Marble test or “Me and my other true love”

[user 49399]

Did some testing a few days ago with half inch diameter marbles in a Fusil de Chasse. Yesterday I tried these in my flintlock Tower pistol with different wads.

The lubed (beeswax/olive oil) wool patch in top photo over 35gr of 2f worked best.
The jute tow, wasper nest and brown paper worked ok but jute and paper would smolder and burn after firing. Didn’t like that. Wasper nest works good but only have a little left right now. Got plenty of scrap wool material though. Gonna stick with that.

 

[TrapperDude]

I don't know if it's just the words of isolated individuals with soft frizzens or otherwise, but I've read rumors that marble can be rough on them. Are you seeing any indications of that? From your experience, what are the advantages or disadvantages of marble as a sparking material?

If anyone else has input on the subject, too, I'd be grateful.

 

[Woody Morgan]

He's shooting glass marbles. A continuation of this thread.

And marble is WAY too soft for sparking. Marble is only a 3 on the Mohs scale where flint is a 7 out of 10 and is actually in the gemstone class equal to quartz.
Marble is a form of calcite as is limestone. A copper penny is harder.

@Banjoman, great experiment! Looks like cheap marbles would be fun with reduced loads!

wm

 

[TrapperDude]

He's shooting glass marbles. A continuation of this thread.

And marble is WAY too soft for sparking. Marble is only a 3 on the Mohs scale where flint is a 7 out of 10 and is actually in the gemstone class equal to quartz.
Marble is a form of calcite as is limestone. A copper penny is harder.
View attachment 109234
@Banjoman, great experiment! Looks like cheap marbles would be fun with reduced loads!

wm

Well, memory replacement errors sure are embarrassing. I was thinking of agate flints, and the word marble popped into place of the word agate.

 

[user 49399]

Well, memory replacement errors sure are embarrassing. I was thinking of agate flints, and the word marble popped into place of the word agate.

Ha! That’s funny!

I was trying the marbles just to see how they would work as alternative plinking projectile for someone who might want to conserve their lead. They produce hardly any recoil and are accurate enough for plinking out to 20 maybe 25 yards. I believe they would be good for new or recoil sensitive shooters.

 

[TrapperDude]

Ha! That’s funny!

I was trying the marbles just to see how they would work as alternative plinking projectile for someone who might want to conserve their lead. They produce hardly any recoil and are accurate enough for plinking out to 20 maybe 25 yards. I believe they would be good for new or recoil sensitive shooters.

That's some good accuracy. 20-25 yards is about as far as most handgun ranges even accommodate, so those marbles are right in that range.

 

[No second place]

Well, memory replacement errors sure are embarrassing. I was thinking of agate flints, and the word marble popped into place of the word agate.

Bought a package of 200 Agate cut double edge "Flints" some many years ago. They are best when used for identifying follow-through tech. problems as they tend to be more unpredictable than Black English or Blond French. The best use of cut Agates is when used by a novice Flint shooter they are easy to set in the cock due to them all being the same. I like to give some to new Flint match shooters I`m coaching as it takes some time to learn how to optimize random Flints of varying shapes...c

 

[TrapperDude]

Bought a package of 200 Agate cut double edge "Flints" some many years ago. They are best when used for identifying follow-through tech. problems as they tend to be more unpredictable than Black English or Blond French. The best use of cut Agates is when used by a novice Flint shooter they are easy to set in the cock due to them all being the same. I like to give some to new Flint match shooters I`m coaching as it takes some time to learn how to optimize random Flints of varying shapes...c

Well, it's good to know that the rumors about them being hard on frizzens are inaccurate. I bought a dozen knapped English flints from TOW when I first got my pistol, and I found them to have been pretty easy to seat. When I wear out the current flint, I'll probably go ahead and use one of the agate flints just for the sake of it.

Thanks for the insights. I'm trying to vacuum up all the information I can.

 

[user 49399]

If you look closely at my picture, you will see a Traditions flint. I don’t like it. It’s only in there because the homemade flint I was using that day was too far gone after 50 plus shots. I put the Traditions flint in there after cleaning and will sort through my stash later to find a homemade one I like better.

 

[TrapperDude]

If you look closely at my picture, you will see a Traditions flint. I don’t like it. It’s only in there because the homemade flint I was using that day was too far gone after 50 plus shots. I put the Traditions flint in there after cleaning and will sort through my stash later to find a homemade one I like better.

Is it as unpredictable for you as @No second place described? I can only imagine that the lack of a crystalline structure like the English flints have makes for something different in hardness striking the flint each time.

 

[user 49399]

After reading my post again, I need to clarify something. When testing the marbles in the Fusil de Chasse, I was shooting at about 20 to 25 yards.
When testing the marbles in the Tower pistol, I was only shooting at about 7 yards. That pistol has no sights and there’s no way I could hit anything at 25 yards with it.

 

[user 49399]

Is it as unpredictable for you as @No second place described? I can only imagine that the lack of a crystalline structure like the English flints have makes for something different in hardness striking the flint each time.

I don‘t know. The Traditions flints do not spark as good or last as long as the flint I find around here.

 

[TrapperDude]

I don‘t know. The Traditions flints do not spark as good or last as long as the flint I find around here.

They're probably softer, and once the edge is gone, that's it. Traditional flints still have something sharp enough to shave sparks, even after they break down. The agate probably just gets smooth.

 

[sportster73hp]

Using marbles falls right in place with the other thread running where people think a hard lead ball will contact their rifling. The patch deforms to take up rifling. In your case it is a smoothbore.

 

[sheriff john]

So ...what's the best marble to shoot ? Cat's eye, aggies, steelies ? I tried Daisy steel bb's in my M/L shotgun when the steel shot for waterfowl first came out. Didn't pattern worth a hoot, never used it to hunt with. Thanks for posting the marble idea, might have to try that for fun. Today's kids wouldn't know how to play "marbles" - nor "jacks".

 

[Woody Morgan]

So ...what's the best marble to shoot ? Cat's eye, aggies, steelies ? I tried Daisy steel bb's in my M/L shotgun when the steel shot for waterfowl first came out. Didn't pattern worth a hoot, never used it to hunt with. Thanks for posting the marble idea, might have to try that for fun. Today's kids wouldn't know how to play "marbles" - nor "jacks".

Imagine playing "marbles" with a shotgun. Right up there with shotgun golf.

wm

 

[sportster73hp]

Imagine shooting marbles and jacks in your smoothbore. Kind of like a buck and ball.

 

[user 49399]

I’m using the white ones from Tractor Supply. I have a bunch of old marbles of different types but there’s no way I’d shoot them.

 

[SamTex1949]

Marbles been used for a long time as ammo for slingshots so no reason they wouldnt / shouldnt work !

 

[sheriff john]

As a kid, I used Dad's large buckshot in my slingshot (along with rocks and cherry bombs). Did kill one sitting rabbit on a snowy day. Wrist Rocket - after school fun.