I had an opportunity to shoot a few marbles from a smoothbore per request by a viewer.
Not as many as I wanted to shoot due to a loading FAILURE...!!
Not as many as I wanted to shoot due to a loading FAILURE...!!
Shooting Marbles?? Is that smart?
- Thread starter B P Maniac Shooter
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Well done as ever. Next time trickle 4f in there. It's easier.
Did you try a solid metal rammer on the ball. It may of yielded and gone down.
Did you try a solid metal rammer on the ball. It may of yielded and gone down.
user 49399
54 Cal.
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Good video! I have used 1/2 inch white marbles from Tractor Supply in a .62 caliber smooth bore. They were ok, but definitely not as accurate as lead round balls.
Comfortably_Numb
The Evil Mike Brooks
I have always wondered what happened to your marbles. 
I shoot marbles but at the neighbor's cats and with my slingshot.
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Why stick a bunch of junk down your barrel? Not good for huntingput a bunch of loose firecrackers down the dang thing,,,,sheesh
Flint Striker
40 Cal
Glass is fragile, but it’s pretty damn hard and abrasive. A marble shattering in the bore and scraping its way out at 1200 FPS probably wouldn’t be good.
Sort of got ‘forced’ into using marbles one time. Guy I worked with asked if I could let his boys shoot a muzzleloader. Told him sure, we could even do it on his property, as it was much closer than the gun range. Then his wife laid down the law. Kids were not allowed to handle or be near lead nor was lead to be used on their property. I had a tub of marbles that I used to teach simple statistics and probability and sorted out a quantity that measured between .52” and .55”. Remember being surprised how much they varied in diameter and they for sure were not round. Patched over 30 grains of powder in 58 caliber flint and percussion guns, the boys were destroying clay pigeons at 25 yards or so by the end of the session. Saved a quantity in case ever needed again, or maybe for slingshot ammo.
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Hmmm, seems like it would be tough to pull a marble....just not good practice for any reason. Someone afraid of lead exposure? Wrong sport no matter what...
Sgt. Hulka
32 Cal
Hmmm, “Comfortably_Numb” and “Heyyou”48307. Two Pink Floyd songs. These two folks are one in the same. They are the same poster, busy supporting each others posts while belittling BP Maniac Shooters posts.
So you are suggesting not giving the kids a chance to shoot? Where do you think the next generation of shooters and hunters are coming from? Using marbles I gave 11 and 13 year old brothers their first opportunity to shoot guns, not to mention they were percussion and flintlock guns, with approval from a helicopter mom. And as far as pulling one, if you read my post you would have noticed the marbles were way under bore size, plus I own a compressor and a number of grease guns.
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For fun. It's his gun and his money, don't be such a "stick in the mud".
Have you ever tried this with steel ball bearings? I would think you'd have better consistency of size and weight. If you patch 'em you shouldn't have any barrel damage. I'd have been afraid of getting shards of glass all over and/or maybe having the ball shatter within the bore where it might damage the barrel. I'm liking that Pedersoli though. Now I gotta go Google it up!
FishnRod
40 Cal
A penetration test to go along with this would be interesting. I bet those steel ball bearings would be unstoppable.
Well, I'd guess that BP Maniac has pretty thick skin or he wouldn't be posting a video of himself shooting marbles out of a muzzleloader. It WAS an interesting video, and I would not have been brave enough to try it in one of my own guns. Just recently discovered BP Maniac and look forward to more videos.
Might be a bit hard on the barrel.
Vtmountaindeerhunter
40 Cal
I have been a fan of bpms for years now. Thanks for another great article and post. Is an honor to share a thread with you sir
It might, but ball bearings wouldn't shatter like I would've expected a marble to do (apparently it didn't), and if you patched it in a smooth-bore, the steel shouldn't contact the bore. Plenty of history shooting odd stuff down the bore... chain, nails, steel shot, etc. I'm also sorta wondering if anybody tried shooting turned wooden bullets... maybe made of lignum vitae or ironwood.
These are all probably Bad Ideas that the "Good Idea Fairy" or the "Emperor Mong" whispered into the ears of different people over the years, but we humans like to experiment...
Well I tend to recommend all my bad ideas to @B P Maniac Shooter to try out for me
Truth be told it was Mark's videos that got me over the line when I was looking for my first smoothbore. I was interested in the history but the idea of how much fun they could be sold me.
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