# Attn. All Marble Shooters



## Teach (Jul 5, 2014)

I've currently only shot 3/8 steel balls for ammo as that is what is readily available in my area. I have found a bulk supplier of marbles online. http://www.mcgillswarehouse.com/marbles

Not knowing anything about using marbles for ammo, are there any guidlines? As an example does a 5/8 marble weigh about the same as a 3/8 steel ball? Will a 5/8 marble impact the target the same place as a 3/8 steel ball? That kind of thing?

Also, Northerner was telling me that for BB shooters he prefers a silver BB to a copper coloured one so I assume that perhaps colour and finish could also have an affect on their desirability as SS ammo such as mirroring, regular shiny, mat finish?

This company has what appears to be some great pricing and I'd like to place a bulk order of 5 or more pounds so I want to get info into my head before ordering. Thanks

Teach


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

I've shot marbles and while they are OK for short range plinking, they lose velocity pretty quickly and tend to curve past about 10 yards. They are very prone to ricochet and may shatter when they hit something solid. A ricocheting piece of glass with a sharp edge could be dangerous.


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Well, I can provide short answers to some of the questions, but it is better if you can do it yourself ... then you can change the variables and still know what is going on.

First, have a look at some densities:

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/density-solids-d_1265.html

I am not going to worry about units here ... we are only interested in comparisons. So consider the following materials:

steel: 7.82

glass: 2.6 (common glass is given as 2.4 - 2.8 .... just take the midpoint for us)

lead: 11.35

stone: 2.6 (given on the table as 2.3 - 2.8 ... depends on the type of stone ... just take the midpoint)

This tells us that a piece of glass and a piece of stone of the same size will weigh about the same. So you can think of marbles as just very smooth stones. That means they will shoot like stones, but be less erratic in flight because they are so smooth and uniform in shape.

This also tells us that steel weighs about 3 times as much as glass and lead weighs about 5 times as much as glass.

Now to do some very elementary calculation ... DON'T PANIC!!! Your computer will do most of the work.

Here is a simple volume calculator:

https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=sphere+volum&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGNI_en-GBCA525CA525&q=sphere+volume+calculator&gs_l=hp..1.0l5.0.0.0.8444...........0.RgkCE3h7L90

To get the volume of a sphere, all we need is the radius. When we say "3/8 inch steel", we are giving the diameter of the ball. So the radius is half the diameter, or 3/16 = .1875. Plug that into the calculator and we get volume = .028

To get the volume of 5/8 inch sphere, we use the radius which is 5/16 = .3125. Plug that into the calculator and we get .13

So the volume of a 3/8 ball is .028 in some units or other which need not concern us. And the volume of a 5/8 inch ball is .13 in those same units.

How does a 3/8 inch steel ball compare to a 5/8 inch glass ball??? Just multiply the volume by the density and compare them.

3/8 steel: .028 x 7.82 = .219 in some units or other which do not concern us

5/8 glass: .13 x 2.6 = .338 in the same units as above.

Comparing these two, that tells us that a 5/8 inch glass marble will weigh half again more than a 3/8 steel ball.

Well, how about a 1/2 inch glass ball? Radius will be 1/4 = .25, so volume will be .065. Then for the weight we get:

1/2 glass: .065 x 2.6 = .169

So a 1/2 glass marble will weigh only about 3/4 of what a 3/8 inch steel ball will weigh.

What about 3/8 lead???

3/8 lead: .028 x 11.35 = .3178

So that means that a 5/8 inch glass marble will weigh close to the same as a 3/8 lead ball.

Hope I have neither bored nor confused you. I figure it is better to know how to figure it out for yourself.

Cheers ... Charles


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Sorry, I forgot to mention that of course the smaller the diameter of your ammo, the less affected it will be by air resistance. So if a 3/8 projectile and a 5/8 inch projectile weigh the same, the 3/8 projectile will be slowed less by the air resistance, and thus it will be flatter shooting if both are fired with the same initial velocity.

