Tumbling round ball to smooth sprue cut

[cynthialee]

I have heard of people putting them in a cookie tin in their vehicle. Just drive around normally for a week and that should do it.

I did this once, then got bitched at for leaving a 'noise maker' in the vehicle

 

[jackpenley]

I am completely new to BP and even newer to casting bullets/balls so here is a newbie question. What is meant by "short starter"?

thanks
-jack

 

[Mogadishu Meanderer]

I tumbled all my RBs, but it will depend on the mold being used. Some molds throw balls with too big of a sprue. The best candidates are from RCBS, Lee and MartyArms(needs to be cut with razor) since the sprues are very small to begin with. Lyman’s sprues are to big to be tumble, you will end up with egg looking RBs. Lyman’s big sprues help you position them when loading, the other no so much, you end up wasting time looking for the sprue oo align it so why not just erase it by tumbling. I say erased it because the sprues will never be really removed by any means unless you cut it off. The short starter will just squash it down and the pan on your trunk will take 500 miles of driving on washboards to make a dent. The purpose of tumbling is more aesthetically pleasing than useful. Also, will help you load faster particularly in revolvers. It also allows you to coat the balls with the anti oxidant of you choice, I use graphite. I have noticed no difference in accuracy but I prefer a perfect looking projectile than one that is not. Shooting is 90 in the heads and I always load and shoot as if I am shooting for a million dollars while having fun! That should be the end goal, right? Anyways, commercial RBs are only staged at the beginning , then they are tumble for ever, and then tumble some more with a bit of wax to protect them from the elements. I tumble 300 or so inside a ziplock bag with a bit of graphite for about 90 minutes or so, it works for me. I will post a picture of some .58s, before and after. I hope it helps.

 

[Travler]

I roll them between two heavy glass plates. Accuracy is just as good as loading sprue up.

I do the same with smooth ceramic tiles. 10 sec and they are great

 

[mooman76]

I am completely new to BP and even newer to casting bullets/balls so here is a newbie question. What is meant by "short starter"?

thanks
-jack

A small piece of ramrod, usually about 5" or so with a handle like a round wooden knob to help you get a tight RB or bullets started. Sometimes people use a piece of antler or other things. Mine is about the same size as a door knob.

 

[59sharps]

I was taught the idea behind tumbling your round balls was to dimple them like a golf ball for the flight characteristics. Like ADK Bigfoot, I haven't noticed any difference in their performance

the sprue is not much a concern really

dimples are to hold lube I was told.

 

[Mogadishu Meanderer]

dimples are to hold lube I was told.

I have shot Ks of RBs in 12 different states and I have never heard of either. Putting dimples on RB will make it a prime candidate for chain fires on revolvers and to dimple them to “lube” them is such fashion? Why? Anyone with better insight?.. I surely need to get educated on this topic!!

 

[DuncNZ]

I know guys who put the balls loosely in a cake tin , spray with WD and put them in the back of their ute or car boot ( Translation , Back of their pickup or the trunk of their car ) and leave them while they drive around for a week or two and the sprues are supposed to disappear. IT seems to work , I use swaged balls so I have never tried it

 

[Mogadishu Meanderer]

I know guys who put the balls loosely in a cake tin , spray with WD and put them in the back of their ute or car boot ( Translation , Back of their pickup or the trunk of their car ) and leave them while they drive around for a week or two and the sprues are supposed to disappear. IT seems to work , I use swaged balls so I have never tried it

Cutfinger, thank you for the reply. I did LOL because you used two words that seem to float around to much, “supposed” and “seems”.!!! I actually tried the pick up truck method and is such bunch of crap, like I said in my original post, you would have to drive 500 miles a day on a 1940 Chevy truck with lousy suspension on a dirt washboard road for a year to make a difference! I have a 1995 truck and live up a three mile dirt road and the damn little spheres just sit there without a care in the world, may be jiggle around a bit when i braked or accelerated irresponsibly, that’s it! I would love to see a picture of sprues removed this way from someone, it surely makes a fun discussion. BTW, the swaged balls that you shoot i ll bet they were tumbled to death before they got to your hands! As long as they shoot good, who really cares one way or the other! Just for the sake and fun of the argument!

