I bought this ball from ebay from a regional touring pro.  I'm a pretty new bowler and I bought it to replace the urethane starter ball that I have.  The pro had had the ball drilled with a leverage drilling, 3 3/8 x 3 3/8, with a weight hole on the PAP.  I had the thumb redrilled but did not change this drilling layout.  The place where I bowl has medium to light oil, all the way out to the three board, with a length of only about 31 feet.



I'm a low speed and low rev bowler and this ball rally gave me an angle to the pocket which I could not achieve with my urethane ball.  The shot that I played with the urethane ball was a down and in shot on the first arrow.  I tried this shot with the Ti Messenger but it went WAY brooklyn.  What turned out to be my best shot was to start in the middle, about the 21 board and aim for the 7 board just inside the first arrow.  When the ball got through the oil it rolled like one of those trick golf balls that are designed to roll crookedly, but it broke toward the pocket.  It was actually quite controllable, though.  



I had read in the promos for this ball (or perhaps one of the reviews on this site) the claim that this ball doesn't leave corner pins.  It does.  (Not any more than my other ball).  With this drilling it was absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to pick up the 10 pin, however.  I eventually grabbed a house ball to throw at spares on the right hand side (I didn't have the urethane ball with me).



Like everyone I think I want to stand left, throw right and have the ball come back to the pocket.  I still couldn't do that with this ball, probably because of my low revs.  When I tried to do this shot, the ball didn't come back to the pocket. Consequently, I'm guessing that this wouldn't be a good ball for the heavy oil.



Nevertheless, the stronger angle to the pocket that I can get with this ball gives me potential for a lot more strikes.  It took me 8 games of practice to really find my shot, but I finished with six strikes in a row (the best ever for me).

Not meant to be dull and if it isn't that it is an excellent ball!

I have had this ball for around 9 months and have had atleast 400 games with is and it is still going strong
 It is drilled stacked leaverage with the pin way out.
I have fount that this ball is good for heavy oil and shoking for light oil.

I bought this ball & had it drilled specifically for one house. Wood with Guardian and heartless backends. Turns out it was the correct move. Jacked-up the avg. 10 sticks in the last 11 weeks of the season. Had it drilled leveraged to flare with control. Managed to "let" it work from every angle except 25-5. More than likely a house specific qwirk. Tried it on synthetic lanes oiled 38' with 59 units from 10-10. This ball worked on ALL different angles. VERY strong on the backends with little effort to get it there. When the lanes dried out, went up 6 and continued crushing the pocket, rarely left a corner pin. When I did, I could cover the corners by killing the turn. VERY versatile ball. Definately one of the best balls Columbia has EVER produced.
On a scale of 1-10, this ball is a 9.5!

Ball: 15.1#
Top Weight: 2.75 oz (before drilling)
Drilling: 3 3/8" x 3 3/8" stacked leverage, pin out 1.5" and up 1" from ring finger

I used the ball for several weeks in the box condition (2000 grit polish).  It tended to skid too far down the lane than try to snap back.  It hooked too much like my Buzzsaw Cherry C2 pearl.  I didn't need 2 balls that hooked the same, plus I wanted a heavier oil ball for a few tournaments.

Liquid sandpaper took the sheen off, but it started to shine back again after throwing a few sets.  I had my pro shop guy sand it to 800 grit.  Now the ball hooks like what I want.  Much more of an arc (instead of a hockey stick).  I can now throw it in the oil without worrying if it will come back.  If I miss a little right (even with carry down) the ball will recover.

The ball seems to rev up easier than anything else I have.  I just seem to have a lot of confidence throwing it.  Like all the new balls it hits great.  It doesn't throw around a lot of messengers, but it's mostly because it's solid in the pocket.  With the price, it is one of the best bargains out there.

my bad my review was for the messenger titanium pearl
sorry

Just tried a friends Ti Messenger sanded to 1000.

I read over and over in this forum that this ball was over/under with the factory polish.  I did nothing about it, left it as it was as I liked the hit and the flip with factory.  But it was very conditional and jumpy.

My friends sanded version was a whole different animal a great medium to medium oily ball very smooth with big hit, puts a whole new light on this ball.

Regards,

Luckylefty

I have had this ball for almost 2 years, so I have experience on various lane conditions.  The surface of the ball is out of the box, polished 2000 grit, the ball is drilled for leverage with no balance hole, and 16lbs.  This ball is excellent on worn down heads or dry lane conditions.  It will get down the lane and finish hard in the pocket.  On medium lane condtions, the ball will still hook but will require slower ball speeds (less than 20mph).  However, from my experience this ball is definitely NOT the one to pull out when you are up against heavy oil patterns, especially SYNTHETICS!  The ball will become your spare ball as it will skate down either in the gutter if you are playing deep inside, or nail the 10 pin if you play outside line.  Overall, I have bowled several 600 series and a few 700 series with it.  I would recommend it for medium to light oil.  Rating is 10 for dry, 7 for medium, 1 for heavy, and -1 for heavy on synthetics; because you will do no worse with a house ball.

Necromancer