Loading Round Balls

[fogg64]

When loading round balls, should the spruce be up or down. Does it really matter?

[rhbrink]

Up and yes it does matter!

[Hanshi]

In my experience it doesn't really make any difference whether it's up or down. Saying that, I always load with sprue up because #1 you have to be consistent and #2 you can't see the sprue if you load it down so you don't really know if it's lined up or cockeyed.

[JeffinNZ]

It depends on what sort of accuracy you expect from your RB rifle. I expect mine to cloverleaf at 50m which is what they do. As such, yes, the sprue MUST be pointing up exactly the same each time. I know this for sure as I have done the experiments to prove it.

[DIRT Farmer]

I got the brilliant idea one time to put a bunch in my tumbler and run them out round. The sprue dissapeared but they did not shoot as well as sprue up and you could tell if the battered smoth sprue was on the side. The ball was harder to short start.

[camerl2009]

sprue up always it matters

1. easy loading

2. accuracy will not be good if not

[fogg64]

I did a little trial with my ROA and didn't seem to matter if the spruces were up or down. I will do some further tests. All the balls for my rifles are swagged, so I haven't been able to test it on them.
I also put this question to the Muzzleloading Forum and it seems that the Bevel Brothers did some test on this and came to the conclusion that it didn't matter.
I am tending to agree with the Bevel Brothers but will conduct further tests (gives me another reason to do some shoot, as if I needed one)

[Hellgate]

According to Dutch Schultz sprue up does matter with the PRB. That allows the ball to be loaded the same each time. If the sprue is down you can't tell if it is a little off. I would wonder if you could load it EXACTLY sprue down if there would be any difference. In a C&B revolver it probably doesn't matter unless you are going for precision shooting. For Cowboy Action it doesn't really matter.

[Alan]

Well, a C&B revolver is dealing with 5+ different chambers, and the ball being swaged down going into the chamber, upsetting as it leaves the chamber, and then being swaged down again as it enters the forcing cone. A really good ROA will shoot 1" to 1 1/4" at 25 yards. A really good .50 or .54 PRB rifle will give that accuracy at 100 yards. It probably does make a difference in the ROA, but the other variables involved mostly mask the difference.

This is one of the reasons I like the Lee tangential sprue molds. I _THINK_ the missing lead from a tangential sprue is smaller than the extra lead of a traditional sprue. The smaller the imperfection, the less difference it makes if you don't get each ball oriented exactly. And how many of us settle for "close enough" when shooting in anything but a closely contested match?:Fire:


Alan

[DIRT Farmer]

If I remember the Bevel brouthers test the sprue location dident matter if it was exactly the same each time. It was easier to locate the sprue up as opposed to down.

[rhbrink]

Hollow point balls?:popcorn:

[1Shirt]

Old trick that I found works with low bh balls. Make a wooden frame, or get a wood box if you can find one, and put a flat very hard smooth surface on the bottom. A big floor tile works well. Put it in the trunk of your car, put the balls in it, and after a week or so of driving, check the balls. From rolling around on that surface, and with wooden sides to absorb/cushion, the sprues will be gone. It is easier to buy swage balls, but this has worked for me.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[lead-1]

WOW, we just put the ball on the patch and drive it home. I had never been told any different so next time I go shooting with the boys we will pay attention to the sprue placement.

[10 ga]

Dittos to what rhbrink and JeffinNZ said. Been tested since the 1200s and found to be true even today! 10 ga

[DIRT Farmer]

Like any thing else, what is your defination of accurcery, and if the gun has the capibility to shoot it. Swaged has its atvantages if you can find them in the size the barrel demands. For my skill level a waded ball in a trade gun/ smouth bore can do better than I can.