Purposely load a double ball

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

If someone thinks they'd like to try double balling, just be absolutely sure that that second patched ball is all the way down on the first ball and doesn't hydraulic back up the bore from air trapped between.  I witnessed a friend destroy one of my rifles at a shoot in the 70's trying to be the first to cut off a stake with double ball loads.  No one was injured but the Hawken rifle was destroyed...we never found the hammer.  I still have the barrel in my rafters for nostalgia.

[reddogge]

I'd like to see a game warden do a field check on your gun and say "Alright, get those balls pulled. I want to count em. If you have more than one in there you're gettin' a ticket."

[Daryl]

Just put your hat out there about 10' officer and we'll catch them.

[Bob Roller]

A gun barrel made from CERTIFIED gun barrel steel like Jim McLemore used could not be blown apart with a double ball load and black
 powder.It takes a good size round lead ball to weigh very much.Two of them in tandem still is not much weight  unless they are 69 caliber or bigger.
Bob Roller

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Bob, in the case I described above, the second ball moved back up the bore several inches above the first loaded ball, causing an obstruction rather than a projectile.  This caused a catastrophic failure of the barrel which split into three from the breech plug up past the rear sight.  I'll see if I can find my pictures...

[smylee grouch]

Thats one of those pictures worth a thousand words.  Back in the days when we had our post shoots I would use a cleaning patch for a shooting patch and a slightly smaller ball for the 2nd ball. We shot at 12-15 yards.

[Stoner creek]

When them Hawkers blow they really blow. I would save that thing as a teaching tool.

[Daryl]

The barrel sits in the rafters, one arm hanging down a bit, just enough to grab attention and provoke questions.

[Daryl]

I always know if I double ball or double load(even worse) as the rod pushes right back up the bore. It has happened, and I've re-seated the ball until it stays
down there, before firing it. Kicks a bit when it's the .69.

[alacran]

When I first starting shooting at rendezvous, there were a lot of events which I found to be begging for an accident to happen. Speed shoots, knocking down posts, and other dubious events. Things that are amusing until some one gets hurt.

[smylee grouch]

Loading in a hurry is not good. The club where we shot our post matches shot them in " volley " fashion so every one could reload at leisure. Most times some team would have severed the post by the second volley.

[Daniel Coats]

I won the only speed shoot I was ever in by pausing a moment between the chaos and shooting accurately.

[Bob Roller]

Bob, in the case I described above, the second ball moved back up the bore several inches above the first loaded ball, causing an obstruction rather than a projectile.  This caused a catastrophic failure of the barrel which split into three from the breech plug up past the rear sight.  I'll see if I can find my pictures...

WHO made that barrel? I still think Jim McLemore had the right idea.He bought certified steels from a man who made barrels for machine guns and rapid fire cannons.I think his name was Obermeier and he had long running contacts with the government.Our son,Eric does destructive tests on bolts and screws that go into a new fleet of submarines for our Navy and he said if a government inspector found ANY materials in that shop that was not specific to this long running job,they would lose that big job and a big fine will be imposed.
Jim said he worried not about a blown up barrel,even the thin ones.
Bob Roller

[Daryl]

Jim M. used 4150 barrel steel. That is good enough for any rifle ctgs. as 4140 is considered normal for moder rifles. The highest normal pressure for modern ctgs. is 65,000psi.
The highest BP ctg. pressure is about 30,000psi. ML's with round balls appear to be held to about 15,000psi. Smoothbores, even modern ones, are held to 12,000psi.
1137 barrel steel (Green Mountain) is considered normal for black powder ctg. rifles & I think that is what their muzzleloader barrels are made from as well.
What I find interesting, is this spit runs out onto the thickest part of the barrel, on the corner of a flat.