Ball slamming

This perhaps relates to another topic just posted, but it seems a little different, so here goes: a number of guys in my shooting/reenacting club swear by seating a PRB, and then using the ramrod to repeatedly slam the ball after it's in the seated position. They do this by lifting the ramrod up a ways, and then sort of throwing it down the barrel, so that the tip smacks the ball pretty good. To my way of thinking, this would perhaps mar the face of the ball, possibly affecting accuracy. What say ye?

Wont affect accuracy but totally unnecessary IMHO. Maybe make ya look cool like you have a trick to share but I am not into it.

If your rod end is flat it will somewhat flatten the ball. If your rod end has the same radius as the ball (only concave )it will not have any effect on the ball shape. Which is why I use the appropriate radius on the ramrod tips that I make. :idunno:

I suppose it could deform the face of the ball, depending on how well the tip of the rod mates up with the ball but I would think it to be unnecessary and cause inconsistency in the pressure with which you seat the ball. That said, I see a lot of folks who do it :idunno:

Most do this with no muzzle protection in place as well and if the rod is metal or wood with some grit in it the muzzle crown is taking a beating on the land corners.

I don't know why they do it after the ball is seated but I tap the ball to seat it. I don't slam, I just tap it. When the ramrod bounces its seated.

I guess whatever trips one's trigger. :idunno:

I have no intention of doing it.

I'll bet that if those guys that do it took five shots after just seating it well on the powder, and then five shots after repeatedly slamming the ball...and really tried their best on both sets of shots...that there would be no material difference in accuracy.

I give a couple of light taps when seating both patched round ball and minnies' but I do nothing of the sort when I seat a bullet onto the powder of my .451 PH Volunteer as that does affect its group.

Peppy 96 said:

I don't know why they do it after the ball is seated but I tap the ball to seat it. I don't slam, I just tap it. When the ramrod bounces its seated.

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I do that, lift the rod a few inchs and let it fall. I was told when I first started that a ball that wasnt seated woundn't bonce. Was also told that marking the rod was not a good idea if you under or over charged the gun for some reason, and the bonce was a sure fire way of telling if it was down. I find swabing the bore tween shots givs you a smooth ride to the bottom and I can feel when I hit the charge. I still bonce, not throw, for that whole three slits in the pie crust thing.

Wont affect accuracy but totally unnecessary IMHO

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Well it depends on the ramrod, and guy chucking it down the bore eh? I could see some deformation especially if the fellow were using a brass range rod...but I agree, totally unnecessary.

I usually ask fellows throwing their ramrods down the bore:
"Did that bullet offend you?" :shake:

Now Tenngun drops his ramrod once from a few inches...., which is pointedly different than the guys who pull the rod out half way then slam them back down, two to four times.

I don't use a rod with a metal reinforced tip, so all that would do for me would be to wear out my ramrod.

LD

just out of habit, not because I think it does any thing.

Jaeger said:

This perhaps relates to another topic just posted, but it seems a little different, so here goes: a number of guys in my shooting/reenacting club swear by seating a PRB, and then using the ramrod to repeatedly slam the ball after it's in the seated position. They do this by lifting the ramrod up a ways, and then sort of throwing it down the barrel, so that the tip smacks the ball pretty good. To my way of thinking, this would perhaps mar the face of the ball, possibly affecting accuracy. What say ye?

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Crushes the powder.

I agree with peppy and tengun. I push the patched ball down until I feel resistance. Then, I lift the rod 4 to 6 inches and let it drop. A ball solidly down on the powder will cause the rod to bounce. If it does not bounce, I push the rod down a little harder, and try the bounce test again. This has worked for me for 30+ years. Keep yer powder dry........Robin :wink:

A few taps? Drop it a few inches? You guys are a bunch of amateurs. :grin: Here's how to do it right, from Outing Magazine, winter issue of 1895-96, in a fictional short story by David Dodge called A Turkey Hunt:

"Matt had his own notions about loading a gun and believed that his way was the only sure one for turkey. The charges had to be measured with extreme nicety, a certain sized shot unmixed with any others, and hornet’s-nest wadding had to be used. The last wad had always to be rammed till the ramrod had bounced out of the barrel seven times." :haha:

Spence

A bud of mine is an habitual slammer. Seems to have lots of fun doing it, and kinda gets into it.

I asked him why, and he said he saw Fess Parker doing it on Dan'l Boone. Liked the looks of it, along with the coon skin hat, so he started doing it. Got the hat too. His hat has long since worn out, but his slam is still hard at work. Doesn't seem to hurt or help a thing.

I've never seen a need to bounce/slam it. You can feel when the ball is firmly seated on the powder. You can also mark your ramrod to show when it's seated.

Had a nice, sunny, warm relatively windless day yesterday so went to the range to try and get serious with the peep sight on my Mortimer.

Spit patch, no wiping, pan full of powder, precut patches and yes I slam my ball.

Put five shots into 2" at 100 yards.

So much of what we do is personal preference, habit or just convenience.

Most of it doesn't amount to a hill of beans.

Forgot, I also blow down the barrel.

I have seen it often myself.

I mark my ramrods where the ball is fulled seated with a particular powder charge. I push it down until I feel resistance. A real dirty bore might feel OK, but not be fulled seated. I know it's fully seated when it goes to the mark.

They may have borrowed the practice from rifled musket shooters. A couple of light taps on the seated minie flares the skirt into the rifling to keep it down on the powder. Common practice when hunting.

Duane