Storm Storm Special Agent

[jason_doust]

Well, after much anticipation, I finally drilled a Special Agent.

Layout
(15lb 3oz ball with 2.6 oz TW.) I kept the drill pattern deliberately simple - pin over bridge, CG stacked directly below.

Surface
The new R2S solid reactive cover makes this ball roll like a light load particle stock. I tried the ball with the original 2000 grit cover and was very impressed. It cleared the heads quite well and the finish was strong and continuous. I then polished it up, which incidentally looks very handsome on a dark blue and black ball. The polished cover got the ball through the heads very cleanly and elongated the break point. Even polished on long oil, this ball did not squirt or wiggle once through the break point.

Core
The Storm EMC core used in the Agent range provides a controlled motion by way of an ultra low radius of gyration (RG). You drill a long way before you hit the dense material at the centre. This makes the ball arc and roll, rather than skid and flip, meaning more control.

Carry
Pin carry was *very* impressive, although I must confess that the house I played in has good carry. It cracks a rack of pins with more noise than anything I have ever thrown. Even with a new grip and a thumbhole that needed more work, this ball ripped racks, tripped 4's and slapped 10's. It would have thrown some messengers if there were any 10 pins left. (1 stone 10 in six games. )

Recommended Condition
This is the ball for the oil or if you need some more hook. I have only used this ball on a 42ft sport pattern, with the shot inside 20 board. This was about three boards left of my Pyro to the same break point. Even polished, the Special Agent plain outhooked everything in my bags, including a XXXtreme and a Pyro.

Summary
A big hitting ball with controlled motion is a piece I'll pack for everywhere. I can't wait to try this ball out some more.

Cheers,
Jason

 

[boston_represent]

Another informative and outstanding review by Jason. This clear and concise review helps a bowler to make an informed choice when considering this particular ball, and would make any bowler give serious thought to making a purchase of a Storm Special Agent. The information posted is of great value and relevance, especially to less experienced bowlers.

Jason, you are a credit to the sport of Tenpin Bowling and an asset to Storm Bowling Products. Love your work! =D>

 

[jason_doust]

Update

I recently cut the polish off the ball and finished the surface to 4000 grit Abralon. The ball polished itself up from there and is very readable and continuous.

I have tried this ball on a couple of conditions now and as promised am providing an update. On a house shot, this ball is versatile enough to move in and circle it. Carry is still great, but keep the speed firm or as with any strong ball, it will dive. This ball really kicks the 4 pin out impressively, which is unusual for me. Alternately, if you're good at throwing it hard, you can freeze the heads nicely with speed to hold a line for that double in the 9th and 10th where a move seems uncertain.

For those of you interested in such things, even with a moderate layout (see previous post), this ball flares about 3/8" between tracks at the apex and generates about 50° of track precession.

The Special Agent continues to impress me with it's combination of dynamic roll and controlled motion. I'd love to see this core used with a tamer coverstock for the dry or over/under. It would be unbeatable.

 

[pinkycat]

Cat's Special Agent review.
Cat's Special Agent is 14lb 3oz, 2.04TW, pin 2.5"

Layout.
From reading a number of reviews of this ball (including Jason's) and just taking heed of Storm's own analysis of this piece I decided on a pretty simple 4x3 drilling (4" pin to PAP, 3" cg to PAP) Why? General consensus is that this ball reads the late midlane and transition off the back of the oil pattern exceptionally well. The drilling instructions recommend 4 1/4 for high rev players or 3 3/8 for low rev. 3 3/8 to me seemed a little silly, but I wanted something fractionally more aggressive than 4 1/4 to throw on longer and heavier patterns without dampening the balls ability to read the midlane. (A problem I've found with 3 3/8 layouts)

Outcome
This is a big ball, and at box finish is not really suitable for use on any house shot that I can think of. You'd want at least 40' of pretty heavy oil to pull this guy out of the bag. The 4x3 layout is good for an easy 5+ inches of track flare. On our house pattern (37' medium oil) I was swinging it from 20 out to around 3, after six or so shots it was rolling out.

Cat says.
This is an awesome ball, but for the average tweener or stroker not really the right choice for a house shot unless you want to put a bit of polish on it or start messing around with the surface. I'm very much looking forward to fronting up with this guy during the 08' WA Sports Series. This ball is very controllable and easy to read off the breakpoint so I'd say a terrific choice for sports patterns. From now on, I will call this ball my 'Special Friend.'

PS. If you're reading this Mitch, I know you can throw this ball quite easily on a house shot. But you're a lot more awesome than me.

cat.

 

[jason_doust]

Glad you like it Cat.

The ball will shine up a little by itself once it picks up some lane oil. This will help you get down lane. Consider tweaking the surface, as it still reads the oil nice with a 2000 or even 4000 finish.

You can square up a bit bit more with it that way too, which is nice on oil as it can stop you squirting past the break point from too much angle.

Cheers,
Jason

 

[pinkycat]

Hi Jase.
At your suggestion I took the Special Agent out for a walk during league just to see how it would actually handle our extremely user-friendly house pattern. One word, wow. I still can't believe some of the shots I managed to carry with it, and in spite of the lanes being way too dry by the third game, I managed to force an easy 630. As you said, it's polished itself up nicely now, and gets through the heads fairly consistently.

Definitely looking forward to drilling up an Attitude shift now, although the thought of that out-hooking the Special Agent scares my somewhat.
cat.