New to site. I think that I will be spending alot of time here since I'm a bowling fanatic. I carry an above 200 average in a few different houses. All similar shots, about 35 to 40 feet, about 7 to 7, medium oily to medium dry. The medium dry house is my home and on my league night there oil is fresh and backends are clean.

I have a stroker style with a good hand. I throw the ball about 18 mph with about 17-19 revs. I like to play an inside swing to a breakpoint usually about 40 feet down the lane.
 
My RIP had a 4 inch pin and a starting top weight of 3 and 3/4. I drilled it with the pin above the center of my fingers with the CG at the center of my palm. I polish it with 3000 every 20 games.

My RIP goes very long on a medium oily pattern that is 37 to 40 feet. On the medium dry shot with clean backends, it flips as soon as it reads the dry, witch is a few feet after it hits it. The recovery on clean backends is very good. On more oil or carrydown, this ball tends to squirt or jump. I would'nt say an over under reaction, just a bit to sensitive. The ball hits well. I've seen, better, I've seen much worse.

Overall an A+ on fresh oil with a clean back end, and a B+ on longer oil and or carrydown.

Well I should explain first I was looking for a ball that had the roll I wanted and with the lanes im on they are different every week, my dillema im a power player with lots of speed making most ball squirly on carry down
One day I was watching Ricky Ward bowl on TV with alomst the same style as myself and hola he was using a reaction rip ball.
 so I went out the next day had one drilled one up and I could not beleive the
consistant arc this thing had I could swing the ball or play down in, and it never over reacted and carried the corners keeping the pins low to the deck unlike alot of other columbia balls that hit hard but shoot pins up 10 pinning yah to death. only downfall to the ball is long heavy oil with dirty backends the ball will reach the 1/3 pocket but loses to much energy tring to get there and doesnt have the carry leaving me alot of 7 pins
but is easily rectified with a ebonite ball that rolls much earlier
all in all id rate this ball 9 out of 10 but wouldnt say this ball is for everybody does require some hand due to high rg, definitly not a stroker choice

this is a great ball i have won a great deal of money have no prolems wit it and prob wont for a very long time           i drilled mine wit the pin above the fingers and kicked the cg out a 1/4 positive great layout!!

All I can say about this ball is wow!! This ball is drilled stack and the length and hit are perfect for my game.  The Reaction Rip gave me my best game (299) ever when i was 13 at the Tournament Of Champions of my tournaments that I compete in (Keystone JR Bowling).  It's a great medium oil ball, (dies in oil and too powerful in dry) if you can find another. I wish I can find one.

I seem to have a hand for long pauses after the last ball review. Well, after almost 1 year, some personal impressions with this emerald gem:

My Reaction Rip is the result of a long search for a ball with length and "pop" on short patterns or broken-down lanes with grippy back end. In fact, originally I was not looking for this specific ball.
I also had an eye on a NIB Power Groove, did not want a BVP Punisher, but accidently I found "my" Rip on a German pro shop web site. The specs sounded promising - despite the fact that the ball saw its market introduction 4 years ago and that it had already 1 drilling to it. But „old“ balls need not to be bad, especially for control jobs and since their coverstocks are not soooo aggressive as today's material. It proved to be a very good choice

Respect and thanks at this place to Marco at Bowling Shop Berlin (www.bowling-shop-berlin.de) for his quick response, providing me with many good pictures and specs of the already professionally plugged and polished ball. A great deal for EUR 65,- (about $80) plus shipping, and real good customer service. Even during holidays...
And, once more, thanks to Michael Kraemer in Duisburg for his drilling expertise and patience with the 2nd-hand-ball-ball-nut of mine.

About me:
Style = Stroker/mild Tweener, right-handed
Speed = 13,5-14,5 mph
PAP = 5" & 7/8"^
Axis tilt = 18,7°
Revs = 250-300 RPM at release
For more details, check out my profile, please.


The ball setup:

My Reaction Rip is 15 lbs., top weight unknown. It is a 4 1/8“ pin-out, a very good basis for my desired late reaction setup. The ball was drilled rather weak for hooking heads and toasted lanes: pin over bridge, 5 1/2" from PAP. CG ended up 5“ from PAP, putting it in a 75° position. No X-hole to influence flare, which gives this ball still a nice pop at the back end, taking advantage of the high flare potential.


====*====
===o=o===
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======#==
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* = Pin
# = CG


Ball picture (pin colored at PC): http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3473649

Surface was wet-sanded to 400 grit and received a high-gloss polish finish. Excellent choice for the coverstock. A urethane thumb slug and silicone oval inserts (all white) completed the setup.


The testing program:

As mentioned before, the ball is laid out rather weak for medium-dry and toasted conditions, so that I do not take full advantage of the ball's potential. Please keep this in mind when you read further.

