• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Multiple caliber short starter...

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Sidney Smith

58 Cal.
Joined
Feb 17, 2019
Messages
2,130
Reaction score
2,204
Anyone have a short starter for multiple calibers?

I was going to make a separate starter for my newly completed .32 caliber squirrel gun. Then it dawned on me, why not just modify one you already have. So I did. I took my 5/16ths oak dowel, added the brass tip, cut it to the length I wanted, then drilled the ball on my .54 caliber starter to accept the rod. Since all you do is push the projectile with the short starter, simply embedding the new rod directly opposite will work fine. I inserted the short nub 90 degrees to the one thats already there so I can still thump the ball with my palm to seat either a.32 or.54caliber ball. I think this will work well.
 
A smaller diameter shaft short starter with screw thread tip to accept different sized button tips works very well. I like to have a short starter tip relatively the same size as the ball since I'm usually shooting tight loads and I have to whack it a couple of times pretty hard.
 
A smaller diameter shaft short starter with screw thread tip to accept different sized button tips works very well. I like to have a short starter tip relatively the same size as the ball since I'm usually shooting tight loads and I have to whack it a couple of times pretty hard.
I agree with that statement! To carry your reply a tad further for the newbies: A tight fitting ball started with a non conformed/fit starter will deform the soft lead ball.
Flintlocklar 🇺🇸
 
Get or make a brass 32 cal starter with a threaded end, then you can install the caliber jag of your choice.

P.S. didn't see Spikebuck's post. :thumb:
 
"I've used a starter with just the hickory 3/8" ramrod pieces without a jag for years. It has a short piece about 3/4" long and a longer piece about 5" long. Here all these years it has worked because I didn't know any better on a number of different calibers.
 
One might also add a brass cone to keep it centered. I might get fumbly and loose the screw in tip though.

Although there is no reason to not to make a universal starter. I do prefer to have a kit for each caliber and sometimes each gun. My 36 cal starter is 5/16 brass rod and a golf ball. I was having trouble sourcing a maple sphere (dolls head) so I used a golf ball.
 
I currently have a TC(?) ".45 caliber" short starter.
I use it with my .50 caliber Traditions "Trapper" pistol, and (factory) .54 caliber TC Hawken rifle.
When I had a .69 or .70 caliber smooth bore musket (allegedly genuine "Confederate Issue") way back in the 1980's, I used a CVA ".45 caliber" short starter with it, as well.

I've found over the decades I prefer my short starter to be under the bore size.
 
I made up a short starter to use multiple shafts to fit .32-.58 & 15 gauge. I have a maple ball with a 10 X 32 flat head bolt thru it with about a 1/2" protruding from the opposite side. I have shafts (from broken ram rods) with a 10 X 32 female ends glued and pinned on. One end threads onto the ball, and the other accepts 10 X 32 cupped jags for starting a ball.
 
I cobbled up 3 sizes of starters. A skinny one for a .32, another for .36 - .40 and one that goes from .45 to .62. They all have muzzle guards and accept the appropriate size jags.
 
OK, we all like to have toys for every occasion. But, a multi sized short starter is not really necessary. The boys who are obsessed with getting only 'X's from the bench or other rest might argue that. But they argue everything.
 
Back
Top