What’s a “ball block” for?

[FishDFly]

Another thing I do with ball boards is give them away. They are easy to make from scrap wood I have from projects.

I give them to kids at shoots. It gives them something to take home and maybe foster them to keep shooting.

 

[tenngun]

Paper has been around for over 2000 years, the paper clip only about 120 Years.

Through out history there have been things that just appeared. All of a sudden ships had stern post rudders. We don’t know when they were invented or first used in the west. Just suddenly ships have them.
Forks seemed to have been used in Italy about 1600 for eating. Yet three centuries before a monk condemned there use. Was he prescient, or were some people eating with a fork some centuries before the Italian nobility?
when did the firstfrontier man add a cape to his riflemans shirt. We don’t THINK they were used in the Fand I but were common fifteen years later. When was it first used? Who can say it’s too early?
Do we have middle nineteenth century loading manuals that tell us how to use a block?
None that I know of. Yet there they are in photos.
I agree with Carbon 6 that they were simple tools and were probably invented fairly early.
I don’t take one to a colonial period event. Not because I don’t think they could have been used but because they raise eyebrows.
But, I do take a wedge tent. Something not owned or used by many middling farmers or townsman. And that doesn’t raise eyebrows.
I have more cotton then linen. My wool almost all has some nylon in it. I have more pots then anyone save a gentleman officer would have in the field.
Till some one finds a work by a guy who creates a ‘new system of loading a rifle in the field with alacrity’ in 1757 or 1830 or some such date we can not say ‘they didn’t do it yet’.

 

[Coot]

But we can say that there is no evidence to say that they did do it yet. "Re-enactorisms" (cotton canvas tents, rubber sole shoes, lots of cast iron, hidden (hopefully) coolers) are concessions to todays world, not representations of the past. They are accepted because they are needed to get & keep participation at todays events.

 

[tenngun]

Yes, but as we can say for sure cotton tents were few and far between in 1770, and we can say that we have no written or historic example of a loading block our first evidence of them is photography.
I think that’s telling.
The argument is oft used that if they were known they would be written about, but the photographs shows them in use but not written about.
I’m not telling any one to get one. I haven’t used one for years as I have slowed my whole loading, and for my shooting it’s just another thing I don’t need stuffed in my bag.
But all we can say about them is that :
We don’t know when they were invented;
And we don’t know if they were used on early rifles in America
We don’t know when they were first used and our first evidence is well used pieces in early photography.

 

[Carbon 6]

I can see the benefit to a PRB reload.....might get one per caliber.

That's what I thought too, I had one for each caliber but found I never really used them. For hunting they were just something extra to carry that I really didn't need. For the range I preferred to use spit for patch lube so ball blocks were out and I would get the occasional misalignment when loading. I did use them as a counting aid and I did use them for woods walks.

 

[Brokennock]

Makes sense, I sorta thought a dry patch would burn through and destroy accuracy though.

I think he meant using what folks call a dry lube.

 

[Jay Templin]

I use a starting block for competing at Rendezvous- my block was a gift from my late friend Bob way back when I first started shooting black powder, and it's nice to have the momento. I used to carry it hunting, but to be honest, I rarely get to shoot one time on a hunt, let alone eleven times! Nowadays I just drop a half dozen or so balls in my pouch and call it good.
Jay

 

[AZbpBurner]

"Loading blocks are a modern thing".

So is the computer, but the loading block is the older of the 2.

But using a computer to whack & seat a PRB seems a mite awkward.

 

[Carbon 6]

But using a computer to whack & seat a PRB seems a mite awkward.

It works fine if you have enough RAM.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Ned Roberts describes the use of bullet boards in his book “The Muzzle Loading Cap Lock Rifle” and he was using them in the 1870s and in the book tells about their use as being “traditional” and what he learned about from his older uncle and other shooters. Same for short starters.

Couple that with photographic evidence and for the percussion period THEY ARE 100% PERIOD CORRECT.

It doesn’t make sense the showed up overnight, either. It probably AT LEAST as old as the 1830-1840s from all evidence.

Those claiming bullet boards are not PC at least for the mid 19th century have no idea what they are talking about,

I dangle one proudly from my shooting pouch, the patches lubed with a mink’s oil, and have left them loaded for several weeks at a time and lube doesn’t migrate away and deposits a useful amount about the bore for smooth shooting of all 5 shots (and Imagine several more).

Depending on one’s lube and personal desire, one can finish out the holes (or the whole block) with a water-proved sealant of some kind.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I use one for three reasons. 1. in competion it helps me keep track of number of shots. 2. when hunting a small one on a necklass helps with a fast second shot.3. And the simple fact it allows me to avoid balancing the rifle, the patched ball, and a sharp knife at the same time.

 

[sawyer04]

I have them from .32 to .54 in many shapes and sizes, some are in even in the shape of hearts. They are useful, reduce clutter in my "man bag" and are fun to make.

Who really cares when they were first conceived?

I like them because of the art and crafting of them as you say. It is fun to tinker and make them out of scraps in the wood shop during a winter day.

 

[nessmuk]

Mel Gibson used one in "the Patriot" movie.

 

[SDSmlf]

Mel Gibson used one in "the Patriot" movie.

Guess that settles it. Can’t argue with Hollywood.

 

[Carbon 6]

Guess that settles it. Can’t argue with Hollywood.

Can't argue with Mel Gibson.

Still going to throw a plug in there for paper cartridges.

Wait!, They sit in a wooden block too
No way that's just a coincidence.

 

[beardedhorse]

One can get off one shot every fifteen seconds with a patched ball block. During hunting I reload from bag or those Butler Creek plastic reloads but in case they are out a flask with charger and the bullet block with looser fitting patches makes for a fast reload. One shot should not foul the bore so much that the same patch thickness in the reload would be any harder to load. Depends on the actual circumstances. Leaving the loads in the block does allow the lube to dry out or get absorbed by the wood even if the block is sealed with spar varnish or Tru-Oil.

 

[William O.]

Dry lube consists of a mixture of Ballistol and water. The ratio depends on what your rifle does best with. Most start with 5/1 up to 7/1, water to Ballistol. After shaking the mixture in a jar or similar container, place a strip of your patching material in it, then remove and gently squeeze. Lay material flat and let dry. Mark the strips somehow so you'll know which is which. Once dry, go to the range and see which ratio your rifle likes best. The pressure and heat generated when you touch off the powder charge squeezes the Ballistol out of the patch and seals the bore and leaves a film on it that also acts as a cleaner to make the fouling easy to remove. I have not tested to see which ratio my rifle likes but a good friend of mine prefers the 6 to 1 if I remember correctly.

 

[Art Caputo]

I have found that Mink Oil will sustain the lubricity of the patched ball for the duration of hunting season, without accuracy being effected. An unfinished/unstained piece of hardwood works best with the holes rubbed with Mink Oil to avoid absorption of the oil on the patch being absorbed by the wood. Using a block combined with my 70gr powder horn valve makes reloading a cinch....particularly in the freezing weather I often encounter during deer season.

 

[mushka]

I think if I was to use a ball board it would be with the .32 and .36 calibers. With my arthritis in the fingers those two calibers give me the most trouble setting the prb to the barrel. The larger balls aren't much of a problem.

 

[FishDFly]

Someone here awhile back had a ball board for sale with nice wire inlaying. I wish I had that person's talent, it was one of the nicest one's I have seen.