Bullet board

[pamtnman]

Finished my first ever bullet board today. It’s .62 caliber, which requires a 5/8” Forstner drill bit. And although it’s a 0.625” hole, and my patched ball for this particular rifle uses patched balls at 0.620” total, it works/fits just fine.
The wood is a piece of scrap from one of our rifle builds. Stained with walnut and protected with three coats of hand rubbed tung oil, it looks surprisingly good. This is my first one, and I’ll be experimenting with others, probably lighter stain.

 

[barracudadave67]

Looks good, put it to good use. I need one for my .75 Brown Bess. it's one of my next projects.

Dave

 

[pamtnman]

Looks good, put it to good use. I need one for my .75 Brown Bess. it's one of my next projects.

Dave

Thank you. Are you able to find 3/4” tubing to make into a speed loader? The bullet board is the runner-up to what I wanted and could not figure out how to make.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

Finished my first ever bullet board today. It’s .62 caliber, which requires a 5/8” Forstner drill bit. And although it’s a 0.625” hole, and my patched ball for this particular rifle uses patched balls at 0.620” total, it works/fits just fine.
The wood is a piece of scrap from one of our rifle builds. Stained with walnut and protected with three coats of hand rubbed tung oil, it looks surprisingly good. This is my first one, and I’ll be experimenting with others, probably lighter stain.

That is fine looking starter block! Why does is require a Forstner bit? I fail to see why. Help me out here.
Thanks
Larry

 

[pamtnman]

That is fine looking starter block! Why does is require a Forstner bit? I fail to see why. Help me out here.
Thanks
Larry

Thank you. I found the Forstner bit gives a much smoother and consistent hole than a standard drill bit. And if there is ever a need for a straight hole, these bullet boards are it.

 

[BJHabermehl]

I’ve allways used Irwin speedbore bits, the old style with the spurs. Usually they are oversized, I would dress them down with a file, checking with dial calipers and drilling and measuring test holes. Over the years I built up a set to make ball boards for any caliber to 20 guage. BJH

 

[pamtnman]

I’ve allways used Irwin speedbore bits, the old style with the spurs. Usually they are oversized, I would dress them down with a file, checking with dial calipers and drilling and measuring test holes. Over the years I built up a set to make ball boards for any caliber to 20 guage. BJH

Ok, well you are talented. I’m not. At all. I’m a catastrophe with tools, so for me to figure out the Forstner bit is like primitive man discovering fire. I admire, respect, and kind of see mysteriously those people who “dress their bits.”

 

[Timber Wolf]

Ok, well you are talented. I’m not. At all. I’m a catastrophe with tools, so for me to figure out the Forstner bit is like primitive man discovering fire. I admire, respect, and kind of see mysteriously those people who “dress their bits.”

Thinning down a spade bit should be a lot easier than working on a twist drill. In fact dressing down a spade bit is what I considered doing before ordering various fractional twist drills. The inexpensive twist drills and Home Depot’s fast, free shipping to my home sealed the deal for me. BTW, I found the chart sizes (Loading Block Drill Bit Chart) to not work for me at all. I had to go slightly bigger on all sizes.

 

[pamtnman]

Thinning down a spade bit should be a lot easier than working on a twist drill. In fact dressing down a spade bit is what I considered doing before ordering various fractional twist drills. The inexpensive twist drills and Home Depot’s fast, free shipping to my home sealed the deal for me. BTW, I found the chart sizes (Loading Block Drill Bit Chart) to not work for me at all. I had to go slightly bigger on all sizes.

I didn’t know about this loading block drill bit chart, thank you. Sounds like I might have been lucky and dodged a bullet by not knowing about it. As is my sop, I fumbled blindly through darkness until I emerged alive at the other end. I will be making a few more of these, because this one is fine for a practice session, but too long for the hunting bag. Next one will have much less stain, too. I appreciate your advice on tidying up drill bits, but I’d rather fly blind with whatever fills my hand at the tool rack than start specially honing already sharpened drill bits. For one, I’d start sharpening or dressing down the bits and within a minute I’d completely forget why I was doing it in the first place. Second, I’d rather use a square chisel and a hank of 100 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dull pencil and elbow grease to round out the hole, than take my chances destroying what had started their lives as useful drill bits.

