Ball Starters

[iloco]

I need to make a few ball starters for 36 caliber, 50 caliber, 54 Caliber, 58 Caliber and one for 62 Caliber.
 What type and size of material should I use.   I have plenty of Deer Tines that I think will make good short handles.
 Curious how you make yours.

[Hungry Horse]

 I don't use the tines of the antlers for starters, for the same reason I don't recommend anything ball shaped, they hurt your hand, because the force is concentrated, if you have a stubborn load. I use the fork portion instead, with any tines cut off. I also make sure the cup of the antler turns down toward the muzzle. Now you must understand I live in California, and the black tail deer we have, are smaller than white tails, or muley's in the rest of the country. I use a short piece of 3/8ths hickory, or oak, dowel for the starter portion of all but the calibers that are not less than .38 caliber. I keep the end from splitting, by slipping a section of brass tubing from the hobby shop over the end of the starter, and gently creasing it with a tubing cutter, in a couple of places. I also always cut a circle of vegetable tanned leather of holster, or saddle, weight to pad the part that will contact the muzzle, and glue it onto the antler with contact cement. I have one of these I have been using for 35 years, and only had to replace the rod in it once. Good luck.

                Hungry Horse

[Vomitus]

  If you can get your hands on a small moose antler,the piece adjacent to the crown is super dense and makes a good starter. Saw it off at about two inches,drill into the sawed off end and glue in your 6-8" hickory ramrod stick. A belt sander is a wonderful tool to shape it up with. I just round off the corners after I've turned it down to about 1 &1/2" to 2" diameter. Some guys here "hiney" them up a bit and they look great and fit in nicely with the rest of our primitive gear.
  Moose antler is way more dense then any others of the deer species. Elk,deer and caribou are too porous. Mine has lasted at least 15 years and still going strong.

ps,added...Daryl has some decent pictures of some of his,if we can get his attention.Ha!

[iloco]

Thanks for the information and replys.  I would like to see some pictures of starters that others have made.
 

[smokinbuck]

iloco,
Can't post but enail sent.
Mark

[Daryl]

This one's farily good.

[iloco]

iloco,
Can't post but enail sent.
Mark

Didn't get anything in my email.   I double checked my profile to make sure is is correct.
 Can you try again to:  iloco3@comcast.net

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I make mine the same way Daryl does...in fact, I may have made a couple of those - memory fails me.  The little brass stud in the side of the knob is important.  Years ago, I used to invert the starter and bash it into the muzzle, then reverse, and drive it into the bore.  Now I use the stud to seat the ball just below the muzzle, and it damages the ball much less, if at all.  Once the ball is in the bore, the loading is very easy, even with the tight combos we use.  I cannot imagine struggling with just a ramrod to start a ball, but that's just me, and the lessons I learned reading Ned Roberts, who admittedly, was writing about procedure from the middle of the 19th C onwards.

[iloco]

Where does one find those little brass studs...?

[smokinbuck]

Iloco,
Email re-sent. The brass studs can be cut off a solid brass rod. Use a ball file to make the end concave. As you'll see on one of mine, you can also use a very short piece of the hardwoood shaft material. I have also used brass rod for the longer shaft.
Mark

[Daryl]

Track sells rod tips - I usually use ctg. brass.  Modern pistol brass in 9mm, .40 and .45 might be useful.  .30MI Carbine, .223 and .308, .30/06 etc brass is also useful for small to large shafts.  

.223 brass cut off, then deprimed and cupped with a drill or ball mill, - 3/8" common sized hickory shaft filed or turned to fit inside, pinned in place & epoxied or CA'd for the shaft or epoxied or CA'd into the starter's knob works for us.

Simply bashing the ball into the muzzle worked for years in the .50's and larger bores we used to use. Then one day day checking some patch material in a strip, I bashed a .400" ball into my .398" bored rifle then  pulled it out to check the markings on the ball and the condition of the material. What I saw was lead pushed up on one side, but not on the other due to the 'angle' of the surface of the starter's knob when it it the ball. The ball was actually started 'crooked'.  Now, if a large bore, this might not make much difference. But in a smaller bore where 'tings' have to be more perfect, it could indeed cause an unbalanced ball and effect accuracy. That is when I switched to using the short cupped knob to start the ball below the muzzle, before pushing it down with the large end.

My short video on loading my .58 Kodiak shows the bashing method as well as a long stroke on the rod vs. short stroking it. After bashing it in with one blow, the ball, when viewed from the top, sitting in the muzzle does not look harmed at all, BUT -  this method can easily cause the ball to be started crooked- ie: lead pushed up on one side or the other - this must create instability at 'some' range as it is damaging the side of the ball just ahead of the mid-way point.


Taylor's video also shows the bashing method that we used for years.


In this one, I'm using the little stud at the start of the video. Note - I am using a .445" ball and a 10 ounce denim  patch. I've fired over 50 shots that day, with NO wiping. Notice how easily the ball starts and goes down.



I must apologize - while my vocal input does sound condescending I did not mean to be.

[blaksmth]

I use the main shaft off of an elk antler, cut a piece about 3 in long and put hicory dowell in one end and use a rifle case for a tip, On the side of the antler, I usually make a hole larger than needed and mix up some acraglass and fill this hole with it then put release agent on the ball I want to use and press it in the acraglass.

I only make the impression about 1/2 of the ball, or less, as I don't cut the patch at the top of the ball, makes a good form of the ball and don't deform it

[B.Habermehl]

Being that I have no antler available I prefer to use a piece of hammer handle. When ever a broken sledge hammer handle comes in to the tool room is mine! Just use it the same as you would use antler. BJH

[hanshi]

Here are a few I've made over the years out of various materials.  They all work very well which is saying something since I have ra in my hands.  I also made a bunch of "shorty" starters which do a good job.  Hope this helps answer your questions.

[Old Bob]

I need to make a few ball starters for 36 caliber, 50 caliber, 54 Caliber, 58 Caliber and one for 62 Caliber.
 What type and size of material should I use.   I have plenty of Deer Tines that I think will make good short handles.
 Curious how you make yours.

I've been using old door knobs. Turn down either a piece of hickory or brass rod to fit into the base of the knob and use the setscrew to hold it in. Some of my knobs are the big glazed porcelain ones with cast iron fittings. I highly recommend making a leather washer to go around the rod and butt against the iron. If not, you may damage the crown in your muzzle. But these are heavy duty and much easier on the palm if starting a tight ball. I know a couple of shooters who use old clear glass doorknobs. These really look good. I have a few myself and will probably make some with these.

[TradT]

I like the looks of an antler ball starter. Home made equipment always looks better to me.