homemade ball starter

[erock1980]

Hello all.
Made my first ball starter out of an antler section and a piece of 3/8 dowel. Learned a few fun facts along the way....
First, I had attempted to be cool by epoxieing a fired .45 acp case to the end of the dowel. That worked well, until I pulled out the starter after loading a ball and noticed the shell casing was gone, stuck in the ball which was by then down the barrel. Had a fun time removing that.
Then, the other day I gave it a sloppy whack with a hammer and broke the dowel where it joined the antler. Fun times.
Does anybody have any pictures or tips on how they made their's? Would love to see, this place has not let me down yet. It just goes against my very being to buy a factory-made ball starter from a sporting goods store and I am going to make another one.

 

[Black Hand]

Sir,
You will find with experience that starters are quite unnecessary. They are just one more thing to lose and to get in the way. I stopped using one years ago, with the rammer sufficing to do multiple jobs and have never regretted the choice.
Give it a try.
Albert

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have made many short starters from antler scrap and short ends of hickory ram rods. I cup the ends of the starter with a drill bit then fire harden the end. A candle flame will do fine.
I drill a short, about 1/2" hole in the antler and glue in the rod. Usually I use a wood glue like Titebond II. I have never had one fail the last years and years. Sounds like you are hitting at an angle. The fire hardened tips also last.

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[erock1980]

Well maybe with experience I will learn that. At the moment, I believe I would crack the hickory shaft in two should put maximum force on a tight patch and ball.

 

[erock1980]

thank you for the tips. Yes I believe I hit it at a bad angle. I am a new shooter and still getting comfortable with the tools and sequences etc.

 

[Bill Hall]

I've make a ton of them, but usually someone makes a comment of how nice they look, so I give them away, then make another.

You shouldn't make the dowel out of a hardware store mystery wood dowel. Too weak and may have crooked grain. I usually make the dowel out of straight grained hickory, just like a good ramrod. But I have made some with red oak dowels, split out of some scrap I had. For tips, I buy brass ramrod ends, plug the screw holes with screws, then grind down to match the concave radius. Bill

 

[Stumpkiller]

I have a small one I carved from a single piece of maple; but usually don't bother with one.

 

[hanshi]

Here are a few I made and I use a starter regularly, both in the woods and at the range. I prefer a smaller than caliber rod so it won't get stuck when I start the prb. I often use shell casings with the rim cut off for the rod tips. I glue them but most importantly, I pin them on as well.

 

[Rifleman1776]

The use of modern gun stuff for muzzle loaders rankles me. :cursing:
But, pay no mind. I'm old and easily rankled. :wink:
The fire hardened tips work just fine for me. And, I think help keep the PC police away.

 

[erock1980]

Thank you the tips all. Got plenty to work with here!

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

At the risk of not being correct, I use a short piece of delrin rod for the shaft. It is capped with a pinned brass tip. :thumbsup:

 

[mazo kid]

I often use shell casings with the rim cut off for the rod tips. I glue them but most importantly, I pin them on as well.

Here is one I made many years ago...and +1 on the pinning of eny tips!

 

[Larry Pletcher]

I have a concern that the seating tool not place the ball even with the sight dovetail. I have seen a barrel opened up at the sight dovetail when a shooter fired his gun with the ball seated with a short starter. The length of the starter placed the ball even with the sight. I use starters too, but after seeing the barrel photo, I changed the starter to seat the ball below the sight dovetail. I know of only one instance where this happened, but hate to take a chance.

Regards,
Pletch

 

[Rifleman1776]

Your point is well taken. But we do play with stuff that goes "bang". Rigid attention must be given to every step of handling our bang sticks and explosives. It is part of the avocation and adventure.

 

[Rat Trapper]

I'll not use any with metal tips on my rifles. The crown of the rifle is too easy to damage. I got some from cains outdoors that had nylon shafts and can not hurt your crown or break. You all can attempt to be PC/HC, but I plan to take care of my rifle. Nylon bore guides are also better than brass ones for the same reason.

 

[hanshi]

The use of modern gun stuff for muzzle loaders rankles me. :cursing:
But, pay no mind. I'm old and easily rankled. :wink:
The fire hardened tips work just fine for me. And, I think help keep the PC police away.

I use period correct cartridge cases for my starters atriot:. But I really don't care about HC/PC; only what works for me in the field.

Oh by the way, do you use the PC/HC delrin rods?

Pletch, when I started MLs I'd never heard of a short starter; that would comes years into the future. I did it all with the ramrod. I don't worry any more about short starting a ball than launching a rod when it comes down to it.

 

[Robby]

The dog ate my home-wor-er short starter! :grin:

Robby

 

[tom deinek]

Please school me on fire hardening.

How do you know when it has been cooked long enough?

 

[tom deinek]

Serves ya right for keeping an egg-sucking dog.

Printed the pic you posted & am gonna make one on a lathe this week. Manly looking piece of gear. :>)

 

[Matt85]

I'll not use any with metal tips on my rifles. The crown of the rifle is too easy to damage. I got some from cains outdoors that had nylon shafts and can not hurt your crown or break. You all can attempt to be PC/HC, but I plan to take care of my rifle. Nylon bore guides are also better than brass ones for the same reason.

im not sure how brass would hurt the steel barrel. brass is substantially softer then steel and should not be able to hurt it.