Short starter ideas????

[smokehouseman]

Just broke the ball on my short starter :cursing: and would like to know if anyone has some good ideas for replacement balls, something different?

 

[cowpoke1955]

Go to a hobby craft store like Michael's. They normally carry round wooden balls you can use to make a short starter.

 

[bwhoffman]

old door knobs

 

[Zonie]

If you have a Woodworking store around they sell round hardwood spheres for about $2.00
They would also have a piece of 3/8 inch dowel and a 3/8 inch drill bit to drill the holes.

If you really want to get fancy, you can buy some 3/8 diameter brass tubing. By cutting off a 1/8 inch length of tubing and turning the end of the dowels down so the tubing ring will fit it you will have a reinforced tip that won't split or become swaged out from use.

With these you can build short starters like there's no tomorrow for almost no cost. :grin:

Another idea for a short starter might be making one out of a deer horn like this

 

[blacksmithman64]

I make mine just like Zonie's but I use 3/8" solid brass rod and cherry out the end for the ball. I epoxy it into the antler and then pin it.Those wood ball things are ugly, I don't care who you are! :grin:

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

If it is a small caliber drawer knobs work well
I think they call them drawer pulls. They are kind of mushroom shaped not round. They give you
a good flat surface for the palm of your hand. I made one with a brass knob. ( it was not real brass as it would not tarnish with the black powder fouling ) It had a brass starter, it all looked good. I also made one out of a painted white knob. I am talking about 1, 1/4 inch diameter at the top and about 3/4 inch deep. Most hardware stores ( Lowes ) have these knobs with an example mounted on the outside of the door so you can look at all of the different styles.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I have made short starters, and Range rod handles from Antler, Brass, and Walnut, the later two turned down to look like a nice wide doorknob. The antler works fine if its wide enough to give you a good wide surface for your palm to " whack". If its too skinny a piece of antler, you begin to hurt your hand after a few good hard "whacks". Both my walnut, and Brass knobs are glued and pinned to the rods. For the working end of the shortstarter you make yourself, you can buy ramrod tips from track of the Wolf that you can also glue and pin to the ends of the shaft.

I also like having a muzzle protector on my short starters, but few come with them. A sharp whack on a short starter to seat a ball at the muzzle is the worst thing you can do to the muzzle, if there is any grit or dirt either on the muzzle or on the shalft of the short starter. With a muzzle protector, you don't have to worry about the shalf suddenly, and strongly rubbing against the crown if you hit the SS off center a bit. The muzzle protector will center the shaft in the barrel.

I have two different muzzle protectors- one made of brass, and the other of a synthetic, Delrin. The Synthetic one is easier to clean, so it stays on a range rod. The Brass one is on a short starter. I just take the time to clean it after each use. It takes a swipe with a cleaning patch and some cleaning solvent to do this, so its relatively easy to keep it pristine clean, even in the field.

The Brass one makes more noise than does the synthetic one, however. I am wanting to cone my muzzle so I can eliminate the need for a short starter in the field, to get rid of that noise.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I find a wood ball unnecessarily bulky to carry around. I use a flat "stub-starter" just to get the ball out of the block and into the bore an inch or so. From there I just choke up on the rammer and push it down. Both of these are whittled out of a single bit of wood.

 

[Black Hand]

Just broke the ball on my short starter :cursing: and would like to know if anyone has some good ideas for replacement balls, something different?

Get rid of the short-starter all together. One less thing to carry, and your ramrod serves the same function anyway.....

 

[gbsclohn]

Elk Antler,oak wood,8-Ball or 13 Ball,metal t-handle --needs to fit your hand comfortably
How did it break in the first place

 

[smokehouseman]

I knew that question would come up :redface: . I gave my starter a sharp whack to get the ball down, and for reasons unknown I couldn't pull it out. It may be that part of he patch got caught up and wouldn't allow it to come out, but I'm not sure. My short starter has a muzzle protector on it so I couldn't see what it was hanging up on. When I put some muscle on it to pull it out the ball came off the ss rod and in my attempt to put it reseat it the ball broke :shocked2: . That ended the range session, I returned home and put it in the vise with a leather protector and pulled it out, seated the load and CO2'd it out.

Lots of good ideas put forth and the pinning I believe will help 100%. Thanks for the input :bow: .

 

[paulvallandigham]

The end of your short start may be too large for the bore. Are you using, for instance, a .50 caliber starter in a .45? If so, the brass end may be so large that the patch binds it in the barrel, in front of your muzzle protector.

Measure the end of the short starter, and do the math. That should tell you what happened.

 

[Goldhunter]

I like antler. I've got a bunch of deer and elk sheds that I use.

 

[smokehouseman]

I'm using a .54 starter in a .54 bore. I cut my own patches and the last batch I did I cut them just a tad larger than I usually cut them, I'm thinking the patch somehow got bound up, but not certain.

 

[smokehouseman]

Antler sounds good, I'm thinking now of trying to incorporate a buffalo hoof knuckle into this project, I know I've got one kickin' around here someplace. It's worth a try.

 

[Goldhunter]

I had that happen n a .45 pistol. Apparently the brass end has just big enough that the patch wrapped around the end when I started the ball. when I went to pull the starter, it wouldn't come out. It eventually did with some persuasion, but the tip came off in the barrel.

Now that I've coned my barrels, I don't use a short starter anymore.

 

[flintriflesmith]

Just broke the ball on my short starter :cursing: and would like to know if anyone has some good ideas for replacement balls, something different?

Get rid of the short-starter all together. One less thing to carry, and your ramrod serves the same function anyway.....

Agree 100%! Ditch the short starter -- and the loading block.

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

The short starter I use in my big bores is the same one I made for my 40! I never have a problem
with this little starter getting bound up on the walls of the barrel. I did eliminate the short starter on a couple of my flintlocks, I put in a Joe Woods cone in a couple of flinters. I still use a small powder horn, a measure hanging on the bag and a loading block. There is no faster way I can get a reload for a quick follow up shot than using these old timey items. I suppose it is because this is all I have ever used in loading flintlocks. I guess it is what you are comfortable with. I know some will disagree with me but to each his own. What ever works best for you is the answer.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I don't think it can be anything else. I have had this happen with .22 rods, with .50 caliber rods and patches, with my .45, and with my 12 and 20 gauge smoothbores. YOu can cut the patches smaller, or take a little off the sides of tips of those jags.

 

[rebel727]

Just broke the ball on my short starter :cursing: and would like to know if anyone has some good ideas for replacement balls, something different?

Get rid of the short-starter all together. One less thing to carry, and your ramrod serves the same function anyway.....

You've never tried to start a .530 ball with a .020 patch have you? Can't do it with the ramrod, not in my rifle anyway.