 

[DuncNZ]

I have some German made swaged round balls and they all look as if they have been tumbled , even to a black shiny surface which I suspect is graphite . I have weighed them and they are very consistent and shoot very well .

 

[okawbow]

Cast lead balls often have small voids just under the sprue. You can find the balls with voids by weighing them with an accurate scale. However, for normal shooting it matters little, as long as the sprue is placed up or down consistently. If the ball is tumbled, the void could end up on the side, and affect accuracy.
From practice and competition, I have found that the most accurate lead balls are hand cast, weighed and sorted to remove any light ones. Loaded with the sprue straight up. Swaged balls are not as consistent or as accurate.

 

[DuncNZ]

I used to weigh all my swaged balls before a competition and only use the balls within 1 grain of the correct weight (heaviest ball ) for that caliber . I think about 15% were under weight , I used them for plinking and shooting gongs . Now I don't compete seriously so it isn't a concern . It is a complete #@%* weighing out 300 balls or more to get the number you want .

 

[SamTex1949]

I am completely new to BP and even newer to casting bullets/balls so here is a newbie question. What is meant by "short starter"?

thanks
-jack

a "short starter is just what it sounds like for starting a ball/bullet in the muzzle

 

[toot]

Not unless your competing for thousands of dollars. There have been sprues since day one. It's part of muzzleloading.

and the making of lead balls!! try making them with out one on it!! can't be done!!

 

[toot]

a "short starter is just what it sounds like for starting a ball/bullet in the muzzle
View attachment 116299

there is a short one and then there is a real short one! see them both?

 

[toot]

I never rolled any of my balls, but I think there would be the possibility of getting them out of round, which would be worse than a sprue. If a mould is cut properly, there is very little sprue to be concerned with.

yes, trust your mold!!

 

[unclelouie]

I have heard of people putting them in a cookie tin in their vehicle. Just drive around normally for a week and that should do it.

i haven't been to mascoutah in years since my daughter moved from there when they were in the airforce. never seen so many snakes by them ponds. lol i'm in Utah. you had a bank then called the Magna Bank. the town i lived in was called Magna.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

put the sprue on the back side, it should reduce drag by not letting the air flow around the ball from snapping back together at the same spot. or not.

The round balls for this type of rifles should be cast from pure lead – not hardened, then the sprue cut should be smoothed or rounded with a small file, or pocket knife, if the best accuracy is desired. I have heard old riflemen, years ago, say that it mattered not whether the sprue surface of the ball is placed at the bottom or the top when loading the round ball rifle, but this is not reasonable, and does not agree with my experience and that of the majority of experienced riflemen who use the muzzle-loading rifles. All experienced riflemen who use the modern high power rifles, as well as the most expert marksmen with the target or schuetzen breech-loading singe shot rifles, know that the base of the bullet which rests against the powder and is first acted upon by the powder gas must be as perfect as possible and each bullet have the same shape of base, in order to give good, uniform accuracy. Of course, these same conditions obtain in rifles using the round ball ; therefore, as almost no two cast round balls have exactly the same shape at the point where the sprue was cut off –one ball having a decidedly flat place at this point, the next one cut obliquely and the third having an inverted V cut sprue end—it is beyond all reason to expect these three balls to group closely on the target. Experienced experts agree that better accuracy with the round ball rifles will be secured by always loading the sprue surface of the ball at the top, or towards the muzzle.
Ned Roberts The Muzzle-Loading Cap Lock Rifle

LD

 

[bore_butter]

what i posted was a joke, didn't think anyone would do anything but laugh, next time i'll put a Ha Ha at the end.
started to post that i chew on mine till the sprue was flat then it is pre-lubed too.

 

[J. Paul]

Muzzle blasts magazine several years ago did an article on sprue position and also addressed question of cavities in home cast round ball.. they determined it really made zero measurable difference. As ball revolves, it rotates to its own center of mass to stabilize its flight