sprue up or down

[flatcreek]

That's the second dumbest thing I've ever read.

What's the first?

 

[64Springer]

What's the first?

What I typed about cutting a keyway in the chambers so the sprue would slide in.

 

[Oldbear63]

I made a simple swage to stamp out the sprue on my .50 balls that works well, though too much enthusiasm creates a slightly flattened ball with a rim. This was before the cost of cast balls was equal or higher than swaged balls, so now I suspect it doesn't matter which you buy price-wise.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Without reading the other replies, my take on this subject is: sprue up. If the sprue is down properly the aerodynamics would be identical to up. But, the problem is you cannot see the sprue when loaded down and you won't know if it is perfectly centered or not. Load up and there is no issue.

 

[Old Hawkeye]

Without reading the other replies, my take on this subject is: sprue up. If the sprue is down properly the aerodynamics would be identical to up. But, the problem is you cannot see the sprue when loaded down and you won't know if it is perfectly centered or not. Load up and there is no issue.

It is impossible to "perfectly center" the sprue. People just "think" they have it "perfectly centered" & it makes them feel better. It would take precision measuring instruments & tools to "perfectly center" it, so the reality is it just doesn't matter if it's up or down or centered or not.

 

[deerstalkert]

sprue up , sprue down. dead soft round ball, alloyed round ball. spit patch, bear fat lube. blowing down the fired barrel or not.
using pocket drill, or whatever. Black powder or 777. clean with hot water or cold.
all the bellowing above seems to me as just turning a relaxing hobby into just another modern competition.
must be getting old and grumpy.
think i will take my latest .54 build, load it with 80g of fffg, prime with the same, cotton sheet patch, ball however it goes down, and go scare a deer.

 

[CaptainVane]

If Danl Boone had seen this thread he would be like….

 

[M. De Land]

All the round ball ammo I buy now seems to be forged rather than cast, so there are no sprues. However I still have a bunch that I bought years ago for my 1860 Colt replica that were cast. I've heard both ways sprue up and sprue down recommended over the years. I suppose aerodynamics is what makes the difference? Is accuracy affected? The advice I was given 50 years ago when I bought my first BP revolver was sprue down so that's what I've always done.

I read an article some years ago in Muzzle Blast magazine about a test conducted by the Bevel brothers concerning this question and I think I remember their results showed a tiny bit of accuracy advantage to the sprue up but in the final analysis the difference was statistically to close to affirmatively say one way or the other.
Does any one else remember the article and remember if I got the conclusion right?

 

[nick_1]

spru up. the ram rod flattens it when you load.. shooting is a mental game so as long as your head believes in your method you will get good hits. If you doubt your method you will have greater chance of a miss.