Trimming sprue

[Terry Lightle]

I roll mine between 2 pieces of granite counter top,probably makes no difference but I do it on my 54 caliber balls

[MuskratMike]

Not trying to be a smartas* but I simply wait until the Hornady balls go on sale and I buy 500-1000 of any I need then the problem is solved for several years.

[Daryl]

Trouble with that, around here, they never go on sale and the most any store will have, is 1 or 2 boxes of them.
I recently bought 1 box of Hornady .495's. There was also one box of .490", one of .570's and one of .440's. For
serious shooting past 25 yards, I use cast balls, mostly from Lyman moulds. My .682" RB mould is made in Italy
by Pedersoli, I think, and is exactly the same as any large black Lyman mould.(not that anyone makes swaged balls
that large. I still have a .677" Tanner mould, casting .675" x .675" in my (almost) pure alloy, that I used the wire strippers
on, along with a .740", .724" and .595" tanner blocks casting round balls.
I spray the Tanner blocks (& all of my others) with Lyman Super Moly bullet coating. This prevents "tinning" and helps release
the balls.

[smylee grouch]

Yep, can't shoot Hornady,s if they don't make the right size. 605-610-648 just to name a few.

[B.Habermehl]

Another good sprue cutter is the heavy duty toe nail cutters that look like diagonal pliers. They do a good job when I’m useing my tanner molds. If the balls were tumbled after cutting I’m sure it would be difficult to find the evidence of a sprue without mics or calipers. BJH

[Daryl]

What I like about the wire strippers, is no tumbling or rolling necessary.

[utseabee]

Another good sprue cutter is the heavy duty toe nail cutters that look like diagonal pliers. They do a good job when I’m useing my tanner molds. If the balls were tumbled after cutting I’m sure it would be difficult to find the evidence of a sprue without mics or calipers. BJH

I use the clippers that are made for trimming my dogs claws. Works great with Tanner molds or bag molds.

[flatsguide]

I’m sure there is a good joke or laugh here but who tumbles their balls?
CheersRichard

[B.Habermehl]

I just noticed that Hobby lobby sells flush cutters also. In their jewelry making section. I bought a set for my next batch to try out. BJH

[Bob Gerard]

I wish Lee made a .662 mould. They make a .595 ball mould thats great. I had to get a Lyman .662 and the sprue is really bigger than I think should be. Trimming them would be a job that I won’t do. Se la vive, Se la guerre.

[Jerry]

I have never trimmed the sprue.

[Hungry Horse]

I agree with Jerry, weighing, rolling, and worrying about the sprue are what muzzleloader people do instead of having a worry stone. IMO, it’s all a gigantic waste of time that could be spent at the range doing something that really would make a difference, like practice. I’ve tried it all and the only one that made a big difference was practice.

Hungry Horse

[Pukka Bundook]

Very well put, Hungry Horse.

Rich.

[flatsguide]

Hungry horse.. are you saying that trimming the sprue has no affect on accuracy? Range time is worthless without an accurate rifle. Let me put it another way, as one of my heroes stated, “only accurate rifles are interesting”. Range time is invaluable to the shooter but it does not make the rifle more accurate. So back to the original question, is there any difference in accuracy between a trimmed and un-trimmed sprue? I should have made it clear and my apologies for that.
Jerry, what was the distance to your target?
Thanks Richard

[Ghillie]

At Friendship, some of the top benchrest shooters use precast balls purchased from vendors, shoot them and win matches.  Sometimes "it isn't what we know that  causes us problems, but what we know that isn't so"  I agree that practice is the most important part of shooting.  Practice will often make that Ho Hum rifle into a one hole gun.  I know fellow shooters of suppository bullets that weigh to 1/10 of a grain.  I used to do that till I had 2 bullets that were 45 grains different in weight.  While shooting at 500 meters I shot both to see what he difference in impact would be.  When I checked the groups the impact point was the same.  I have never weighed another bullet since.  That was over 10 years ago, my scores are the same as when weighing bullets.  Sometimes the matter between our ears interfers with good shooting.

[smylee grouch]

Gosh it almost sounds as though some people are upset because other people do things to their balls that they  don't do to theirs even when it really won't affect their own balls.  Just a little word salad for your digestion and maybe regurgitation . 