 

[tenngun]

Looks good, put it to good use. I need one for my .75 Brown Bess. it's one of my next projects.

Dave

I made one for a .62. Six shot. You didn’t need to shoot you could just throw it at ‘em, weighed a tun.

 

[pamtnman]

I made one for a .62. Six shot. You didn’t need to shoot you could just throw it at ‘em, weighed a tun.

That’s the thing. Four 62 cal round balls is 1350 grains, about 3.5 ounces. A lot of lead, a lot of weight. My prototype here will be for practice. A hunting ball board can’t have more than three

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

A Forstner bit is used on detailed projects when you want a clean, precise hole. There is a pilot point to keep it from wandering and if you go slow, you can see the point poking through the other side, then turn the work over and drill from the back, eliminating any tear-out at the end. Drilling is best done with a drill press but you can hand drill too.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

I think that color stain is just fine IMO.

 

[pamtnman]

I think that color stain is just fine IMO.

Thank you NY. I’m experimenting, and I benefit from advice people here are kind enough to give. It helps me a lot.

 

[FishDFly]

Nice wood.

 

[pamtnman]

Nice wood.

Thanks Fish. Comes from the super curly maple used in my first personal build in 2013-2014. A friend has used some of it for knives he is making, and it really is an unusual standout. I’ll make some in different calibers as gifts and fundraiser donations. Future boards won’t be squared, but rather rounded or pointed so they don’t snag inside the bag, and I’ll add a lanyard hole. Gotta say, the idea of moving through the woods with this heavy bullet board swinging around is not too appealing. A more secure place is inside the possibles bag.

 

[Rocksolid]

Pardon my naivety by asking this, but what is a bullet board? What is it used for?

 

[Rocksolid]

Answered my own question by doing a search. Funny how that works.

 

[david w]

Pardon my naivety by asking this, but what is a bullet board? What is it used for?

Bullet boards are great for loading faster than fumbling for loose patches and balls. You place the board loaded with prelubed patch and bal. place it over the muzzle. and hit with a short starter.

 

[Notchy Bob]

That looks great, @pamtnman ! Nice looking board, made from an outstanding piece of wood.

I have saved a few photos of old hunting gear that I've found online. I think these have both been used in other posts on this forum, but here they are again!

This is the pouch and accoutrements carried by a professional hunter from Pennsylvania named David Cooke (died in 1842). His bullet board is right in the center of the picture:

Apparently, all of that gear was carried in the pouch. He probably stayed in the woods for extended periods of time. His flintlock rifle was with the outfit, too. It appears to me that his bullet board holds twelve balls for his .45 caliber rifle. There is more about all of this and Mr. Cooke on the Contemporary Makers Blogspot: Rifle and Hunting Pouch Carried by David Cooke

This image shows the gear carried by J. Nosworthy, who was a mid-19th century professional hunter. That oval (egg-shaped) device is his bullet board:

That page was from a post by the late Chuck Burrows on another forum. He said it was from "an old gun magazine," but I've been unable to track it down. It looks like it might have come from either Guns magazine or The Gun Report, maybe from the fifties or early sixties. The caption indicates the rifle was .46 caliber, although another reference I found states it is a .50 caliber. Either way, it was considered adequate for buffalo in its day.

I would like to point out that Mr. Nosworthy carried some pretty fancy kit. In reading the memoirs of professional hunters of his time, I've discovered that they actually made a pretty good living. James R. Mead, a professional hunter in Kansas from the late 1850's in to the 1870's, said he had saved up over $10,000 by the time he was in his mid twenties. This was an enormous sum of money for that time, but James Henry Cook, who hunted in the mountains of Wyoming in the 1870's, said the same thing.

Anyway, your bullet board looks great. If the old timers considered bullet boards worthwhile, they ought to work for muzzleloading hunters today, as well.

Notchy Bob