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Push it down til it stops and quit.
Zonie, it may be their claim to fame, but it might be fun to watch them blow one up.
 
Wes/Tex said:
At least we're closing the terminology gap! :wink: We've got "whanger", "wanker" and "dinker". Now all we need to do is figure out how to include John Madden's term for a kicker hitting the upright..."doinker" and we're there! :rotf:

Might the term "doinker" apply to a shot that hits the paper but misses the black? If so, could I claim the "Golden Doinker" award? I must admit to having made numerous such doinker shots.
 
:eek:ff
tenngun said:
.....
I’ve not shot Breech loaders since 74 when I fell in love with ml.

So this is it.. I'm doomed.. I don't even bring the unmentionables to the range unless I'm going with a friend or family member. I've no interest in them really, except my CCW weapon, I fire that one at least once a month because I have to keep in practice.
 
I watch ML YouTube videos for their entertainment value, kind of like watching a bad reality TV show sometimes, or a bad car crash. You just can't seem to stop watching or take your eyes off of it. A very select few do impart useful knowledge, while others ... not so much.
:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
 
Black Hand said:
...bouncing a loading rod...deforms the ball and unevenly compresses the powder.
I have heard this many times, but does anyone have evidence to support these statements...?

You can answer that question by catching a ball in yer hand at the muzzle as you shoot it out. :shocked2: Doing that should also answer the never ending argument about whether obduration happens. :doh:
(and for those unfortunate few born with less brains than a sparrow, the above is irony, a joke. Don't do it!)
 
necchi said:
I know guy's that "toss" or "bounce" the rod down after the ball is seated,, never understood it as there is no gainful reason to do so.
I do (as most) apply some firm pressure once the ball is seated.

I'm not a bouncer, but I am curious about this.

I feel I get great consistency with my percussion guns. I feel the same amount of "crunch" with each seated charge.

I wonder about my flinters, as I've always been told not to this.

Load the same, or no?

As far as safety, and so as not to hijack the OPs question, I think there is no risk of causing a detonation while loading firmly.
 
dledinger said:
As far as safety, and so as not to hijack the OPs question, I think there is no risk of causing a detonation while loading firmly.

Or by bouncing the rod.....BP is not shock sensitive....It deflagrates (burns) so it is governed by the principles of the fire triangle.

The fire triangles or combustion triangles or ”³fire diamond”³ are simple models for understanding the necessary ingredients for most fires. The triangle illustrates the three elements a fire needs to ignite: heat, fuel, and an oxidizing agent (usually oxygen).

Charcoal and sulfur supply the fuel, saltpeter provides the oxygen.
All that is needed to ignite it is heat.
 
And rapid compression can provide the heat. Howsomeever if you can provide enough compression to heat bp to ignition point by the force of throwing the rod down the bore you don’t need the gun. You can go to Alaska find a brown bear and rip it’s leg off and use that as s club to beat a moose to death with.
 
I once put a few grains of BP on a hard surface and pounded it with a hammer. Other than turning the BP into dust, there was no reaction. A spark, however, doesn't even have to be large enough to be visible in order to set the stuff off.
 
And rapid compression can provide the heat.

Yes. And there is a form of primitive fire starter that uses compression to ignite tinder. Forget what it is called. About the size of a duck call. I agree the bounce thing is probably not risky. But, then, never say never. :nono:
 
Rifleman1776 said:
Black Hand said:
...bouncing a loading rod...deforms the ball and unevenly compresses the powder.
I have heard this many times, but does anyone have evidence to support these statements...?

You can answer that question by catching a ball in yer hand at the muzzle as you shoot it out. :shocked2: Doing that should also answer the never ending argument about whether obduration happens. :doh:
(and for those unfortunate few born with less brains than a sparrow, the above is irony, a joke. Don't do it!)
All straw-man aside, you really didn't answer the question. :yakyak:

Obturation occurs as combination of bore diameter, ball diameter and patch thickness (I'm certain lube has a part to play as well). My questions were about the claims that the ball is DEFORMED to any great degree by bouncing the rod, whether or not powder is crushed/compressed to any significant degree and how much (if any) effect it has on ignition.

Rifleman1776 said:
And rapid compression can provide the heat.

Yes. And there is a form of primitive fire starter that uses compression to ignite tinder. Forget what it is called. About the size of a duck call. I agree the bounce thing is probably not risky. But, then, never say never. :nono:
BTW - it's called a Fire Piston and functions on the principle that rapid compression of air creates heat. I'm certain you'd never be able to compress air inside a muzzleloader sufficiently by bouncing a rod to ignite anything...

You can say NEVER to numerous situations - a couple examples:
Steel is NEVER molten when held at room temperature.
Water NEVER freezes at +200F.
A gasoline engine NEVER runs on water.
You should NEVER underestimate human ignorance.
And the list goes on.
 
Well you would not have to catch the ball. You could get a piece of pvc pipe about your bore diameter. Mich a ball. Set the pipe on the floor, throw on a load of dry hot cereal, ram a patched ball home, then hammer away with a thrown ram rod. I just do a drop bounce from a few inches above, but don’t get whimpy here. Do your best Achillies imitation hurling that rod down with Hector killing force. Repeat. Pick up off floor and gently push ball out. Re mich.
I got to say that lead is soft, but it’s resting on a bed of powder, supported by a compressed patch and steel walls. I just don’t think you can muster the force with human arms at the angles we load at In our longest barreled arms to develop the energy to flatten that ball.
You might be able to mar it but you already have been taping it down the bore. You may have exposed it to a short started. So you already took a chance mating the end.
 
An old muzzle loader friend of mine was telling me that years ago someone came up with a devise for actually making ram rod bouncing uniform. I think he called it a "Kadoodle" or something like that.
 
Actually that was for seating pressure...For those who push.....Not for bouncing. It has been recreated....both versions have been proven to be useless....like magic crystals, copper bracelets, and canned air.
 
Rifleman1776 said:
I agree the bounce thing is probably not risky. But, then, never say never.

Ok, I wanted someone else to say this but, I had a friend that did that bouncing of the ramrod.
I think he enjoyed that more than shooting. Liked to see how high out of the barrel it could go.
He might bounce the ramrod maybe 10 times when loading, he liked it.

We were at the loading benches behind the firing line; caps were at the firing line.
The gun fired the ramrod through the brim of his hat. Why or how I don’t know.
He doesn’t bounce his ramrod any more but does wear the same hat.



William Alexander
 
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