ITTY BITTY BALLS

[SDSmlf]

And bob's your uncle

So how do you do that?
Do you have a punch/short starter set up to only tap the ball so far through the block?
Or maybe set the block on a thin piece of rubber and use a regular short starter until it bottoms out?

I was feeling inspired for a few minutes while in the shop, so I grabbed a 3/8” thick piece of high grade scrap pallet lumber, took a 7/8” spade drill and created a slight counterbore in piece of wood. Followed that up by drilling through the center of the counterbore a hole appropriate for a 32 caliber patched round ball. Then pushed a patched 1-1/2 buck into drilled hole so it protruded into the counterbore about flush with the surface of the wood and trimmed the patch material on the opposite side. Placed the 7/8” counterbore over the 13/16” across the flats muzzle of a 32 caliber rifle. Gave the patched 1-1/2 buck a solid push with the ramrod and it was seated in the barrel.

Took longer to type this than make the thing and take photographs.

 

[R Ellis]

Nice work. The .32 caliber RB are small little things for sure. Definitely economical as well. But for this ole boy, they are a bit cumbersome to load in the woods. My old numb and bumbling fingers just ain't what they use to be. Other than being somewhat difficult to deal with, in terms of loading, I really like my little .32 Crockett Squirrel Rifle.

use a loading block

 

[TDM]

Even with these great solutions my fingers refuse the .32's. My loss.

 

[ETipp]

I was feeling inspired for a few minutes while in the shop, so I grabbed a 3/8” thick piece of high grade scrap pallet lumber, took a 7/8” spade drill and created a slight counterbore in piece of wood. Followed that up by drilling through the center of the counterbore a hole appropriate for a 32 caliber patched round ball. Then pushed a patched 1-1/2 buck into drilled hole so it protruded into the counterbore about flush with the surface of the wood and trimmed the patch material on the opposite side. Placed the 7/8” counterbore over the 13/16” across the flats muzzle of a 32 caliber rifle. Gave the patched 1-1/2 buck a solid push with the ramrod and it was seated in the barrel.

Took longer to type this than make the thing and take photographs.
View attachment 203581 View attachment 203582View attachment 203583View attachment 203585

Now that makes sense and is the only way I can see how anyone can quickly center that small .310 RB over the bore. Other than it being somewhat large to carry in the woods for multiple reloading's, it will definitely work.

Thank you for taking the time to post the pics. I appreciate it.

 

[ETipp]

use a loading block

See post #24.

 

[blackeagle]

I cast some .310 round balls for my .32 caliber rifle. Those things are tiny compared to the .490 and the 500 grain minieballs. Got around 300 usable balls using hardly any lead. Used a magnifying glass to pick out the usable ones from the bad.

Nice castings! I made a couple hundred a few years back. It took forever but I've probably got a lifetime supply. Well, enough for a while at least. I need to get one of those 6-hole molds. I did all mine in a borrowed single mold.

 

[Grimord]

Now that makes sense and is the only way I can see how anyone can quickly center that small .310 RB over the bore. Other than it being somewhat large to carry in the woods for multiple reloading's, it will definitely work.

Thank you for taking the time to post the pics. I appreciate it.

Here are some of the .32 ball blocks that I have made.

 

[pacanis]

Even a squirrel.
Nice work.

 

[beardedhorse]

Pushing the ball past the bottom of the board to leave it proud can dry out the lube on the patch if stored very long in bag or hung from neck in hot hunting weather. I actually inlet an octagon in the bottom of my first board to center the patched ball. Too much work. Forster bit drills much cleaner hole than a spade bit. Had to buy special bit larger than .530 to accommodate the patch and ball. Indexed the board on a drill press bed to be able to drill from both sides and meet in the middle to prevent tear out. Sometimes use undersize bit and work up to finished diameter in stages. Loading blocks for .715 round ball a bit heavy . Have gone to speed loaders during hunting season.

 

[tenngun]

I don’t know how long lube takes to dry out. A hard grease such as lard,tallow mink oil may last longer than moose milk, I don’t know.
I’ve seen loading blocks from the nineteenth century that had tons of lead in them. If you couldn’t kill it with a shot you could beat it to death with the block.
However I would think it not be too much trouble to load your block for your hunt, and unload block at home.
If you hunting small game a few ball in your bag can recharge a block pretty quick in the field and even with itty bitty pea shooters a five hole block or so is about the size that’s most handy to use.

 

[ETipp]

Here are some of the .32 ball blocks that I have m

Very nice work!