[okawbow]

Hungry horse.. are you saying that trimming the sprue has no affect on accuracy? Range time is worthless without an accurate rifle. Let me put it another way, as one of my heroes stated, “only accurate rifles are interesting”. Range time is invaluable to the shooter but it does not make the rifle more accurate. So back to the original question, is there any difference in accuracy between a trimmed and un-trimmed sprue? I should have made it clear and my apologies for that.
Jerry, what was the distance to your target?
Thanks Richard

Richard, here is a practice group I shot at 60 yards with my chunk gun. There are 10 shots in that hole. The balls were hand cast by me and had a good sized sprue, which I placed up.

[smylee grouch]

Very nice group okawbow. What barrel, load etc?

[okawbow]

Very nice group okawbow. What barrel, load etc?

Ed Rayl, .48 caliber, 1 1/4”x 54” long. 110 grains 2f Swiss, teflon patch.

[Daryl]

When TARGET shooting specifically, I spend a second or two more, in orienting the sprue exactly up in the middle of the bore. That's about it, with Lyman, RCBS, Ohaus or Lee moulds.
With the tanner moulds, the VERY large sprue is cut almost though, then the ball twisted by the fingers. The result is a round ball, everywhere & can be loaded, anywhichiway.
I would suggest unless one takes the time to put on a good crown and use a tight combination, that no amount of weighing, sorting or trimming of sprues will make any difference in the accuracy
past about 25 to 30yards.

[flatsguide]

Nice shooting and a pretty tight shooting rifle Okawbow. Thanks for all the responses. Looks like cast ‘em and shoot ’em. I’m with you on range time...if you can dope the wind your head and shoulders above the guy who can’t.
Thanks guys!
CheersRichard

[J.M.Browning]

Although I do a lot of hand loading metallic cartridge smokeless the variables are many , my first muzzle loading shooting was in 1973 . I find my focus is powder charge ,patch thickness . I start ball with sprue up does this result in the sprue staying in this position - loading - existing  the bore ? I also have some Hornady balls with no sprue - flat spot deviation of any sort I really do not believe these balls are more accurate.

[Daryl]

Sprue up is the only way of knowing where it is. If the patch is reasonably snug, then the sprue will come out the muzzle in the same position it was in when loaded.
If it is cocked off to one side, that will through out the balance and at some point, the ball should/will become less accurate, taking on a rotation around it's point of aim.
If the patch is so loose as to be pushed into the bore with just a thumb, then I would not be surprised the sprue will come out pointed in some other direction to which it
was introduced.
The ends of my ram-rods, loading sticks, loading rods, short starters, starting pegs, whatever you want to call them, are cupped so as to not damage the ball. 
The various militaries of the world, had flat or even convex shaped ends on their steel ram-rods. In most countries, part of the 'loading drill' was to "throw" the rod 3 times
onto the loaded ctg. to ensure the ball was on the powder.
I still see some people doing this at rendezvous, not only 3 times, but until the rod almost bounces out of the bore.
I tend to not shoot near these people.

[flatsguide]

Thanks Daryl, about throwing and bouncing a rod. In the seventies I had a beautiful Samuel Nock SxS 14 gage Circa 1850 that was exclusively my go to bird gun, unfortunately it was stolen. After the powder and a thick tight fitting veggie over powder wad, the rod was thrown down the barrel three or four times with considerable force, I called it “whanging”. You could hear a very considerable change in sound as the powder compressed. The gun shot very clean this way. I learned that from my father in the fifties and have no idea where he learned it. I never used this method on a bullet gun.
Cheers Richard

[Daryl]

The "throwing" of the rod on the "charge" was a military drill as noted.
Why some people do this with their rifles, I do not know. Perhaps they think it is necessary.
When the ball is down with the rod, I place the hole in my starter's handle onto the end of the
rod and give it one smack with my palm, compressing the powder "almost" exactly the same each time. It is a repeatable drill.
In chronograph testing I found this method reduced extreme spread on my shots, down below 10fps over 10 recorded shots.
This, I found back in the late 70's using my Oehler Model 12 chronograph.
It also gave an average of 75 to 100fps higher velocity for the 'accuracy' charge of powder in both my .40 and .45 rifles.
The reason for this little 'bump' on the rod is as stated, to reduce spread and give consistent pressure shot to shot that is repeatable.
Note that when "good" BP ctg. shooters load ammo, they ALL compress the powder charge in the case exactly the same in each ctg.
Consistency is why, along with improved ballistics.