Pictures of a patched roundball in flight ...

[Flint62Smoothie]

Alas I don't recall where I got the photos, so we can only speculate as to how the photo was taken or how it was shot.

 

[Jaegermeister]

That red line must be from the laser sight.

 

[longcruise]

I wonder if those ball were fired by compressed air, being so clean and no smoke or flame in sight. That would make for a better photograph in a photo lab.

Think you are right on Phil. I've seen pictures like this of balls fired with BP and the flame is obvious and dramatic. Wish I could remember where I saw them. And, the action of the patch was identical to these photos.

 

[shorthair]

That does seem to be. The red line is different in each picture, with the second picture having more redlines. Burning powder is lighter than the ball and patch, so it travels faster. That is just my .02 cent opinion.

Being lighter than the ball it should slow down much quicker than the ball.