McCarthy: ran balls

[Marius Hancu]

Hello:

~~~
[Boy journeying across Texas, then in Mexico, in an irregular military
company. He switches to a 2nd outfit. ]

In the morning they rode out to the south. Little was said, nor were
they quarrelsome among themselves. In three days they would fall upon a
band of peaceful Tiguas camped on the river and slaughter them every soul.

On the eve of that day they crouched about the fire where it hissed in a
softly falling rain and they ran balls?? and cut patches?? as if the
fate of the aborigines had been cast into shape by some other agency
altogether.

Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy
~~~

"ran balls": making pistol balls by extrusion in those special forms? Or
just checking them?

"cut patches": cutting pistol caps or patches for cleaning the barrels?

Thanks.
--
Marius Hancu

[Tony Cooper]

When you load a muzzle-loader, you first put in a measured amount of
gunpowder, and then you put a small, round patch over the end of the
barrel covering the hole. The ball is placed on the patch, and that
is rammed down. The patch is usually oiled cloth.

This makes the ball fit in the barrel tightly so it doesn't roll out
before firing and so the explosion of the gunpowder will propel the
ball out of the muzzle without dissipation around the ball. The ball
is round, but the early casting methods don't result in a perfectly
round ball.

The men would have to have a patch for each ball, so they'd both cast
the balls and make patches in advance.

I don't get a meaning of "ran balls", but I assume it means they
poured hot lead into the form to cast a ball.

"Extrude" is not right to me, since "extruding" is forcing something
out.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando FL

[an...@alum.wpi.edi]

On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 18:29:23 -0500, Marius Hancu
<marius...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Hello:
>
>~~~
>[Boy journeying across Texas, then in Mexico, in an irregular military
>company. He switches to a 2nd outfit. ]
>
>In the morning they rode out to the south. Little was said, nor were
>they quarrelsome among themselves. In three days they would fall upon a
>band of peaceful Tiguas camped on the river and slaughter them every soul.
>
>On the eve of that day they crouched about the fire where it hissed in a
>softly falling rain and they ran balls?? and cut patches?? as if the
>fate of the aborigines had been cast into shape by some other agency
>altogether.
>
>Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy
>~~~
>
>"ran balls": making pistol balls by extrusion

No. "Extrusion" isn't a fancy word for casting. The balls would be
cast, melted and poured -that's the "ran" here, the metal "runs"
through the mold, same as the last time you asked- not squeezed out
like cookie dough. That's what extrusion is.

ANMcC

[Marius Hancu]

I know, but I wasn't sure this was casting.

Thank you both.
--
Marius Hancu

[Marius Hancu]

Great stuff.

Thanks.
--
Marius Hancu