Shooting Marbles....Is that smart??

[user 30577]

I had an opportunity to shoot a few marbles from a smoothbore per request by a viewer.
Not as many as I wanted to shoot due to a loading FAILURE...!!

 

[snapbang]

Fun stuff. But he should find an old beater gun to play with. I know nothing about flints but Im guessing that one has some value.

 

[smokepolehall]

I can say with out a doubt you marbled your way out of that.

 

[Saxtonyoung]

Honestly I don't think I would have tried shooting that much powder with an obstacle stuck that far away from the powder charge. At least Mark knew enough to keep himself from harms way when the trigger was pulled.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I cant believe no one has told you that “you’ve lost yer marbles, sir”!
As always, a fun and interesting video, thx.

 

[edmehlig]

I wonder if idahoRon’s grease gun method would work in getting the marble out?

 

[Saxtonyoung]

As always the Maniac put out another fun video. I'm thinking with a brass range rod you could either push the marble down or broke it in the process.

 

[eekjellander]

I had an opportunity to shoot a few marbles from a smoothbore per request by a viewer.
Not as many as I wanted to shoot due to a loading FAILURE...!!

simple marble removal (it's glass) just take a solid ram rod (mines brass) and drop it on the marble and thump with your favorite (attention getter) all done!/Ed

 

[bronko220002]

Mark you should have tried pumping it out with a grease gun. Get the right fitting for your flash hole and start pumping grease into the barrel from the vent liner. That hydraulic pressure would have pushed out that marble. Also you could have tried a breech scraper on the end of you ramrod and cracked that marble into pieces?!

 

[user 30577]

Mark you should have tried pumping it out with a grease gun. Get the right fitting for your flash hole and start pumping grease into the barrel from the vent liner. That hydraulic pressure would have pushed out that marble. Also you could have tried a breech scraper on the end of you ramrod and cracked that marble into pieces?!

Grease would be too messy.
I tried a piece of 1/2" smooth rebar and a 20 ounce framing hammer. It broke the end of it as you see on the video. That rascal was REALLY stuck! Shooting it out was the easiest thing to do. I used that same gun in a .600 lead ball shooting video a few days after this one was finished that I'll be posting in a few weeks. That rugged smoothbore works just fine. Thanks for watching....

 

[11th Corps]

Honestly I don't think I would have tried shooting that much powder with an obstacle stuck that far away from the powder charge. At least Mark knew enough to keep himself from harms way when the trigger was pulled.

Yeah, I cringed when he talked about pouring powder into the touch hole, getting to 60 grains and then firing. Thought it might split the barrel. Glad it turned out ok.

 

[Whokalouie]

Why do I always know his videos are going to be off the wall and exciting? Keep them coming.

It was a reminder of my younger days when I was about 14 and stupid. A school buddy and I were shooting Dad's model 58 and got the idea of removing the shot and inserting a marble. At least I dropped it down the barrel first to be sure it would fit. We thought it was funny watching the old wall planks split on an abandoned shed.
When my buddy Phil got home he did the same with his dads shells, went out and fired one. The model12's barrel was peeled back on the bottom like a banana and he was lucky to not be hurt. He did not try the marbles in barrel first.

My dads 58 was modified, the 12 was a full choke.

DUMMKOFT kids!!

 

[drpatton]

Wow. Messing with a Pedersoli. He has more money to throw away than I do.

 

[bronko220002]

Before I knew any better I had a load of 70 gr of FFFg in a brand new barrel and got a conical stuck about 7" from the charge that would not go down any more. I figured I'd tie it to the bench and shoot it off with a string like Mark did. Well now I have a slight bulge inside the barrel. I can feel the bullet skip when it hits it. Thankfully though the barrel still shoots really good and it didn't affect the accuracy.

 

[drpatton]

Well now I have a slight bulge inside the barrel. I can feel the bullet skip when it hits it.

You might want to have your barrel miked. I had a barrel maker tell me, under extreme pressure a barrel might bulge a few thousandths of an inch. Anything more than that and the barrel splits.

A few thousandths is like bore pitting. Accuracy will probably take a hit, but you shouldn't feel it.
The fact you feel it may mean more is wrong than you think.

 

[idahoron]

If you believe that shooting out is the best option don't wear a skirt and pull the trigger with a string. Man up and pull the trigger with your finger.

That was a dangerous procedure. I really hope that your video doesn't end up killing someone.

My guns are worth way to much to me to treat them like you do yours.

 

[anonymouscowherd]

Much like the joke about the monkey in the bar Id check to be sure exit isnt impedied before trying to load anything unconventional

 

[drpatton]

My guns are worth way to much to me to treat them like you do yours.

I agree. I looked up the value of an Indian Trade gun on Muzzle-Loaders.com. They want $1,300 for it. I wouldn't mistreat a $400 rifle, let alone a $1,300 one. I bought a couple Renegades for their stocks, where the barrels were trashed. I might screw around with those, but I wouldn't do anything unsafe with them.

I understand, 200 years ago, people shot whatever they could out of those muskets, to survive, but we are not in that position.

 

[WP79Vet]

I had an opportunity to shoot a few marbles from a smoothbore per request by a viewer.
Not as many as I wanted to shoot due to a loading FAILURE...!!

Them high kwality made-in-Chyna Walmart marbles are purfeckly round an' all the same size, of course..... But if yer gonna shoot 'em, it might be a good idear to measure 'em to a little better than eye-ballin' 'em aginst a lead bullit to make sure they'll go ALL the way down the barrel.... BEFORE you load 'em. Jus sayin'.....

 

[user 30577]

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I enjoy reading all responses whether I agree with them or not.
The smoothbore survived the blast well. It is a rugged firearm for sure.
In fact, I used that same gun on another video project just 3 days later and I hit the targets better than ever before.
Keep on shooting my friends....
I certain will.
For those interested, below is the video filmed 3 days afterwards: