Columbia 300 Violent Eruption
Excellent performance at a mid-range price
Box: 15 lbs 4 oz with 3.25 oz top weight, 3 5/8†pin to CG. 800/1000/2000/Powerhouse Factory Finish Surface
Drilled 70 x 3.325†x 50 (70 x 45 x 50: essentially stacked leverage) with an extra hole 2†down the Vertical Axis Line from the Grip Midline
Columbia’s Resurgence core returns with their most aggressive and versatile coverstock to date. My Violent Eruption (VE) was drilled over six months ago and has almost 100 competition games on it plus another 80 or so practice/surface adjustment games. Columbia’s advertising covers the details of the core, coverstock and intended use. The VE’s description on this site and Columbia’s Violent Eruption page state the features and expectations: No need for me to duplicate what’s been documented already, particularly when everything Columbia claims regarding the VE is accurate. Instead, I’ll cover my experiences with the VE.
I am a 210 to 220 average bowler on house conditions; mid-190’s on sport patterns. My overall average, THS and sport is 210. I’m a higher tilt, slightly speed dominate player: 19 degrees of tilt, 45 to 70 degrees of rotation, 285 to 330 rpm, 18 mph at release (15.5 to 16 mph down lane). I prefer to play outside of the track area but play the track and inside the track when conditions dictate.
I decided to purchase a VE based on past experience with Resurgence core balls and the extremely high performance marks assigned to the VE by two of the major bowling publications. I didn’t have stacked leverage ball in my bag and, given the standard layout for tweeners (power strokers) in one of the publications is essentially stacked leverage, decided to lay out my VE in a similar manner to see what the buzz and high ratings/praise of the VE were about. First impressions: With the factory polished surface, the VE exhibited more length than I was expecting on a moderate volume of conditioner and a well-used (mature topography) AMF HPL lane surface. Back end reaction was as expected: A strong move as the VE transitioned from skid to hook and good continuation through the second transition (hook to roll). The shot shape is similar to other low RG, medium differential RG symmetric cores: Good continuous hook, not the skid/flip reaction more commonly associated with higher radius of gyration cores, excellent pin carry and minor release variation forgiveness.
The factory surface works well on wood, Guardian and AMF HPL/SPL lane surfaces. For the harder synthetic surfaces: Anvilane, Pro Anvilane, Pathfinder, etc. I found Valentino’s Resurrection over 500-grit, Resurrection over 1000-grit, Rough Buff over 1000-grit, and 2000-grit followed by 3000-grit Abralon to match up better for medium volume and length patterns. The factory surface has a tendency to squirt on higher volume, longer length patterns and/or moderate to high carrydown: Especially on the harder synthetic surfaces.
For me, the VE is a first ball out of the bag on HPL/SPL/wood typical house shots. I have better looks with stronger cores and/or cover stocks on harder synthetic surfaces. Like other low RG core, pearl coverstock combinations, for a right-hander, the VE scores best when the ball is fed to friction to the right. I had decent looks on longer sport patterns using 1000/3000 skip grit surfaces and 1000/4000 skip grit surfaces on shorter or lower volume sport patterns. The factory polished surfaces are better utilized on USBC white and red/THS patterns with defined friction available to the right.
Note that the 15 and 16 pound versions of the VE feature low RG, medium differential RG cores. For those using lighter weights, the 14 pound version is moderately low RG, medium differential while the 13 pound version’s medium RG, high differential RG, results in a shot shape that can differ markedly from the 14-16 pound VEs.
With my VE approaching 200 games, I rate both the coverstock durability and longevity of reaction as “good.â€
Pin to positive axis point distances of 3†to 4.5†seem to work best for many bowlers, supporting a core angle that facilitates a good tipping reaction at the hook to roll transition (though the 4.5†to 5.5†pins also seem to work well for the higher rev players).
Based on my experience with the VE as well as others I’ve seen in use, the Violent Eruption is an excellent choice for a bowler looking for good house shot performance at a reasonable price.
For more competitive bowlers including those who frequently bowl tournaments on more challenging conditions, the VE is an excellent choice to fill your need for a versatile medium-low to medium volume pattern ball, a great core and a versatile coverstock that adapts well to surface changes. The VE has been a good-carrying and scoring part of my arsenal for over six months and will remain in the league and tournament bag for the foreseeable future. Well done Bugsy Kelly, Ronald Hickland and all of the professionals at EBI-Columbia 300!