Cheers .... Charles


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

Teach

You want the 5/8 inch marbles in 30 lb lots for best pricing from Mcgills. That would be $ 1.50 per pound including the shipping. A 5/8 marble is pretty close to the same weight as a 7/16 steel ball. These marbles are a great choice for ammo .


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## Teach (Jul 5, 2014)

Henry, I agree with all the points you made with the inherent dangers of using glass as a projectile. However, I'm not preparing to use marbles of any sort for field work.........just for use with my catchbox on the roof of the house - I have a large terrace up there where I shoot.

Professor Charles - you da man! Thank you.

Treefork, thats what I was looking to hear.

But no one so far has expressed a preference for colour, or is one colour as good as another for being able to see the ammo in flight?

Thanks again Fellas


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## JTslinger (Jan 26, 2015)

White marbles are easy to see in flight. I have a bunch of clear cat-eye marbles that are harder to see. From my experience, lighter colors are easier to see.


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## reset (Apr 13, 2013)

I had suggested to you by PM several days back that when buying .177 bb's its better if you can to get silver ones (Zinc plated). They show up the trajectory better in the light than the copper ones i find.

I like all white marbles when i was shooting marbles. But hey marbles are large enough to see fairly well in any colour trajectory wise. Just sometimes you can still find them on the ground better. The clear ones work just like camo. Ive dropped them right in front of me outside and couldnt find it.

I notice JTslinger has a slightly different view so in the end its what works for each person.


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## kick_the_can (Jan 23, 2015)

I shoot marbles all of the time right now. I have a grain scale and digital calipers so I'll measure them for you. The marbles I am currently using are what is convenient, not what I would prefer to try. Here are the marbles and some other common slingshot ammos' specs:

Daisy "1/2 inch" White Glass Marbles: 17/32'' typical diameter (varies slightly), 55 grains average weight

Barnett 3/8'' Steel Shot: 3/8'' diameter, 55 grains average weight

Daisy 3/8'' Steel Shot (P51 slingshot set): 3/8'' diameter, 56 grains average weight

Daisy 3/8'' Steel Shot (70-count pack): 3/8'' diameter (flat on opposite sides), 51 grains average weight

Barnett 3/8'' Black Plastic "Practice" Ammo: 3/8'' diameter, 14 grains average weight

Daisy 1/4'' Steel Shot (P51 slingshot set): 1/4'' diameter, 16 grains average weight

Daisy 1/4'' Steel Shot (250-count pack): 1/4'' diameter (flat on opposite sides), 15 grains average weight

I like marbles because they are more easy to recover than the other common ammos in my area. To me, reflective metalic shot tends to blend in with the ground more than an opaque marble. Plus, marbles are usually larger. The marbles do chip and break in half around 10% of the time when hitting a rigid target like a can, however, they have lasted as long as I can still find them against a rubber target. Typical steel shot starts to rust after the first recovery. Plastic just shoots awful.

I like the feel of my current Daisy white marbles and the trajectory is fine for shooting 30 feet. I would rather have a different color like fluorescent orange. I have seen some online, but am yet to buy any. Shooting at more than 55 feet is problematic because my marbles just fall out of the sky at that range.

With the "through the fork" shooting style, I have not seen any curve in my trajectory. With the "over the top" shooting style, the ball really can curve a lot.


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## Teach (Jul 5, 2014)

I stand corrected here fellas. I was just pommeled with a wet organic carrot in a PM by Reset. It was he and not Northerner who told me about the silver BB's. :banghead: This getting older everyday sucks! grin Incidentally Reset has been a great asset to me in giving me loads of info on shooting BB shooters which I am pretty sure is a path that I will follow as well as the full size ammo just for fun.

It was good advice no matter who it came from but he deserves the credit.

Reset I was also wondering about the effect of the clear marbles disappearing on me once they hit the ground as you say like Camo! For myself my shooting ground is ceramic tile on top of the house so no problem with losses to vision anyway.

I may try some flat finish as well as some glossy finish but I suspect the glossy would be better for seeing the marble in flight as It would sparkle from light shining off of it where the flat would not.


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## reset (Apr 13, 2013)

Well now i think of it Northerner originally told me about silver bb's way back. So he gets indirect credit lol. Actually i suspect many have said it on here and i just didnt see it.


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## JTslinger (Jan 26, 2015)

reset said:


> I had suggested to you by PM several days back that when buying .177 bb's its better if you can to get silver ones (Zinc plated). They show up the trajectory better in the light than the copper ones i find.
> 
> I like all white marbles when i was shooting marbles. But hey marbles are large enough to see fairly well in any colour trajectory wise. Just sometimes you can still find them on the ground better. The clear ones work just like camo. Ive dropped them right in front of me outside and couldnt find it.
> 
> I notice JTslinger has a slightly different view so in the end its what works for each person.


The clear tiger-eye marbles are hard to see outside, I shoot them in my catchbox. For outside use I like the white ones, or other similar bright colors if I plan on retrieving them.


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

Stick with bright colors that contrast your background and pick up light. Stay away from multi color swirl marbles. They are a little tricky on the eyes while tracking flight . I like white and clear luminescent.


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## Teach (Jul 5, 2014)

I got a price on the 3/8 steel balls and on a per ball/marble basis the steel is only slightly more expensive because with 16mm/ 5/8 marbles you only get roughly 75 marbles to the pound vs the 127 steel balls to the pound. With shipping included steel came in at .026 cents per shot vs .019 cents per shot for the marbles. For only 7/1000 ths of a cent difference I'm pretty sure I'll just go with the steel and be done with it. Only thing I'll have to deal with is bagging them up into individual bags and pre oil them to prevent them from rusting in the time it takes me to use 25 pounds of them. Thats a THWACK o shooting! Pardon the play on words.


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## JTslinger (Jan 26, 2015)

Where did you find bulk steel?


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## rockslinger (Nov 16, 2010)

JTslinger said:


> Where did you find bulk steel?


* [email protected]*

ask for Marty


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## JTslinger (Jan 26, 2015)

Awesome, thank you rockslinger.


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## Teach (Jul 5, 2014)

JT, price worked out to 2 dollars a pound plus shipping of 35 dollars to ship 25 lbs to Washington state. Shipping was 50 dollars for 50 pounds. Thats a lot of ammo. Unless you have a dry place to store it and keep it sealed, it might be hard to prevent rusting. Something to consider.


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## JTslinger (Jan 26, 2015)

Thank you Teach. Here in Utah it does not get to humid. I can always store the bulk ammo in my office.


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## Teach (Jul 5, 2014)

JT, here is the email I got from Marty.

Minimum order is 25 pounds per size. Price is $ 2.00 per pound. Shipping

for 25 lbs is $ 35.00. Shipping two sizes in two bags together in the same

box at 50 lbs is $ 55.00. If interested you can give us your address and

phone here, then call with a credit card.

Marty


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## kick_the_can (Jan 23, 2015)

I found out my diameter measurement on the Barnett black plastic practice ammo is wrong. They are actually 7/16'' in diameter. Sorry!


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## Phoul Mouth (Jan 6, 2015)

Marbles are good for plinking short ranged with a hit box or some kind of soft backstop. They can and will shatter if they hit something hard like a brick/cement wall. When they shatter those little shards are sharp as hell and if you step on one you WILL know it, and they fly pretty far too. Marbles are also prone to ricocheting off wood and trees as well. They aren't has heavy or dense as steel or led either. I have a bag of white marbles I have been using for target practice, but for anything other than practice I would not use them.


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## illerob666 (Apr 25, 2018)

Hard to beat the dollar tree 85 marbles to a pound. 1$ clear, cats eye blue, cats eye green, dark blue, dark blue are 1/2"inch more per pound I did not count. No shipping there's one in your neighborhood, in USA that is.


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## 3danman (Mar 29, 2012)

JTslinger said:


> Thank you Teach. Here in Utah it does not get to humid. I can always store the bulk ammo in my office.


Since you're in the US, look at BC Precision. I order from their website, which has better pricing than their items on Amazon. Excellent prices, prompt and free shipping too. I thought it was too good to be true when I first found them...

Also make sure it's from their website, not on Amazon. They sell through Amazon but their prices on their website for bulk orders are way better.


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