Got this the most inexpensive NIB ball I've ever bought off Ebay from Bowlmart.com(also called bowlingball.com).

Specs for the first time ever in dealing with them were exactly what I asked for 3inch pin out and 3 ounce top weight!

Ball is dull out of box with a heavy particle load.  Just what I wanted for syntetics with lots of long midlane oil.

Drilled in a way I havn't done in a long time 3 3/4 stacked.  Which for me is a 3 3/4 X 3 1/4 drill.  CG down about 1/2 of an inch below grip line for an earlier start.  Weight hole in line from grip center thru cg on VAL.  Sort of a modified REVs leverage. Note I had one of these real dull used before which was 3 3/8 stacked, small pin out.(that thing hooked the world all the way down the lane).

This ball looks like if it maintains its condition that it is going to be a REAL pleasant surprise.

Went in to a new center for me where I really haven't figured out the shot, and asked for an oily pair and got on a pair that this ball was hooking before the arrows and was hooked out by the 30 foot mark.  Grabbed the Blade pearl tore this shot up throwing near 3rd arrow out to 10 at break!

Predominant feature of this newly synthetic house is that one must not go outside of 9 at the breakpoint.  2nd arrow bowlers are totally confused at this place.  Straight up they go brooklyn, move to a slight swing and one ball is washout another is brooklyn.  Way to play is near 3rd out to 10 BUT no wider!

Other balls in use at this place after oil are X factor deuces, AMF Evo Tours, Crunchs.  Basically strong solid reactives and particles on their fresh oiled shot!

Now after one game they tell me I have to move for an incoming league.  So much for minimum wage help!

Go down the whole house and immediately throw 3 gutters with the Blade pearl on same line, then move five boards left and throw two with the Rebel ECX.  The old El Nino looks pretty good.  But the EZ Money labors inside.  

Maybe the Roll will work!!!?  Sweet!!!  This thing out of box allows me to go back to the 3rd arrow standing 26 and this thing as long as only thrown out to right of 9, (Think the Pro Tour Pepsi shot from Nov 2, 2003) anywhere at 9, 10, 11, or 12 really turns the corner. Turns smoothly but hard, showing a lot of friction and maybe a little roll out but still carries and kicks out the 7 pin hard!!!! Bowled a couple of games on this truly oily shot and had a couple of nice strings.  The way this ball bites and grinds in the heavy stuff it reminds me of my old Jade Quantum, which was drilled to have less backend.

This ball reminds me of my Pantera drilled full REvs leverage which was the strongest ball I ever had. This ball with a modified REVs leverage covers the same hook pattern and is earlier in the heads.  Lots of flare also generating at least 5 to 7 inches for this medium hand lefty!

I could see if I wanted to use this full time in league leaving dull but going up slightly in grit.  Maybe from 600 up to 1000.  For slightly less head and mid oil I have my lower load Reaction Rev.  Also a great ball.

This ball is a keeper.

Also what I'm starting to maybe learn is I may be a higher tracker than I thought with a PAP that might be even closer to 6 then I thought(meaning a lot of my 4 1/2 drills may be closer to 5 1/4 for me. Stronger pins are starting to give me the look that I like on todays heavier oiled midlane conditions.
Along with drills closer to stacked, are allowing me to turn the corner while playing inside away from those hang spots!

The Reaction Roll looks like a heavy oil tool that is going to let me do it!

REgards,

Luckylefty

This is a GREAT ball. I've had this one for 3 years now & it still works like a charm. The most dependable bowl I own.
--------------------
Thank you, TS7299

This ball is awesome, I am a stoker (or so im told). I use it on all wood conditions. Start all the way left, throw out to 10 board on fresh oil, comes back everytime. It has a very nice continous arc to the pocket. I usually dont like arcy balls, but WOW this thing is amazing, i wish i started using these types of ball earlier. threw a 691 first time using it (225, 222, 244) my new high series. I recommend this ball for anyone who wants a great heavy oil ball. just remember to put it away for dry lanes, overall 10/10....i hope this review helps!
--------------------
VIVA LA METAL MILITIA!


\m/

member of the FOS, LANE 1 OWNS

The ball: 16 pounds, 3.5-inch pin, 3 oz. top weight, X-out for color
The drill: "Girard layout," pin 1 1/4 inches below and on the track side of the thumb, CG in grip center, no weight hole. Makes the drill about 5.25 x 4 for me. Surface is currently 2000 Abralon plus polish.
Me: PAP 4 over 3/8 up, tweener revs, good speed, good circumference coverage

---

Bought this ball cheap off eBay from a closeout distributor. With shipping, I think I paid maybe $26.

I decided to use this ball as an experiment and drill the "Girard layout," which consists of putting the pin below the thumb and CG in the grip. It looks somewhat like a full-roller pattern even though I'm not a full roller.

The ball originally came somewhere between 400 and 600 sanded. It's a heavy-load particle and with that coverstock, it was going to be too much ball for my leagues by a mile. Still, I took it out and tested it on a medium to medium-light volume house shot without a dramatic wall on the outside.

The Girard layout makes the ball very arcy, very smooth. It revs up fairly quickly but still gets good continuation through the pins. You would think it would roll out quickly but it doesn't seem to. This is a nice "trick" layout to try and I'd like to try it on something that's not nearly as aggressive.

After this test, I took the ball up to 2000 and polished it with Storm's Moon Shine and tested it again on a pure medium shot, again without a lot of bounce room outside. Whereas my other equipment was playing 12 to 8, I could send this ball 15 out to 2 and watch it come steadily back.

Things weren't all good, however. Carry is strange from outside angles, there were some unexpected splits and the ball seems very condition-specific, even with polish.

Positives: Handles a ton of oil, smooth and even, doesn't get cheated for carry on full hits.

Negatives: Hard to polish, no forgiveness on high hits (lots of splits left), thrives only on medium-heavy and heavy oil.

Summary: If you need an oiler, you can pick this one up cheap. It's got a good core design and the cover is not afraid of current-day oils. But it's not as versatile as other heavy-oil balls and bowlers without decent ball speed might not be able to throw it at all. In the end, I got my money's worth, but only because of the price point at which I was able to acquire it.

Jess