Been looking at drilling up a urethane ball. Got one now, but it doesn’t fit just right, and if I’m gonna pay out some money for a redrilled, I would just as well start from scratch.

 I have access to a couple of older balls from the 1990’s.

 For those who have thrown both newer and older urethane, what were the benefits/drawbacks in each case?

 What do you guys think?

This ^^

New urethane tends to be stronger and able to handle more oil (at least that is true with my Crow).  Old urethane (Faball at least) tends to hold its surface better (especially the Blue Hammer) but is harder and more time consuming to get to the proper surface as well.  As for hitting power those 2 piece Hammers and my AMF Sumo hit at least as hard as my Crow but a lot of old urethane is pancake only.  If I could only have one I would pick The Crow or the new Black Widow or maybe even that new Pathogen urethane Pyramid just came out if looking to save a little money.  If you have easy access to a AMF Black Sumo though that is also viable on house shot even for me and is about the strongest old urethane from what I understand.

I have the BTU's and they are good. Dulled my BTU Pearl and shined my BTU Solid and they work hand in hand with each other.

I have the Boo-Yah and the Shadow Ops.  I absolutely love them when I have the right surface to use them on.  My Thursday league, they are all I take.  My only comparison is my old Blue Urethane Beast from the late 90's (first ball I ever bought after my Kmart Ball).

I loved the Beast, but the Boo-Yah is a different animal as far as carry goes.  The Shadow Ops is a tad more on the back end than the Boo-Yah and I mean a tad, but it gives a slightly different shape. 

Well, here’s what I’ve got that I could use:

Red Pearl Hammer-It already fits perfectly, but it’s a bit heavy. My “spare” ball.
Black Hammer-It too fits, but synthetic lanes “shine it up” real quick.
Blue Nitro-This is the one that doesn’t fit correctly, but has already been plugged once.
Blue Hammer-Fully plugged and ready to drill.


 I would’ve loved to try a Hot Cell, but asymmetrics don’t like me, which also leaves out the urethane Black Widow, which appears too strong anyway, and the Shadow Ops hybrid.

 And I was really tempted by those “pseudo-urethane” BTU’s Brunswick had/has out, but they scare me. I’ve tried “urethane acting resin” before, and it was a flop. Just too resiny, and they look stronger than they should be. (but DAMN that silver one is pretty)

 UUUUUHHHHHHHHH, decisions, decisions, decisions................

While there are lots of "new" urethanes available, the vast majority are too similar to old, true urethanes. Yes, a few maybe even stronger then the old Blue Hammer, which for my ball speed was all but unusable.

There are a very few new urethanes that are much weaker than the new strong urethanes (Black Pitch, Purple Pearl Hammer, etc.), they are the new Blue Hammer, the new Shadow Ops, and the new Motiv Combat Tank Hybrid.

The Blue Hammer, I can all but guarantee it is a resin/urethane blend that acts like a super mild resin. I mean REALLY mild.

The BTUs will act like urethanes and hit like resin, for most people. If you were to polish them or use them finer or on more oil than that for which they are designed, it is possible that you may find them giving you a more resin like performance. I and an internet use ours on the rough side, the surface they come with, but we are rev dominant, but probably not as rev dominant as you are.