Ball tumbling to remove imperfections

[Halftail]

After rolling,tumbling and cutting and smoothing sprues I wonder what a ball looks like after whacking home a tight load with a short starter and Rangerod?I do however believe that weighing balls and saving only a uniform weight will help out with accuracy.
My 2 cents.

 

[mmahlock]

I don't shoot them I just recycle them. I shoot the others. I should also say that I don't use any media when tumbling. I have also occationally had trouble with them getting too hot and powdering. (It's a heat thing I think.) When they do I just recycle them as well.

 

[Roy]

Dimples? Interesting. I'd like to hear how the dimpled round ball perform. Dimples reportedly help in the aerodynamics. That's why golf balls have them. Would you mind running a side by side shooting test for us?

They work better in a smoothbore because of the dimples, well they did for me anyway.
I believe the best thing you can do is weigh them.

 

[Swampman]

Ball weight and imperfection have an undetecable effect on muzzleloader accuracy. It's a waste of time.

 

[Roy]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

[jtmattison]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

Amen!

To each his own. I'm trying the tumbled balls.

Huntin

 

[flm_shooter]

Dimples? Interesting. I'd like to hear how the dimpled round ball perform. Dimples reportedly help in the aerodynamics. That's why golf balls have them. Would you mind running a side by side shooting test for us?

Dimples work by adjusting / maintaining the "boundary layer" - the super-thin layer of air next to the surface of the object traveling through the air. If you know right where this boundary layer separates from the skin (causing drag) you can move it. On aircraft wings you know the exact point, so you can us "vortex generators" to adjust. On a golf ball (or lead ball) you never know where the leading edge is, so you dimple the whole thing. I had a motorcycle helmet once with several rows of dimpling around the top curve. It was noticibly quieter at speed. It wasn't stylish, so the idea never took off.

My opinion only, I am not an aeronautical engineer. I like water flow calculations better. :thumbsup:

 

[Stony]

I've been tumbling my balls for years (not something you may want to say in mixed company) It doesn't get rid of the spurs but if you let them tumble for 2-3 hours, it can revel air pockets just under the surface. I also weigh my balls too (another remark which should not be spoken in mixed company) :rotf: As I don't do much shooting in the cold and snow, it helps to past the winter months and gives me something else to do. I've had a few people tell me it's a waste of time but until they can outshoot me, I think I'll just keep on doing it. If you tumble them just right you do get "dimples", nothing like on a golf ball but it isn't a smooth surface either. Some folks will believe that you're shooting swaged balls but only you really have to know.

 

[jtmattison]

I started my ball tumbling experiment with balls that I cast up almost a year ago. The sprue's were rounded over by the tumbling but you can still see them.

Last night I cast up a couple fresh batches of balls and as soon as they were cool I tumbled them. The sprue's almost completely vanished.

I think I read somewhere that lead will get harder the longer it sits. This is lead of BHN of about 7. Slightly harder than pure lead.

I still have to see how they shoot. The range is closed this weekend for the holidy and next week is late muzzleloader season. I will shoot them at the range next weekend.

Huntin

 

[rrgr40]

I've tried the tumbling, rolling in a can, shak'in 'em up, sprue up and down. They all shot about the same. The only thing that I have ever done to make a difference is rolling them on a glossy magazine page with smooth piece of plastic. This was very time consuming but removed all flaws and most of the sprue and they come out really shiney and smooth. Rolling also showed any internal imperfections because of the pressure on the ball. A dimple would show up. I do this for the smaller calibres, 36 to 45. We are only talking 1/2 inch or 3/4 of an inch tighter group at 100yds. Always striving for the tightest group. :thumbsup:

 

[tg]

" So when I see someone say that we should do this or that because we need to keep it PC, just remember that our ancestors did what they could to make theirs the best they could no matter what it may have been"

I would be interested in any period records of ball tumbling, sounds a bit like if they'd a had it they'd a used it type logic, if we do not care to follow PC practices that is fine but it might be best to avoid trying to rationalize what we do into the realm of PC with voo-doo logic.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Ive done it for years also.
May not do a gang bit of good, but they look purty and ya can stuffem down any ole way you wish.

 

[gmww]

I wonder if the round balls got tumbled naturally by sitting in a Possibles bag for long periods of time bumping into each other while on those long trecks?

 

[roundball]

Ive done it for years also.
May not do a gang bit of good, but they look purty and ya can stuffem down any ole way you wish.

:thumbsup:

 

[CrackStock]

If you carried them for that long, then you had too many! :rotf:

CS