dimpled round balls.

[johnson1942]

does any one know how to dimple a round ball like a golf ball? their was a article with in this last year on it in a muzzleloader mag. also golf balls fly straighter dimpled than smooth ones. this would probably benifit smooth bores more than rifled but i dont know that for sure. if some one could come up with a simple swageing die to put each ball in and tap the die it would work. who could make such a die? hope i get input as my friend and i are wanting to try some dimpled round balls to shoot.

[GARD72977]

I think a golf ball has spin on it when its hit. The dimples may make it grab the driver better and make it spin. Just a thought- I hate golf

[DIRT Farmer]

There is a lot of differance in the speed of a golf ball and a patched round ball and the resultant air flow around it. Several expermints that I have read about showed no imprvement or worse. The last was in Muzzle Blasts by the Bevel Brouthers as I remember

[Southern Son]

Lead is a bit soft, too. When the powder goes boom, the ball will flatten slightly, forcing the edges against the inside of the bore, and smoothing the dimples on the side, so now you have dimples on the top and bottom, but not the sides. Then there is the strange patterns I have seen on round ball from the patch. All up, if you give it a go, let us know, but I would rather put the time into somethong else. Besides, April fools day is the first, isn't it?

[missionary5155]

Good morning
As I understand the golf ball dimples they are to create lift on the upper forward surface of the ball thus giving it more distance per wack. The dirrection of the spin in relation to the forward movement against the air causes a lower air pressure against the forward upper curvature of the ball. Same basic principle of the upper forward curved part of a wing on an aircraft or the upper front edge of a rotary wing.
So if you would want your ball to rise while traveling downrange you will need to figure out how to get it to spin counter clockwise in relation to it's forward travel.
Maybe it would just be simpler to aim a little higher.
Mike in Peru

[johnson1942]

every body has a point and you all are probaby right. wish i had some though just to try. thanks every one.

[pietro]

.

You can try it & report back your results, Junior - just press-roll a few across a coarse carpenter's rasp.

FWIW, once upon a time, a guy named Minie' got a boolit named for him - if you're successful, maybe you can have some balls named, too............ :D



.

[elginrunner]

before you read the link, just realize it was april fools day.....

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2009/04/us-army-team-tests-radical-new-dimpled-bullet/

[KCSO]

There were some golf balls made with rings instead of dimples that would cure a slice??? I'm not a golfer. But for lead round balls in a rifle you wouldn't need dimples and for a smooth bore I guees it would depend on how you load. I have a used center punch and a bench block if you want to get started?

[fouronesix]

and there's a reason knuckle ball catchers use large mitts and enhanced pads/gear :)

[johnson1942]

i didnt get the idea from that article, i and my friend were taking about it as a matter of conversation. i believe that looking to nature for design is a good thing and look at the leading edge of a dragon flys wing. not smooth.

[59sharps]

several way the N-SSA guys are doing it. 1lb coffee can throw 1/2 dozen in at a time give them a good shake. put the can in your truck and let them spend a day of traveling w you. other method. roll them between 2 rasp files to rough them up. i have also thrown them in my tumbler for a while. we shoot bare round ball. Not sure what any of this actualy dose, you wold have to ask the top shooters thats not me. i have not seen any diffrence other than it seams to holdng the lube better.

[Hanshi]

Balls with dimples are cute, though. [smilie=1:

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Cast RB, even tangential cut sprue types in a Thumler's tumbler achieve a very nice black shiny graphited lead rb appearance and if tumbled long enough the sprue nib virtually disappears or the tangential cut spot disappears. I've had this happen from .32 to .602. Out of round moderates a bit also.

I recall that shortly after N-SSA allowed smothbore weapons in competition, but without patching or wadding, enterprising shooters did roughen close fitting rb that already were reasonably close fitting to the particular bore, by moderately rolling the ball under a coarse file to sort of make it "nappy" and to hold a bit of lube and fit somewhat snugly for consistency and accuracy. The target ranges were reduced from typical rifled musket ranges. There were some darn good shooters too!

BvT

[newton]

I have wondered about this myself. Not enough to do experiments yet though. I started wondering when I had made a bunch of round balls up and I did not like the look of the sprue. I also thought it would be nice to apply a light coat of LLA to them to see if it would keep them from oxidizing longer.

Well, a light coat of LLA takes a long time to get onto all the balls in a big container. Long enough to put dimples all in the balls. They came out looking like little golf balls.

I had a guy use them and he said they were just fine. I think it would be hard to ever be able to judge them for absolute. It would take a lot of careful attention to loading and such.

I think that if I were going to test I would use a thick felt wad on the powder before the patch and ball. But what I do know is that all the dimples do not effect them, not enough that I have ever heard.

[Geraldo]

Just call a custom mold maker and get one that will throw dimpled balls. ;) Of course they're not hitting drives at 1400fps so the ballistics will be different.

Thanks to elginrunner for posting the link, ,I'm going to send it to a buddy and see if he bites.

[Silver Eagle]

Might be a better idea to cast them oversize by a few thou. Then run them through a sizer at the desired diameter. The larger bearing surface against the rifling might improve your accuracy.

[Texantothecore]

does any one know how to dimple a round ball like a golf ball? their was a article with in this last year on it in a muzzleloader mag. also golf balls fly straighter dimpled than smooth ones. this would probably benifit smooth bores more than rifled but i dont know that for sure. if some one could come up with a simple swageing die to put each ball in and tap the die it would work. who could make such a die? hope i get input as my friend and i are wanting to try some dimpled round balls to shoot.


That was tried a long time ago and the results were not at all good for a number of reasons. Suffice it say it just doesn't work at 1400 fps.

[longbow]

As mentioned, just tumble some round balls together for a while and they come out nicely dimpled. I just poured a few 0.690" RB's from hand to hand to hand for a while and the sprues flattened off nicely, just about disappearing, and the entire surface of the balls looked much like a golf ball (I hate golf too!).

I did this for a friend but never did get a report on accuracy. They were to be shot out of a 12 ga. cartridge gun so I doubt accuracy was much good anyway.

The idea of the dimples on a golf ball is to create turbulent air flow over the surface reducing drag so providing longer range. If the ball also has a backspin lift is enhanced.

Not sure any of this would have a significant effect on a musket ball... and I still hate golf!

Longbow