Goodies from darkest Africa.

Hawg · August 11, 2013, 07:00 AM

A member of my forum from South Africa sent me some goodies he made . A powder funnel made from Jacaranda and a cap box made from African mahogany. He also sent eight round balls for my Pedersoli shotgun. The funnel and cap box are beautiful. The round balls are ...well....big, round, hard and heavy.

That's one of my .54's in the middle. He sent 8, I shot 4 already. Was just too hot to do much.

100 grains of powder and these big ol heavy balls in the light Pedersoli (and it is very light) has a pretty nice thump to it but I wouldn't call it vicious by any means. The balls are .69 caliber and weigh .484 grains. I fired it at 40 yards give or take and I was a little apprehensive on the first shot and I admit it, I flinched. Shot was low and way left. The right barrel was better but still low. I loaded it up again and raised my POA and did better but still not satisfactory.

The first shot is low left and the second is the far left one in the group of three. The other two are from the .54 Sharps on a previous outing. The last two made it on paper but I was holding over the plate and couldn't see it. The springs in my Pedersoli are too light for those loads and the hammers blow back to half cock. One day when its cooler I'll shoot the other 4 with 80 grains and decide if I want to persue shooting round balls out of it or stick with shot.

Oh they are destructive to whatever they hit. The target was taped to the back of an old dishwasher. This is the one that hit low left where it came out thru the door.

MattShlock · August 11, 2013, 06:34 PM

Y would ANYBODY ship lead balls half way around the world?

Hawg · August 11, 2013, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Y would ANYBODY ship lead balls half way around the world?

Because I didn't have any and he wanted me to experience the joy of blasting them out of a SXS shotgun.

Doc Hoy · August 12, 2013, 05:26 AM

That is real cool stuff.

To me, the cap box is especially nice because of the color.

MattShlock · August 12, 2013, 07:15 AM

I'm not following...

They're lead. Very nice lead balls. Heavy lead balls that go in a gun (of shotgun bore) that are shot out. And someone packed and paid to ship them, I dunno, 10,000 miles.

Sorry, am I missing something like they are an utterly impossible-to-find diameter in North America?

bedbugbilly · August 12, 2013, 09:46 AM

I'm not sticking up for Hawg . . . he certainly is very capable of sticking up for himself and I'm sure he has access to round lead balls . .

I'm guessing that the party that made these items and sent them all that distance did it out of friendship . . . .

If you've been on here any time at all . . . you know that Hawg is a "regular" and a person who is always there to help with advice when a person needs it . . . and he has the experience to back up his advice. In some manner, I have a feeling that Hawg touched the life of the person who made these things and sent them to him . . . and I'm sure that he cherishes them . . . I know I would.

No . . . to most folks it probably doesn't make sense for someone to send something heavy like lead balls halfway around the world . . . but I "get it". To you, they may be lead balls that any of you could easily come by . . . to the person that sent them . . well . . . they're a "token of friendship" just like the funnel and the cap box . . . which by the way are really neat.

Many years ago, my Dad got a message from the fellow in charge of the train depot that was across from my Dad's lumberyard that he had a delivery. When my Dad went to see what it was, he was surprised to find that it was a horse drawn "marsh plow". An old friend of his, who once had a farm in the area where we lived, had sold out and bought a farm in Illinois years before. He and my Dad always maintained their friendship and when the fellow got to the age of where he had to sell the farm, he wanted my Dad to have that marsh plow. It wasn't cheap for him to send it but it was a way for him to let my Dad know what his friendsip through the years meant to him. Now we had no use for the marsh plow on the farm as our wetlands were just to wet to turn over and plant. But Dad kept that plow and he put it in one of the outbuildings at the lumberyard. Everytime I was in that building with my Dad, he'd look at that plow and tell me about his friend, who I had never met, but that I could tell was an important friend in my Dad's life. That plow was still in that building when my Dad passed and we never got rid of it. My brother took it when we sold the lumberyard and still has it.

Sometimes things might not make sense to others . . but to those people involved, they make plenty of sense. Thanks for sharing them with us Hawg . . I'm sure that the person who sent them to you will be tickled to death to know that you shot the balls he sent you . . . enjoy that funnel and cap box . . . they are mighty handsome and I'ms sure that each time you look at 'em and use 'em, your thoughts will be of the person who made them for you.

noelf2 · August 12, 2013, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Sorry, am I missing something like they are an utterly impossible-to-find diameter in North America?

It's not about shipping costs or availability. It's about a friend sending a sample for the purposes of fun.

orangello · August 12, 2013, 03:19 PM

Nice!

I really like the picture of the exit wound on that evil dishwasher.

Strafer Gott · August 12, 2013, 04:08 PM

The only place to get African lead balls is Africa.

Hawg · August 12, 2013, 05:11 PM

Quote:

I'm not following...

They're lead. Very nice lead balls. Heavy lead balls that go in a gun (of shotgun bore) that are shot out. And someone packed and paid to ship them, I dunno, 10,000 miles.

Sorry, am I missing something like they are an utterly impossible-to-find diameter in North America?

He just did it out of the goodness of his heart. They're not hard to find here.....Well the molds aren't but I wasn't going to buy a mold just to try out a few balls. He was already going to send the funnel and cap box so he threw in some balls with them. Yes it was expensive for him to do so and it is greatly appreciated.

MattShlock · August 12, 2013, 10:01 PM

I guess it was nice of him no matter what.

Ya know, I worked with a woman who, on regular assignment back and forth to San Jose, sent her parents from New York to San Francisco for a week's anniversary vacation while she'd be there. They went to a restaurant where they loved the food. And the place sold it, frozen, to take home! Well...

They bought a huge styrofoam cooler and dry ice and packed as much of this great food up in it as they could and had it shipped cross country. Then they found out that Marie Calendar's TV Dinners were in every supermarket in every major metropolitan area of the country. They were so embarrassed.

I bring that up only because I am hungry...

August 11, 2013, 07:00 AM	#1
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,189	Goodies from darkest Africa. A member of my forum from South Africa sent me some goodies he made . A powder funnel made from Jacaranda and a cap box made from African mahogany. He also sent eight round balls for my Pedersoli shotgun. The funnel and cap box are beautiful. The round balls are ...well....big, round, hard and heavy. That's one of my .54's in the middle. He sent 8, I shot 4 already. Was just too hot to do much. 100 grains of powder and these big ol heavy balls in the light Pedersoli (and it is very light) has a pretty nice thump to it but I wouldn't call it vicious by any means. The balls are .69 caliber and weigh .484 grains. I fired it at 40 yards give or take and I was a little apprehensive on the first shot and I admit it, I flinched. Shot was low and way left. The right barrel was better but still low. I loaded it up again and raised my POA and did better but still not satisfactory. The first shot is low left and the second is the far left one in the group of three. The other two are from the .54 Sharps on a previous outing. The last two made it on paper but I was holding over the plate and couldn't see it. The springs in my Pedersoli are too light for those loads and the hammers blow back to half cock. One day when its cooler I'll shoot the other 4 with 80 grains and decide if I want to persue shooting round balls out of it or stick with shot. Oh they are destructive to whatever they hit. The target was taped to the back of an old dishwasher. This is the one that hit low left where it came out thru the door.

August 12, 2013, 05:26 AM	#4
Doc Hoy Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2008 Location: Naples, Fl Posts: 5,440	Hawg.... That is real cool stuff. To me, the cap box is especially nice because of the color. __________________ Seek truth. Relax. Take a breath.

August 12, 2013, 09:46 AM	#6
bedbugbilly Senior Member Join Date: November 19, 2009 Posts: 3,287	I'm not sticking up for Hawg . . . he certainly is very capable of sticking up for himself and I'm sure he has access to round lead balls . . I'm guessing that the party that made these items and sent them all that distance did it out of friendship . . . . If you've been on here any time at all . . . you know that Hawg is a "regular" and a person who is always there to help with advice when a person needs it . . . and he has the experience to back up his advice. In some manner, I have a feeling that Hawg touched the life of the person who made these things and sent them to him . . . and I'm sure that he cherishes them . . . I know I would. No . . . to most folks it probably doesn't make sense for someone to send something heavy like lead balls halfway around the world . . . but I "get it". To you, they may be lead balls that any of you could easily come by . . . to the person that sent them . . well . . . they're a "token of friendship" just like the funnel and the cap box . . . which by the way are really neat. Many years ago, my Dad got a message from the fellow in charge of the train depot that was across from my Dad's lumberyard that he had a delivery. When my Dad went to see what it was, he was surprised to find that it was a horse drawn "marsh plow". An old friend of his, who once had a farm in the area where we lived, had sold out and bought a farm in Illinois years before. He and my Dad always maintained their friendship and when the fellow got to the age of where he had to sell the farm, he wanted my Dad to have that marsh plow. It wasn't cheap for him to send it but it was a way for him to let my Dad know what his friendsip through the years meant to him. Now we had no use for the marsh plow on the farm as our wetlands were just to wet to turn over and plant. But Dad kept that plow and he put it in one of the outbuildings at the lumberyard. Everytime I was in that building with my Dad, he'd look at that plow and tell me about his friend, who I had never met, but that I could tell was an important friend in my Dad's life. That plow was still in that building when my Dad passed and we never got rid of it. My brother took it when we sold the lumberyard and still has it. Sometimes things might not make sense to others . . but to those people involved, they make plenty of sense. Thanks for sharing them with us Hawg . . I'm sure that the person who sent them to you will be tickled to death to know that you shot the balls he sent you . . . enjoy that funnel and cap box . . . they are mighty handsome and I'ms sure that each time you look at 'em and use 'em, your thoughts will be of the person who made them for you. __________________ If a pair of '51 Navies were good enough for Billy Hickok, then a single Navy on my right hip is good enough for me . . . besides . . . I'm probably only half as good as he was anyways. Hiram's Rangers Badge #63

August 11, 2013, 06:34 PM	#2
MattShlock Senior Member Join Date: April 8, 2013 Posts: 251	Y would ANYBODY ship lead balls half way around the world?

August 12, 2013, 07:15 AM	#5
MattShlock Senior Member Join Date: April 8, 2013 Posts: 251	I'm not following... They're lead. Very nice lead balls. Heavy lead balls that go in a gun (of shotgun bore) that are shot out. And someone packed and paid to ship them, I dunno, 10,000 miles. Sorry, am I missing something like they are an utterly impossible-to-find diameter in North America?

August 12, 2013, 03:19 PM	#8
orangello Senior Member Join Date: February 25, 2009 Posts: 566	Nice! I really like the picture of the exit wound on that evil dishwasher.

August 12, 2013, 04:08 PM	#9
Strafer Gott Senior Member Join Date: May 12, 2011 Location: New Mexico Posts: 1,315	The only place to get African lead balls is Africa.

August 12, 2013, 10:01 PM	#11
MattShlock Senior Member Join Date: April 8, 2013 Posts: 251	I guess it was nice of him no matter what. Ya know, I worked with a woman who, on regular assignment back and forth to San Jose, sent her parents from New York to San Francisco for a week's anniversary vacation while she'd be there. They went to a restaurant where they loved the food. And the place sold it, frozen, to take home! Well... They bought a huge styrofoam cooler and dry ice and packed as much of this great food up in it as they could and had it shipped cross country. Then they found out that Marie Calendar's TV Dinners were in every supermarket in every major metropolitan area of the country. They were so embarrassed. I bring that up only because I am hungry...