Ray the Gamebreaker would be an excellent choice and shouldn't break your wallet either. To keep it from absorbing oil, just don't use it unless you need it. Most of us love to throw the new ball to death even when the conditions aren't right for it, that is why it dies when you need it for heavy oil.

No matter what ball you get it will absorb oil and needs to be properly maintained and have the right surface on it for the conditions you are bowling on. The more oil the ball encounters, the more oil it will absorb. When the ball becomes oil soaked it needs to be rejuvenated by sanding the ball with a low numbered (high grit) sand paper then putting it in a hot water bath with dawn dish washing liquid, or having your Pro Shop put it in a special oven designed to bake the oil out of the ball.

If you get a heavy oil ball and decide you want to see what it does and throw it on lanes that don't have enough oil, then the friction between the ball and the lane will glaze the Track into the ball. If you look at a clean ball and see the Track lines and how they have dulled into the cover of the ball, then it needs to be sanded and brought back because the pores of the coverstock have melted and sealed themselves from the friction. This is what helps cause ball death when the ball gets repeatedly used on the wrong lane conditions, then the plasticizer doesn't come to the surface and make the ball feel tacky, after a while it keeps melting deeper and deeper until finally the ball can't be sanded enough to get the plasticizer to come out any more.

As cgeorg already said, softer covered balls melt faster than harder ones, and require more maintenance to keep them from glazing over.

Coach is right, Ray. It is very common to start the night on fresh oil with a heavy oil ball, but, as you see the lane oil transition, carrydown and spread, most people put it away, in favor of a medium oil ball, that reacts better to that condition. So, on a typical house shot league, you rarely see a heavy oil ball used more than the first game.

People who use it more, burn the Track out quicker.

thanks guys !

Ray, did you see my PM? You should have a flashing light by MyStuff at the top. Hope it was legible. Often, the URL reference gets banned.

From reading all the posts, it seems to me that a Gamebreaker ball
would be a good choice (thanks Coach), but that I may hardly ever
get to use it. Who knows if I'll ever get to bowl in a tournament
with heavy oil lanes? But the knowledge I'm picking up here is
invaluable.
Next purchase will be a spare ball, as picking up the 7 pin (I'm a
lefty) is very difficult. Maybe the boss (my wife) could get me
a Gamebreaker ball for xmas.
I've bowled 17 games over 11 days since my "comeback" and this old
body is hurting. Best I slow down a bit and heal up.

You might rarely need the heavy oil ball, but it is nice to have it when you do need it. Many of us on this site have 10+ bowling balls for different conditions and different reactions on those conditions. Its hard to have the ball you might need if you don't know the condition you will be facing though. I rarely find that I need a med-heavy oil ball around my area, but when I do its nice to have it to help score.

Ray, another thing that is good about having a heavy oil ball is that you can play further inside on a house shot if you so choose. Also if you decide maybe to play in a tournament or try a sports shot league it might be good to have. The Gamebreaker looks like a good ball. The Cell or the Saga by Roto-Grip, the BW bite or Venom by Hammer, the Rival, Resurgence, or Arch Rival by Columbia, the Terminator by Legends/Lane Masters, and the Rising or Up-Rising by Track are all good balls to consider as well. But if you want to stay Ebonite, the Gamebreaker is the way to go.

Actually, most heavy balls are not good for playing further inside. You need a weaker ball that will push down the lane and store energy.

That's strange then because I play further inside with my Cell with not a whole lot of adverse effects. I do see what you mean though cgeorg. That makes more sense.

How inside is "further inside"? 3rd arrow, compared to 2nd? Or inside 4th?