Sprue up .....or....Sprue down .????

[Nessmuck56]

I have always loaded my rifles ...Sprue up.....just read some article about loading a smoothy ,with the Sprue down...What say you .??? Ever notice a diff in accuracy ,with Sprue down ,in a smoothy ??

 

[Wes/Tex]

Machts nichts! No difference! Unless you'releaving the sprue un trimmed adn hangine a streamer from it! :wink: :haha: :rotf:

 

[Alden]

Sprue up (besides consistency, the wives-tale is it may help lower it with the pressure of the ramrod), but I usually take them down a tad with a file anyway...

...just before I push them into a pre-cut, olive-oiled, cotton patch.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Makes no difference. Except when trying to load with sprue down you can't see it. Up you can see.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Sprue up. Not because it makes any real difference . . . but sprue down might be canted to one side and you wouldn't know. So that nagging doubt might upset your concentration on the shot.

That, and did I unplug the coffee pot? Is the cat pregnant? When was the last time I checked the air in my tires . . .

 

[Juice Jaws]

Machts nichts, have not heard that phase for over 30 years

 

[hanshi]

What Rifleman said.

 

[spudnut]

The way I roll cartridges they wind up going in sprue first though I have had a couple jam and the culprit is probably the sprue wandering to one side or the other.

 

[nhmoose]

Sprue up unless you have X-ray vision. Keep it centered. Consistency counts in shooting accurately.

 

[Grandpa Ron]

I just went through this exercise a few days ago, 10 shots sprew up and 10 shots sprew down.

Two rounds, five of each. No difference.

Because of the slight tooling marks in the mold I can tell the bottom side of the ball.

I also use a tight patch, so most of the sprew is nicely rounded by the cupped end of the short starter and ramrod.

 

[Nessmuck56]

Well that ends that old wives tale !!! Thanks !!

 

[necchi]

just read some article about loading a smoothy ,with the Sprue down...What say you .??? Ever notice a diff in accuracy ,with Sprue down ,in a smoothy ??

I got $10 say's this thread goes wild about sprue up/down and the story about a smoothy is lost inside 12 more posts.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Only if you add to the mix, either square or round patches... :rotf:

 

[Black Hand]

I put my cast RBs in a plastic container and shake them around until the sprue is barely visible. At that point it doesn't really matter any more.

 

[larryp]

I load sprue down in my smoothbore. I use a bare ball over a lubed wad so the flat sprue is against a flat wad. The 2 flat surfaces against each other keeps the ball centered. So far I get pretty good accuracy.

 

[spudnut]

I agree up or down doesn't seem to matter much , smoothies are forgiving.
Possibly getting that sprue to wander to the side when loading it down is the biggest problem.

 

[George]

I've tried both ways and could see no difference.

I imagine the sprue winds up on the back or trailing side of the ball no matter how you load it. A moderate load in a smoothbore will push the ball to about 1000 mph. With no spin, I expect a ball shot from a smoothbore will immediately be flipped by the drag 180° on exiting the muzzle, putting the sprue "down".

Spence

 

[larryp]

I agree up or down doesn't seem to matter much , smoothies are forgiving.
Possibly getting that sprue to wander to the side when loading it down is the biggest problem.

I load the wad and ball at the same time so they go down the barrel with the flats pressed against each other all the way to the bottom.
I agree Spence with the air flow causing the ball to rotate sprue to the rear. I figure with it loaded that way already that's less disturbance to it's flight.

 

[FishDFly]

I expect a ball shot from a smoothbore will immediately be flipped by the drag 180° on exiting the muzzle, putting the sprue "down".


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Supporting facts would be appreciated please.

 

[George]

?????????????????..



Supporting facts would be appreciated please.

If facts were available I wouldn't have said "I imagine" and "I expect". Than means I'm thinking about it and deciding what seems logical to me.

Do you have any facts showing it doesn't happen? That would be just as good, wouldn't it?

Spence