Mike and I are still in for 100, and considering how much shooting we will have to do next spring and early summer to be able to come close to the results you smooth bore cannon shooters out there are getting, probably a 100 pc. re-order will necessary as well.
Well it looks like our little challenge to the steel ball maker worked out quite well. Not only did he drop the separate callout for ball form, the roundness callout, which allowed egg shaped balls to the tune of .0167", but he also tightened up the size tolerance by a factor of ten. Per Double D it is now +/- 0.001mm which translates to 1.685+/- .000039". Plus or minus 39 millionths puts these ball squarely in the precision category AND dropping the separate callout for roundness means that General Rule #1 per ANSI Y14.5M 1994, 1982, or 1973 takes over and basically says if Size only is controlled, then form, ( a single cylindrical surface, a single spherical surface and an object between two parallel planes) is also controlled within the limits specified for size alone.
This is very good news for us as shooters, because a more perfect ball flies more truly to the bullseye! There is absolutely no need to thank us; we were more than happy to challenge DD's stated info from the manufacturer, in a nice way, of course. At this time we think a debt of gratitude is owed DD for the work he has done to develop this new source of target ammo. Thanks DD! And thanks to Gary for finding them initially.
Challenges to technology do not always work out very well as we learned in that old David Bowie song:
Ground control to Major Tom Ground control to Major Tom:
(First) Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground control to Major Tom: Commencing countdown engine's on
Check ig-nition and may God's love be with you
Ground control to Major Tom:
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong.
(Final) Can you hear me Major Tom?
Can you hear me Major Tom?
Can you hear me Major Tom? Can you ...
Here am I floating round my tin can, far above the moon
Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do
We do think that trying, trying, trying is worthwhile though, despite the risks.
Tracy and Mike