Starters and Muzzle Wear

[Bob J]

Do plain wooden ball starters cause muzzle wear? The reason I ask is I have one that is brass with a bore protector. But have ordered a plain wood one for each hunting bag. Maybe usage has something to do with it: Do you "slam down" on the ball starter to seat the ball quickly or do you cup palms on starter and push down with increasing pressure until the ball is seated?

 

The wood ones do not cause appreciable wear imho but . Buying such a thing is an amazement. 59 cents for a ball and a bit of dowel and a hole drilled in and away you go. Cheaper stil if you whittle the ball. save your confederate money bpys, the south will rise again.!!!!!!!

 

Do you "slam down" on the ball starter to seat the ball quickly or do you cup palms on starter and push down with increasing pressure until the ball is seated?

My "ball starter" is the end of my ramrod. That is - I grab the rod about 6 inches from the end and push the ball down. No need for a separate rod with a ball on it.

I'm not suggesting that other don't need a short little starter, only that the end of my rod works foir me. If you have to "slam" on a short starter, your load is too tight.

(my 2 cents- -flame me if it makes you feel good) :haha:

 

[roundball]

Do plain wooden ball starters cause muzzle wear? The reason I ask is I have one that is brass with a bore protector. But have ordered a plain wood one for each hunting bag. Maybe usage has something to do with it: Do you "slam down" on the ball starter to seat the ball quickly or do you cup palms on starter and push down with increasing pressure until the ball is seated?

Starting pressure varies with the snugness of the patch ball combo of course, but if a starter is being used, IMO it's simpler and faster to just make a quick crisp "start" with the palm of the hand than to stand there gradually applying increasing pressure...I use a starter with everything at the range & hunting, and am never is such a hurry to load/reload that I don't have time for it.

The ones I use at the ramge have stainless steel shafts with sliding brass muzzle guides...the ones in each hunting pouch have wooden shafts that I made from old spare/broken ramrods...I cut the seating end off about 4-5" long, used predrilled wooden balls from October Country, and expoxied the shafts in place.

 

[shmrck1]

DixieFlinter,
I have never seen any noticeable
wear and the wood short starters is all i have
ever used.
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[boar]

I never like the ball&rod starters. One day I forgot mine, I was hunting with my TC 45 and I was 17 miles from home so I look around and there was a hickory tree, I looked the limbs over and found one close to 45 and it had a u shaped scar on it,slight depression, so I whittled the end down to fit the bore. To load I put the scar on ball and hit, turn stick on side,hit and run ball down as far as stick will push ball, then use rod to finish. Been using them ever since. Have them made for all my guns 32to54. Easy to carry on strap of bag, and don't weight much. Dilly

 

[rice1817]

Went to Wally World this past summer. They had something called a "crab hammer", which looked like a small wooden gavel, for 99 cents. Bought 5. I drill- spun a 44 mag case on to the long end, and cut if off above the head. Used a dremel to cup out that end. Took a piece of broken rammer and spun a 38 special case onto it, then cut it off above the head, maybe 3/4 of an inch overall. Drilled out the cylinder end of the gavel 3/8 inch, epoxied the brass covered rammer stub in, and again dished out the end.

1 dollar and some scrap brass. Best short starters I ever had!

 

[MikeFromON]

There is practically no way a piece of wood would cause wear on a piece of steel, unless of course the wood had bits of sand or metal shavings or something else embedded in it. Even common hardwoods are many times softer than iron or steel and will suffer fibre compression before your barrel would show any kind of deformation. It is the metal that will wear on the wood. I actually made an oak mallet specifically to slam my R.E.A.L. bullets into the muzzle with my short starter. When the fouling is really bad, I have to pretty much hammer the projectile all the way down the barrel by pounding on the end of the ramrod. I will try swabbing between shots next time I am out on the range, but I have tried that before and it just filled my breech with manure and made my rifle unshootable (until I pulled the breech plug and cleaned it).

 

[Stumpkiller]

Makes you wonder how folks got along and get along without 'em. :haha:

If the wood picks up dust and grit (not unheard of after they get coated with lube) it can be abrasive enough . . . provided it's long enough and struck at enough engle.

I figure that if I need a short starter I must be working too hard at it. Much prefer the ball/patch/lube combos that allow loading without one.

 

I have not noticed any muzzle wear from ramrods OR short starers made of wood in the 30+ years of shooting the muzzleloading rifles. However, you must remember...never,never,ever, point a gun at anything that you don't want to shoot. Get thet hand off the ball starter. Be dainty about it and ONLY use your forefinger and thumb to grasp the outside edges of the ball or handle. :haha:

 

[Bob J]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I believe I'll use the wooden ball starters in the field and keep the brass-shaft ball starter with muzzle guide in the shooting box for use at the range. :hmm: After hunting season (because now ain't the time to fix something that ain't broken :winking: ), I might experiment with the looser patch-ball combos and see what kind of accuracy they deliver in my rifles.