Bullet boards

[Scout]

I'm gonna give it a try and make me one. Any suggestions? Wood, style? I have a southern rifle with steel furniture. I'm interested in a style from late 1700s.

[Kermit]

When you make one, be sure you use the proportions of the Golden Mean.

[James Rogers]

To date they cannot be taken to that time frame. This may start a war with the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" crowd but the OP brought it in with his date.

[Longknife]

Since you asked how to make one and not a history lesson I will tell you how I made mine. Use a good hardwood without any knots or flaws. I have used cherry, walnut maple and oak. It needs to be as thick as the bullet is wide. experiment with drill bits in a scrap piece of wood with your patch/ ball combo to see what bit works best. most times you have to drill a size smaller and ream out the hole to get a good fit. Small thin pieces of wood tend to split when drilling so draw the pattern on the wood. drill the holes useing a backing, then cut it out...I use a 10 holer and load up two of them when going on a woodwalk shoot. I just use one loaded 1/2 full when hunting. Neuman has a couple in his book, a 3 hole and a 6 hole, one plain and one with crosshatching......I am not qualified to argue with the experts  so I will not give an opinion but they sure are handy!!!!!....Ed

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

To get the holes to be a just right fit for the lubed patch and ball, I use a long tapered reamer going to the centre from both sides of the board.  You want it tight enough to hold the balls without fear of them falling out, yet not so tight that the lubricaton soaks entirely into the wood, and you can easily push them into the muzzle with a starter, or the ramrod.  So, drill the holes, for example, a fifty cal. you can start with a 1/2" drill bit.  You won't be able to seat a patched ball into that hole, so ream it out from both sides until you get a nice fit.  A lot depends upon how thick a patch you use, so I can't be more specific than that.

[davec2]

Like Taylor says.....tapered reamers.

It requires a bit of investment, but a few taper pin reamers of various sizes come in handy for a variety of hole size adjustment issues.  The ebony loading blocks below are for .32 and .50 cal round balls.  I drill the holes undersize and then use a taper pin reamer, from both sides, to precisely adjust the hole size to grip the ball (any size ball and any patch thickness) the way I want. 



I also use these reamers to open up the bores of cast ram rod pipes, etc.  The reamer in the photos below is a Number 8.  I use #s 7,8, & 9 the most and those three have been worth more than what they cost over the years in making hole adjustments quick, easy and precise.

[James Rogers]

Since you asked how to make one and not a history lesson

Hope i didn't offend you with my post but he did ask for instructions to build a 1790's version. 
Just thought he would like to know the facts and posted my reason for doing so. 

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DaveC2, those are stunning!!!
I have quite a few of your creations and I can envision one of those for my .32

[Down South]

Correct or not, I wouldn't go squirrel hunting without mine.  They make it really fun on a cool morning when that action heats up in  these SE Georgia river bottoms.  I made the one I use about 20 years ago.  Made it out of cedar.  It cracked.  I glued it and opened up the holes just a little more with a reamer.   I carved a turkey's head in releaf on the top third of it.  I think it will hold 10 patched balls.  Art DeCamp makes some that are really great.  They have a death's head engraved in horn across the top.  Love 'em or hate 'em, they can be right handy! 
Billy

[rich pierce]

I am thinking a wood that doesn't split like elm would be ideal.  Sycamore is light but resists splitting also. American sweetgum (with the annoying spikey balls as fruit) also resists splitting but warps badly in seasoning.

[BrownBear]

My rule of thumb is to match board thickness to ball diameter.  By the time you seat them with a little hanging out the bottom for ease of bore centering, the top is recessed just enough to "cut at the muzzle."  Leaves a real clean result with little tendency for excess patching to snag and dislodge the ball along the way.

[KennyC]

Are there not loading blocks in the rev war collector book that would be late 1700's

[James Rogers]

Are there not loading blocks in the rev war collector book that would be late 1700's

PM sent

[davec2]

James,

Thanks for the compliment on the bullet boards.  The board on the right in the next picture is made of Kauri wood.  The wood comes from New Zeland and is 50,000 years old.  (It is "mined" rather than "cut" as the trees fell over and were buried in a bog 50K plus years ago.)  Interesting stuff to work with and I have made a few horn base plugs out of it.

[B.Habermehl]

The easiest way to get holes the dia you want is to carefully file down a Irwin type flat speed bore bit. Drill a hole in scrap try a PRB. File a bit more and drill another hole. Check how much you take off the bit with a set of dial calipers. Till you get the fit you want. Drill down till the point starts to go through the bottom of your block, Then  flip the board and finish the hole from the bottom, and chamfer. I used to make a ton of bullet boards for my trade blanket.