ball parting line alignment

[M. De Land]

"Well, did it make a difference in all your competition shooting"?
How would I know, I just said I never considered it before reading about it the other day.
It probably is practiced for bench shooting round balls.

 

[M. De Land]

A patched ball shot from a rifled bore does not tumble in flight if it maintains it's accuracy past 50-75 yards.
It rotates about its axis and is no longer actually round.
A smooth bore is quite a different kettle of fish in its relation to the ball motion in flight.

 

[M. De Land]

Another thing the Bevel Bros. said was that a cut patch at the muzzle is more accurate than a pre-cut because it is always centered under the ball.
I do know that many of the competitive shooters practice this religiously and believe the same thing.
The ball parting line statement was a knew one on me though.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

In the days of bag molds and more crude methods of cutting sprues, a difference may have been more pronounced than with modern cnc machining of molds. I always placed the sprue the same, always placed the patch weave with the same direction, etc. We control every variable that we can. We can't control humidity, or temperature, and if we reduce those variables to the minimum, it leaves the shooter as the biggest variable. Shoot ting off hand ay 75 yds and those little viable matter very little. Shooting bench to 200 yards and suddenly everything makes a big difference, even thermoclines.

When I shot competition, I shot against many better shooters. But I frequently got higher scores, because I worked harder at controlling variables. Some had loading habits that were just plain sloppy.

 

[Pete G]

I only shoot for my own enjoyment now-a-days and not worried about scores :v .

:metoo: . But I still enjoy shooting 10s much more than shooting 8s.

 

[nhmoose]

I only shoot for my own enjoyment now-a-days and not worried about scores :v .

:metoo: . But I still enjoy shooting 10s much more than shooting 8s.

Ball parting line won't make a diff for that or X's IMHO if it does get a better mould.

 

[robert bw]

I have recovered round lead ball from a soft tree shot from my 1858 cap n ball(rifled bore of course)it flew straight as evidenced from the loading lever indents orientation

 

[Josh Smith]

One thing I've found to help accuracy and reduce the effects of sprue cuts, voids, seams, etc, is tumbling.

I cut the sprue off the cast balls, then throw them into a rock tumbler -- same thing I use with corncob to clean my smokeless brass. I add a little bit of powdered graphite and let it run for a few hours.

What emerges is about perfect spherically and I get better accuracy.

Regards,

Josh

 

[Billnpatti]

You need to check your mold if you have parting lines. There is probably a bit of gunk in the face of your mold that is keeping it from closing completely.

After I cast my balls, I put them in my rock tumbler with no tumbling media and let them tumble for about 45 minutes. They come out looking like ball bearings. No trace of a sprue. If you don't have a rock tumbler, you can put the newly cast balls in a small wooden box and put it in the trunk of your car for a few days and let them roll around in the box. That, too, can remove the sprue marks.

Once the mold has been cleaned and you are getting no more parting lines and the sprue marks are gone, it won't make any difference how you position your balls when loading them.

 

[Snakebite]

"Oh! You've got's ta line up the parting line with the front sight iffen ye wants ta shoot 'um all inter one hole like ah does."

:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

No Zonie, you have to line up the parting line at the same angle at the rifling in the barrel, then the parting line stays centered with the spin of the ball. :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[Zonie]

Durnet Snakebite.

Ye ain't suppos ta giv away tha reel ansur ta tha cuestion.

Jus anyboddy kan bee reedin this stuff on the intarnet an wee dont want tham ta kno tha reel answer if wee wanta keep on winnin does wee?

OOPS. See what happens when I turn my spell-check off? :grin: