Effectiveness of Chewed Balls in 18th Century Forest Warfare 

I love how Mike can barely hold back his giggling when hes talking about chewed balls.

Golf balls were mentioned in some of the engineering classes I took. The purpose of the dimples is not to make them more accurate, but to reduce drag, allowing them to travel farther. They cause the air-flow over the ball to be turbulent, rather than laminar. With laminar flow, the fluid "adheres" to the surface, causing more drag, than the more "scattered," swirling, molecules of turbulent flow.

Watching mike explain his balls and play with them on camera on his birthday no less! is a great way to start a morning!

Wishing you Mike, a very happy birthday. As a long time (since 1975) muzzle loader aficionado, rendezvous participant, and living history reenactor, I throughly enjoy your videos and content. You sir are a true gentleman and American patriot.

Happy belated birthday, Mike!

Have a Model of 1842, made in 1848, .69 smooth bore musket and use roughed up or filed balls. My understanding is that the roughed area hold lube better in order to keep the fouling soft. I shoot 55 grains of 2f in N-SSA matches.

Ah morning coffee and watching Mike nothing better 👍🏻👍🏻☕️

Happy Birthday to Mike!

Bare balls? That was some really great shooting! The hangfire issue would flinch away most shooters, but 50 yards offhand? Very well done!

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Hi Mike, good video. In the past I have done extensive experiments shooting golf balls using a pneumatic potato launcher. Launching golf balls at over ~300fps showed no benefit to accuracy. At 300fps or less, the golf balls performed very well. However, when faster than 300fps the golf balls sailed way off target.

I am a 75 yr old retired Archaeogist that worked at both prehistoric and early historical periods. During a excavation in 1980 at a historic 1848-68 US Army Fort in SW Texas that was also a deep prehistoric site with artifacts going back to Spanish colonial1680s- c 9,000 years . I excavated a real human chewed lead ball. At the time I did not know of the idea that it maybe for more accurate shooting . I had heard that before morphine etc easily available on the frontier, during surgery to stand the pain a man would bite on a lead ball to stand the pain of extracting a arrow head or other situations. As by the deep human occupation of the site by both historical native tribes of the site that did have muskets in the 1700~ 1800s and Spanish, Mexicans and early Anglos; perhaps the biting the balls to stand pain maybe a better explanation.

Happy birthday 🎉. About your Mohawk target: Just pretend you're on the west side of Lake Champlain. I'll email you a story about Tamanend (the name of my Jr. High in Bucks County) and Tecumseh as related to the Naval Academy. Great technical and historical info in this video. I've used 110 grains of 2f in my .54 GPR and its like shooting a 300 Win. Mag.! I'd like to get a smoothbore for spring turkey here in NC.

Happy Birthday! Everytime I see a delayed fire on a flintlock, I always think of the Bugs Bunny cartoon Hillbilly Hare in which two mountain men in the Ozarks are shooting at him and their long guns have this long vibrating delayed reaction between when the hammer strikes and the gun goes off. To the point where Bugs finally ties a knot in the barrel during the delay. Looks like you had a fun time

Love this "Duelist Busts Vintage Myths" format!

Once again a fine informative video on my favorite firearms. I have probably fired most types of firearms in my life, but the flintlock holds a special attraction to me. Especially the fowling pieces. My pick being the fusil de chasse.in 20 bore. Thanks.

You are without a doubt the very best narrator, story teller, descriptive firearms U-Tuber on the internet Bar none. I’ve been watching you for years, love everything you do and can’t thank you enough for the knowledge you freely share with us. Being approximately the same age ( I’m 5 years older ) we have a lot of shared interest. You my friend have HOWEVER RUINED ME. After watching everything you show us on top breaks , I now have a 6” Iver Johnson in .32, a 4” S&W in .38 and I’m looking very hard at a 5” 44-40. Also, black powder ? Never thought I’d switch to the “ dark side “. Mike, you’re breaking the bank, wife wants to know who this Mike is. All kidding aside, thanks again for all you do, it’s greatly appreciated. Have a great Thanksgiving. Steve in Iowa.

Have a wonderful birthday Duelist. Thanks for your videos, not many other channels devoted to historical firearms.

Happy birthday buddy. Another great video

roughing up balls is extremely effective, it's a great information-gathering technique

Happy birthday Mike. May you live as long as you want and never want as long as you live. Thank you for your unbiased reporting on all the issues you research.

Feliz compleaño mi amigo! Happy birthday my friend! I empathize with you on aging affecting your shooting. I’m 40 and I notice a slight difference from when I was 25. In another 28 years when I’m your age I might be really off because at 50 yards with a smoothbore fowling piece shooting bare balls you do about how I can only do at 20 yards maximum. I’m better with long barreled revolvers than with long guns. With my Uberti 1858 Remington style new model army using my Howell .45 colt conversion cylinder from about 15 yards away I can turn a cantaloupe into pulp hitting it with at least 10 of the 20 shots I fired but it hits about 4 to 8 inches high at that distance using the conversion cylinder and the HSM .45 colt 200 grain cowboy loads so after adjusting how I aim because with the black powder cylinder if I lined the front sight up flush with the rear sight I would hit low so I learned to shoot it by lining up the middle of the front sight with the rear sight and that’s how I was still doing it in my pumpkin shooting video but with my recent shooting with the cantaloupe I reckoned since I was hitting so high at 12 yards with the large pumpkin I should align the sights flush and I tried my first couple of shots aiming spot on with the cantaloupe from 15 yards but missed. When I started aiming under the cantaloupe with the sights aligned flush I started hitting more

Great experimental video Mike! You really had me laughing when you realized you shot 4 shots instead of 5. That is a mistake that I could see myself doing! Happy 68th birthday brother!

One advantage I could see is loading without a patch might be quicker in combat, but at 25 yards, you could get hour head split by a tomahawk before you could reload unless your buddies were providing cover fore. Nice experiment, but I will be sticking with my .690 patched round balls.

Thank You for this video! I had never even heard of them before! But then, with all the decades of shooting behind me, I’m working backwards by going from modern to percussion, and finally flintlock. I haven’t gotten as far as a smooth bore. Again, I appreciate even a video that doesn’t gives the expected results. That takes guts to not trash a loser but, thank You for being a truthful reporter. That’s why I am a subscriber. Keep up the great work!

Great Video Mike! Happy Birthday!

Thanks so much for taking the time to produce and upload these videos. You explains firearms and "bullets" like no other. Keep em coming.

Happy birthday, Mike! Keep on shooting!!

Happy birthday Mike. Here's to many more. I am still struggling to get acceptable performance from my .62/20. I may back off on powder... Lower/slower and see if it helps.

That looked like a pretty darn good test to me, and i would probably just go with the regular round balls. Happy Birthday!

I thought I had heard/read an account from the Battle of Bunker Hill which referenced chewed balls being shot by the Colonists, however in this context it said "the Colonials chewed and poisoned their balls" which left me with the understanding that the bullets were chewed in order to enhance their lethality rather than their accuracy. Given your accuracy results in this tests, the Bunker Hill story makes more sense as to why one would do this.

Happy Birthday Mr Bellevue! Those Longrifles are so beautiful...! A Functional Work of Art, if you will ...!

This was much easier to watch than I thought it was going to be.

Happy Birthday Mike and many more, I enjoy you having fun, great video, thank you.

Thank you Mike! Yes, I hear you talk about it in your video. Same principle with the golf ball. A golf ball with dents/dimples goes further than a round smooth golf ball, and more precisely.

Happy birthday! And thank you for making my Thursday as always great stuff 🤠

Happy birthday, Mike. Hope you enjoyed your day.

Happy Birthday Mike! I have been looking forward to this video. I have made some up for my .62 fowler to try. Very interesting. Thanks for the research!

Happy Birthday, Mike. You’re a good man - I appreciate all of your videos!

Now these are the types of videos I love. Duelists den, flintlock, autumn, very nice.

Thanks for covering the questions about historical use of firearms! Amazing what we DON’T know!

Happy Birthday! Interesting results. From a warrior's perspective, bare balls seem to get the job done good enough, freeing one to devote precious time to tasks other than roughing the balls or wadding usage.

Happy Bday! As always - enjoyed the vid. Just my opinion, but I feel a ransom rest or something approximating one would be best for theses kinds of tests in order to minimize the human effects (can see the barrel wobbling slightly before you fire). At the very least a bench rest could minimize the effects of natural human processes (breathing, natural tremors, etc.) enough to be able to confidently make a call concerning differences. Keep up the good work!

Looks pretty potent from the recoil impulse on your shoulder. Happy birthday hope it was very nice. Enjoyed your video very interesting.

Happy Birthday Mike! I hope you enjoy many more birthdays & rangedays! I am a few months away from the end of my 1st year at 50 and I am feeling it. I hope do be as active as you are at your age. Unfortunately, I only just discovered how much fun historical blackpowder arms can be. This channel has been a tremendous help to me in getting started. I started with revolvers and now I really want to get my hands on a 12 gauge percussion shotgun but they are a lot more expensive than most reproduction rifles, it seems. What gives? Note: I have zero interest in modern blackpowder muzzleloaders or blackpowder substitutes.

Darn fast Lock! Nice Job! Tuck loaded, heading out with the BP Saturday! Thanks AGAIN!

Happy Birthday Mike! Can't think of a better way to celebrate.

Happy Birthday Mr. Mike! Great video as always! Keep up the good work!

Great video, thank you Mike!

I always figured the chewed balls or chewed bullets were referring to balls or bullets that were fired or used when hearing that piece you read. My thoughts were, the ammunition was chewed or marred after going through their intended targets or by being embedded in not intended targets. I didn't know people had chewed or marred them before shooting. And, while it may not improve accuracy, it does look like it can be a way to get around using a wad. Thanks for bringing the history of these guns and how they were used to us.

Great video thank you I like your content and watch a lot of your videos

Happy Belated Birthday Mike, hope you had a great day.

Happy birthday! That looks like a lot of fun! I've always been curious about black powder arms.

I learn so much from your videos . Thank you , Mike.

Good morning from Syracuse NY brother thank you for sharing your adventures in history and firearms and weapons

H.F.B. young man, hope you have a great day !!! Keep up the good vids, I always enjoy your work. Thanx, Sam

My immediate thought is some farmer was trying his hardest to make the most of every single shot, but also knowing they had to practice. So we got a farmer looking downrange, looking for used bullets. Learning if they skimp on powder, it made the bullets easier to recover. I can also picture new cast bullets getting handled roughly with cold hands when they clip them, or handle with tongs.

appreciate the extra testing. very interesting and gr8 targets

I am and had been an avid black powder shooter and I have never heard of this . Good of you to have found this out and resourced it to this point . I have a friend that insists on ruffing up his round ball for his .36 colt . I never understood why . Still

I think with the early abundance of game a 15 to 20 yard shot would have been the norm. As game became less common the rifle became more in demand while the smoothbore was regulated to shot gun status. As far as early woodland warfare fast loading at short range would be more desirable.

As usual very entertaining and in my humble opinion bare balls beat all including conicals etc . Easy to load and after casting no preparation . Happy birthday Mike 🎉

Happy birthday mike. Thanks for the video. Interesting outcome.

Happy Birthday, youngster! I enjoyed the comparison.

Happy Birthday! Despite its lower accuracy, the chewed round ball idea sounds like it could be very useful when shooting round ball loads in a double barrel muzzleloading shotgun. Its tighter fit would most likely keep the recoil of the first barrel from jarring the ball loose in the second barrel. Another possibility of why the chewed ball was used was so the ball would have more of a meat hammer effect and cause more flesh/tissue damage.

Once again great job. always enjoy your videos.

Great test! Thanks for making this video. I don’t have a smoothbore but would like to get one.

Happy Birthday and God Bless You and your Family

Another great video, your shooting experiments are always very good. By the way, Happy Birthday. 👍🎂

happy birthday mike , i was thinkin of your lee enfield 303 sporter video and you were planning on gifting it to your son , i also seem to recall seeing him or a pic of him at some time in your vids , i thought he was in his early teens , im now 57 and have a 14 yr son , man time is flying by , cheers big ears from down under

Happy birthday Mike! Great video as usual

Lol well, anybody who says you didnt give chewed balls a fair shake are simply straight up wrong. Thanks Mike. Always nice seeing your work with smoothbores. Had to be a reason they used them back in the day though... Makes me wonder what they do in ballistics gel. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE! Ya dont look a day over 30. Lol

Great video Mike, a lot of interesting information happy birthday

Happy Birthday Mike! Any day out in nature making smoke is way better than any day in the office, so I know you had a good one. As always, love the videos! Keep 'em coming.

Happy Birthday, sir! Assuming the 1954 in your channel name is your birth year, you're the same age as my father, just a whiff younger. Glad to have you both in equally good spirit and health 🙂 18:14 "That woulda been ugly" 😁

Happy birthday sir! Thank you for making videos like this.

Happy birthday, and wishing you many more good years!! Thanks for sharing this experiment, I was sure you’ll be chewing led balls, and wasn’t easy about the poisoning outcome.. god bless!!

Well done test overall, and pretty entertaining as well. Nice work.

Happy Birthday Mike! Good test.

Happy Birthday Mike! Hopefully you had a great day!

I always enjoy your videos, and the history that you share. Thank you for doing them.

Very interesting results, I would have thought that chewed balls would have given some measure of consistency, as they seem to load tighter. On another note, the lock time on your Fowler is rather impressive! Pretty well tuned piece!

I just turned 64 I know what you mean. Excellent program. Knew nothing about a Chewed Round Ball. Learn something everyday.

Another interesting video. Thanks Mike. Happy birthday and have a good one.

The chewed balls with the unsmooth surface is a lot like a golf ball. It seems that is someone had a smooth bore gun suffering from poor accuracy that using chewed balls may be an option for improvement.

Happy Birthday Mike and thanks for another great video!

Happy Birthday Mike.

Great video Mike. Interesting to look at history and see what it actually was like. Thank you! Happy birthday too!

Always great information and a historical lesson. Thanks.

Six minutes in, this is great content. Subscribed. Thank you.

Happy birthday Mike. Great video.

Happy Birthday Mike!!

Awesome video!

Happy birthday. Love watching your videos

A test I would like to see is the same test shot from a bench and chronographed with shots both above and below the speed of sound and heavily and lightly chewed balls to test your conclusions.

I hope you're having a wonderful birthday Mike it is a very interesting test keep up the good work

Happy birthday, Mike!

Absolutely wonderful episode. Learned so much.

It’s my Birthday today too!! 51 y.o. Still giggled a bit at this one 🤣

Happy Birthday and many more of them!

Happy Biirthday mate great vid best wishes from Cornwall🤠