Is the big rock extinct?
- Thread starter mnorwood
- Start date
I shoot in 3 leagues and for those places that do not have a dot ball, I bring my own from home. No one likes the mud balls.
Charlie
Charlie
Nearly extinct in California. If you find one, you may want save it for your grandchildren to see. By then they will be as rare as dinosuar eggs.
mnorwood said:
pretty much extinct. they can still be bought from all the suppliers that I buy from. they work in most bar tables 'cause they're bigger, yet don't have to have a cage or core that a magnet will attract.
I imagine a lot of the people on this forum have never shot a game with the big "rock" and would be surprised/confused if they went into a room and actually had to shoot with one.....lol.
d_flash is old enough to remember when all the white rocks were big and the coin slot was 25 cents. I even remember when coin slots took 2 dimes !
they have one saved at the smithsonian institution, national museum of natural history, as proof that the game was brought here by leif erikson.
other than that ball, my league holds the remaining 7 balls and insist on using nothing but them for the 1006th season in a row.
other than that ball, my league holds the remaining 7 balls and insist on using nothing but them for the 1006th season in a row.
My Blast From The Past
d_flash is old enough to remember when all the white rocks were big and the coin slot was 25 cents. I even remember when coin slots took 2 dimes !
My table at home is a 1941 Valley, an old bar box. It has a working 2 dime slot, and yes, it came with a nice big shiny mud ball.
The guy had it advertised as an ivory Q ball so I took a real ivory Q with me to prove what he had, as I doubted his statement. Sure enough his was not ivory, but an old speckly shiny ball, big and heavy yes, but not like the solid dull white mud balls we commonly c today. This was 2 years ago and the table still had the original cloth and rails from 1941. 64 years old.
There were numerous coffee cup stains on the cloth and also 1 large dark brown burn mark that just matched the cast iron skillet that hung a few feet away. Seem they somethimes used it for a breakfast table. Several of the rails were loose, but the guy insisted that it played well as they used it all the time. I tried to tell him the rails were no good if they were loose, but he still said they worked great. No sense arguing with someone who actually believed that.
I bought it for his price, which wasn't bad, and hauled it home. I had Simonis 860 cloth and new rails put on and it looks and shoots great.
Charlie
d_flash is old enough to remember when all the white rocks were big and the coin slot was 25 cents. I even remember when coin slots took 2 dimes !
My table at home is a 1941 Valley, an old bar box. It has a working 2 dime slot, and yes, it came with a nice big shiny mud ball.
The guy had it advertised as an ivory Q ball so I took a real ivory Q with me to prove what he had, as I doubted his statement. Sure enough his was not ivory, but an old speckly shiny ball, big and heavy yes, but not like the solid dull white mud balls we commonly c today. This was 2 years ago and the table still had the original cloth and rails from 1941. 64 years old.
There were numerous coffee cup stains on the cloth and also 1 large dark brown burn mark that just matched the cast iron skillet that hung a few feet away. Seem they somethimes used it for a breakfast table. Several of the rails were loose, but the guy insisted that it played well as they used it all the time. I tried to tell him the rails were no good if they were loose, but he still said they worked great. No sense arguing with someone who actually believed that. I bought it for his price, which wasn't bad, and hauled it home. I had Simonis 860 cloth and new rails put on and it looks and shoots great.
Charlie
You can still draw the beast. You just can't be far away from the object ball. I love playing "players" with the big ball. By the time they adjust, it just might be too late. Bobby McCowan or McGowan could move that sucker as well as anybody I have ever seen. He is from VA Beach. Anyone seen or heard from him in a while?Snapshot9 said:
By the way, in the Appalachian bars around NC, SC, and TN, they are quite common. Just stop in Kelly's in Johnson City. Dump with attitude. Just my kind of place.
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we still have some around here but most have been replaced by the super roll off slug ball, call me friggin nuts but I kindof like playing with the big ball
There is quite a difference between the mud ball and the big ball. The big ball could at least be played with and you could have some consistency. With a good clean stroke it is possable to draw it to some degree.Snapshot9 said:
The mud ball is not necessarily big but it is almost impossible to draw. It can be recognized immediatly by it appearence. Always looked dirty but it was made that way. Maybe because of metal pigments in it. It is heavy and feels like it is make of stone.
With the the normal big ball there are some things that you could do with follow that are impossible to do with the regular magnetic ball.
There was also another ball that was even larger. Not very common. We called it the balloon. Forget about any draw with that one. No matter what stroke you had.
ginsu said:
"Surfer" Rod??? Is he still around?
Mud ball is simply the name given to the old larger, heavier Q balls that were used on the pay bar boxes. Since it was a little larger and heavier than the rest of the balls, it would fall into it's own slot and go to the Q ball return at the breaking end of the table. If it had been the same size and weight as the other balls, the Q would go into the ball holder and u would have to pay each time u scratched just to get the Q back.
Because they are heavier, they are hard to draw unless u have a great stroke. Perhaps the name was given as it was like trying to draw the Q thru mud.
Charlie
Because they are heavier, they are hard to draw unless u have a great stroke. Perhaps the name was given as it was like trying to draw the Q thru mud.
Charlie
