new used ball. Ebonite Navy Stinger.

[bdpeters]

Some of you may have read my earlier posts about my current equipment and my desire to upgrade a bit from my Brunswick Galaxie. The main plan is to get e decent entry level reactive as soon as I can afford it(moneys real tight right now). Over the weekend I came accross a Ebonite Navy Stinger in a thrift store. I grabbed the ball and checked out the fit. the span seemed decent and the fit on the fingers was good, the ball has inserts. the thumb will need some tape. The price was not marked so I found an employee and asked him to check on the price. he returned with a price sticker for 2.99. even though I did not know anything about the ball I thought what the heck its only 3 bucks. I have looked for some info on the ball but have not found alot of it. from what I seen it has a reactive coverstock and is for dry to medium oil. I sent an email request for info from Ebonite but would like to hear from other members here if you have had any experience with this ball.

Thanks
Brian
http://ebonite.com/products/product_detail/navy_stinger

[bowl1820]

In the Stinger line, the Stinger solid navy meshes the Stinger high rg, high flare core with the Detonator Plus, creating energy retention on light oil conditions. The specifications of the Stinger are as follows: Factory Finish: Factory polished Detonator Plus reactive veneer; Color: Deep blue; RG Rating: scale 1 to 10 (center to cover heavy) 6.77; Differential: scale 1 to 10 (low to high): 8.0; Mass Bias: .001; Flare Potential: high; Length: scale 1 to 10 (early to late) with factory finish: 7.5; Backend: scale 1 to 11 (least to most): 8.5; Hook Style: Length with strong backend; Best Lane Condition: light to medium oil; Overall Hook: scale 1 to 23 (least to most) dull/shiny: 16 dull/8 shiny

[bdpeters]

Thanks for the info. where did you find it?

[bowl1820]

Took that from BR.coms reviews.

Ok think I found the right BTM issue April 1997 (theres 8 stingers) Ebonite Stinger Reactive
It has double puck core, hook 17,backend 8.5,length 5. Track flare 6" (using the old rating system)

Thier basic opinion was it was ok, not the biggest hooker. It looked strong but they tried it on a real walled up shot on wood lanes. With how they oiled back then. Then later it got the nickname "stinker" because it didnt hook a lot, but they still think it was ok for the right condition (which is true of any ball).

$3 and it fits pretty good? shoot cant go wrong.

[DaveAyotte]

I was going to make a joke about where to find the biggest hookers, but decided against it. :cool:

[The Mayor]

Nice find!

[bdpeters]

I Figured at the very least I could give it to someone else if it did not work out. all i' out is the price of a big mac and I could do with one less of those. i am going to try it tomorrow. I am still in the market for a new ball though.

Bri

[bdpeters]

One more thing on this ball.( for some reason i could not edit my post) all the info I have seen says the color of the ball is deep blue. the link I posted says color Navy. the picture and the actual ball are purple. is there any difference?

Bri

[bowl1820]

One more thing on this ball.( for some reason i could not edit my post) all the info I have seen says the color of the ball is deep blue. the link I posted says color Navy. the picture and the actual ball are purple. is there any difference?

Bri

Ok as I said theres 8 different stingers according to the usbc approved balls list.
First The Stinger "purple" and the "purple pearl"
Now the btm info above is for the purple, they just call it the stinger and stinger pearl in that issue. So if your ball is purple, good bet its one of those.

Another stinger is called the stinger "dark blue" which ill guess is what the navy desciption above is for. And i believe the "dark blue" has a different core. Ill try to find it in the back issues.

[bowl1820]

Took a look through the back issues of btm. The stingers are all basically the same, they just changed coverstocks to more aggressive solids and pearls. They had the same double puck cores, except for a couple that had a single density core(the blue/teal pearl and particle ball).

[striker12]

man thast a nice find if i could ever find something like that at that price i would deffently get it i would not really care how its drilled i would take it and throw it down the lane to see where it cna go in my bag but also you should get a thumb grip it helps alot its much better then tape cause with tape your thumb could slip off it but with a thumb grip your thumbs grips untill your on your realese i jsut started useing a thumb grip and it works great for me had some good games and some bad but i have ahd to open the thumb grip abit from my thumb swelling up

[bdpeters]

Thank you all for your help. I was going to throw it today at lunch break but some stuff came up. I think I will take it to the pro shop and have them take a look. I may get it re surfaced.

Bri