Short 35' tree pattern (probably buffed to 38') with 8 dry outside boards:
This is what I needed this ball for, and it works excellent! Just in the first test, when I needed to adjust the thumb slug for proper fit, the second game was a whopping 220 clean game with this baby. The ball did not move much, for the best results I stood at 33th board with my right shoe tip, played a tight line over 18th board at the arrows and let the dry outside boards work for me when the ball went too far to the right gutter. It recovered well and consistently found the pocket, with a late and sharp breakpoint at 40-43' down the lane. Even though the back end was dry and grippy, the Rip had still lots of energy when it entered the pins. Nice, low pin action, cracking strikes.

Additionally, the Rip showed that it is very easy to control by hand position – flattening out or cupping the wrist makes it easily move or not, changing the entry angle as you like for special occasions and odd leaves.
I am very content with the Reaction Rip on this turf: an ideal match of coverstock, drilling and my style.

Just for reference: I used to play my trusty pin-in Trauma (pin 1“ below ring, 1“ towards PAP) on these lanes, standing at 35 or further, aiming at 15-17 behind the arrows, and even with a broken back wrist and raised speed I sometimes was not able to get the ball into the pocket. It simply moved too much and too early, and my release was not consistent at all due to the struggles with the dry back end. But with the Rip, I can now play my A-game and the normal release I use e. g. with the Trauma on sport oil conditions, and it feels nice and confidence-inspiring.

If I was to compare it with other stuff, I think the Reaction Rip works well on conditions which are suited well for Brunswick's BVP Punisher or the older Monster ScreamR and Frenzy. With some stronger drilling it might even handle medium conditions and might reach into the realm of Brunswick's original Inferno from the dry side. Tough ball.

Played down 40' sport pattern:
Surely still too much oil for the ball to perform well, but the Rip with the 5 1/2 x 5 drilling is a serious option here for late games and high humidity. I use to stand at 26th board with my right shoe tip and play over 3rd arrow, as well as at 22nd board and playing over 2nd arrow as a down-and-in alternative. Ball went much straighter than on the tree/THS pattern, moving only 6-8 boards, and I could see the coverstock struggle for grip on the longer pattern, so that the ball could move to the pocket and deliver its energy in a forward roll. Carry was so-so, simply because the ball tended to skid, was hard to keep in the pocket and did not finish. I made similar experience with my TPC Shooter on this turf. Too much or too long oil will render the pretty Rip useless.

Another line which seems to work better (on the sport shot, but also on any condition so far) is the 33th-board-aiming-at-18th-board method which worked fine on the short THS mentioned before. The ball seems to stay long enough in head oil, and has plenty of room in the backend to make its move. Occasional 4-pin leaves are the only drawback so far.


Some conclusions:

With the drilling and for the specific job I buyed this ball, it was a very good choice. And the Reaction Rip is a strong ball! You can really feel that it is/was a performance ball. Overall, I'd rank it at 8,5 out of 10 with a tendency up. Currently it has a safe place in my tournament bag as an ultima ratio for scorched lanes and short oil, when I wnat to open up the lanes and I need much entry angle. I like the power and impact I can generate with it on these tough conditions.

The tall high RG core (2,57“ in the 15 lbs.) delivers what Columbia promises: late reaction, strong backend performance and energy for dry boards far down the lane. Through the higher RG it is a bit difficult to put revs on it, it feels "heavier" during the release than a low RG ball. But it holds this energy through the dry backend for a late delivery, better than a low RG ball, hitting hard and keeping pins nicely low. It should generally make a great THS ball, or a 1st choice ball for stripped back ends. The SuperFlex stuff is very versatile, and very durable.

Lane utility for tested ball (pattern length vs. oil volume):

|S M L
|h e o
|o d n
|r . g
|t
_______
|+ X X| Light volume
|X X +| Medium volume
|+ 0 0| Heavy volume

Legend:
X = Best suited with effective control & carry
+ = Fairly suited (works, somehow, but lacks control)
0 = Unsuited (ineffective, either slips or burns up)


The chart concept is borrowed from Storm's 2003 catalogue. Surface prep and drillings may change the results, it is just personal experience with my style

A stronger drill, with the pin at 4“ from PAP and above the fingers, would surely make a Rip a long-going skid/snap monster, which will still be competitive on current lanes.

And, besides performance, this ball looks awesome! If nothing else, the Reaction Rip is... beautiful. I like its "old-school" design very much. It shines like a gemstone, bright emerald green, with its flashy, silver sparkling engravings. It is one of those few balls IMHO, like the Raging Red Fuze from Brunswick, that have some classy style to them.

Finally, some pictures from Columbia (also from the core), since they are missing here:

http://www.columbia300.com/images/balls/ball_reactionrip.jpg

http://www.columbia300.com/images/cores/core_reactionrip.jpg
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DizzyFugu --- Reporting from Germany
Team "X": http://homepage.mac.com/timlinked/
"All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream..." - Edgar Allen Poe