Lead ball alternative: .43cal solid hard rubber balls

[roundball]

.43cal solid hard rubber balls are made for use in LEO training...since they are used in actual weapons their dimensions should be fairly precise and consistent.

I normally use a .440 +.018", so a .430 +.020" or .022" should work fine also in a .45cal muzzleloader as a good lead alternative practice ball...a bullet trap could be used and the balls can be reused over and over...I have a bag on the way for testing
http://www.nles.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=1994?utm_source=froogle...

 

[Darkgael]

RB - Do you have a sense of how much they weigh? What are you thinking about for a powder charge?
Pete

 

[roundball]

RB - Do you have a sense of how much they weigh? What are you thinking about for a powder charge?
Pete

No, but probably not much...a .58cal solid glass marble weighs 65grns...this might only be half that although as I recall solid rubber balls seem to be fairly dense...my guess is they're heavy enough to be accurate enough for LEO to use them for training at close distances like I'd use them at a range...I'll experiment with powder charges but I'm assuming somewhere in the 30-40grn range...will have to see.

I ordered 1000 in case a few folks might want to buy 100 and get some personal hands on test time of their own...they were $7/100 to me...probably add 3 bucks for mailing in a heavy duty padded envelope, etc.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

RB:

You are TOO much! But I love it! I just get a kick out of your inginuity and testing ... from wax bullets, to marbles, and now to these hard rubber balls. :thumbsup:

Maybe someday you'll go full circle and get back to shootin' lead ... :rotf:

 

[nw_hunter]

Be sure and give us a range report Roundball :thumbsup:

 

[brubincam]

---gotta watch they don't bounce back atcha---

 

[jtmattison]

Maybe someday you'll go full circle and get back to shootin' lead ... :rotf:

I just read that the lead shortage is over. Since Roundball started shooting alternative projectiles the lead industry has been able to catch up on production.
:haha:

HD

 

[gmww]

Definitely patch them suckers. Who knows what kind of residue or smell its going to leave if it touches the lands and grooves. I would think when you fire it, its going to compress into the barrel wall.

 

[Little Wattsy]

You know at only $6.00 a hundred and the posibility to reuse them this sems really to be a good buy!

So just for sharts and giggles how could you turn a fire place into a "bullet trap" target? My wife would understand the living room becomming a fireing range. :hmm:

 

[J.D.]

---gotta watch they don't bounce back atcha---

Yeah, for sure. A friend used to fire golf balls out of a home made cannon. One shot hit a large boulder over 200 yards away and rebounded back on our position. We were all steppin' and fetchin' to get out of its way. :youcrazy: :nono: :rotf: :rotf:

I wonder if some sort of felt wad under the rubber ball would protect it from the heat of the buring powder? And, as mentioned, patching to protect the barrel probably would be a good idea.


P.S. I recently contacted a local recycling center about lead. They apparently thought I wanted to sell some lead, and reported that the bottom has fallen out of the lead market. So, I bought 107 pounds of lead sheathing for $32. :blah:

 

[roundball]

Yes, the whole point of the experiments is to simulate a patched lead ball, so I use patches of course like I normally would.

 

[roundball]

I enjoy it...and its not wasted time at all...going off digging into various alternatives like this you learn a lot of interesting things along the way...consider something as simple as a glass marble...until I personally did it I'm not sure I would have blindly accepted that a 9/16" marble would shoot as accurately as a Hornady .570 out of my .58cal....or stumbled into the paintball arena and discoverd the power and speed of the top end paintball guns, and they make special strong metallic skin paintballs that don't break in the barrel;

Or that LEO training uses these hard rubber balls to such a great extent that weapons simulating modern M16s have been manufactured specifially to shoot them, even in automatic fire mode, etc...very interesting stuff and I share anything I find in case anyone might be interested

 

[gmww]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[Jumpshot]

...digging into various alternatives like this you learn a lot of interesting things along the way...

roundball,
don't you ever get tired of this alternative lifestyle? :grin:

 

[Geraldo]

They look like a larger version of the rubber balls in 12ga and 37mm crowd control rounds. As a short range practice alternative, they might work pretty well.

 

[410-er]

OK Round Ball,how about this.Wooden dowel rod sharpened in a pencil sharpener,cut short,patched,and fired! :rotf:
Maybe not even sharpened.Cut them as mini wad cutters. :hmm:

 

[BrownBear]

One of the L&C crew got separated from the party with powder and no shot. He sharpened sticks and fired them. Managed to kill a rabbit, but was pretty darned hungry when reunited. As I recall he reported poor accuracy, but that was with one of those smoothies.

 

[BigDave]

Thats funny.

For survival, I would have sorted out the largest rounded pebbles that would fit in the barrel, and put a thick wad of crushed green leaves beneath it.
I might have even put in 2 or 3 pebbles, and thin wad of crushed green leaves on top to hold them in.

 

[roundball]

"...Wooden dowel rod sharpened in a pencil sharpener..."

:hmm: :hmm: I've got a dozen leftover Easton 2413s with 5" plastic vanes...I could slide one of those down with their vanes wrapped around the shaft so they'll pop out straight when they clear the muzzle like the fins on a cruise missle... :hmm:

 

[Lead Chucker]

maybe with little suction cup tips... :wink: