ramrod hole

[Blacksmoke]

Hi, Guys after long absence, mostly do to a crashing computer and work at the bench, I am back on ALR.
speaking of work at the bench I have just noticed a thread on drilling ram rod holes.  The way I have been doing it for 40 yrs. is with a twist drill welded to a piece of cold rolled rod - it works like a charm. I have never had a hole that did not drill straight!  The trick is to have two equal and sharp cutting flutes - this applies to both wood and metal for deep drilling. Also keep the flutes clean every 1/4" by withdrawing the drill and blowing - the go back in and keep drilling. Mark out the profile of the hole on the side of your stock blank and drill it parallel to the center line of your barrel - esp. if it is a swamped barrel. The ramrod groove has to follow the same center line and depth that the rr hole is to drilled at.   See following photos:







Hugh Toenjes

[Dphariss]

Am I the only one that H A T E S the straight flute Track of the Wolf ramrod drill?  Squalls, gets tight, it's horrible.  Oh, and it most definitely can go off.  A great deal.  I've had better success (though hardly 100%) with the "Brad tip" drill I got from Muzzleloader Builders Supply some time ago.

There is no gunsmithing task  I dread more, or curse more than drilling ramrod holes.

I've been shooting for about 1/8" of "web" at the breech end of the barrel.  Now, since the muzzle is thinner, if you made the hole parallel to the bore, the "web" at the muzzle will be larger, depending upon the muzzle size.  Sometimes this would make for an overly thick-looking "web" at the muzzle with an octagon to round barrel, where the muzzle is usually fairly small.  So, in order to keep it from having such a huge space between the barrel and rod at the muzzle, you can lay out the rod slightly tapered, a little closer to the bore center at the muzzle.  Only a little, though.  If the fore end is tapered too much, it will look horrible.  You just have to work it all out with what you've got.  I might have 1/8" of "web" at the rear, but 3/16" or 1/4", or even 5/16" at the front with a narrow-muzzled octagon to round barrel.  

I have never had a gun drill run off unless AIMED wrong or care is not taken is starting it. I just drilled a hole for a class at our guild meeting in maybe 5-8 minutes with my Dewalt and it ran just as aimed, again. But if the rod CHANNEL that guides the drill is off 1/32 or worse from end to end it will be multiplied at the end of the hole. The rod groove needs be parallel with bore centerline  in all respects unless the barrel is straight sided. Otherwise strange things can happen. Also use is Ivory soap to lube the shaft of the drill.
If the drill binds and the hole is straight there are a couple of fixes. I make my own, the one I used a couple of weeks back was made from mild steel rod case hardened after it was grooved and shaped. Its possible to burnish a slight burr on the cutting edge side of the groove to make it cut just a little larger so the shaft has a little clearance if needed.  Its also possible to flex the shaft slightly and cause the drill, especially a twist version that is more than a couple of inches long in the flutes to run off, since the twist portion will easily flex and can cut aggressively on the side of the hole behind the point.
If the gun drill shaft is flexed by the weight of the drill motor or the users hand or body misalignment  at the start it may not start straight, and this will cause binding and run out of the hole even with a gun drill.  If one end of the rod is pressed down it will tend to force the other end down as the shaft is flexed since its prevented from moving by the blocks holding it in the groove.

Dan

[okieboy]

 For removing the chips from the hole, I keep a piece of flexible tubing about 18" long on the bench. I slip it in and blow the chips right out.

[shortbarrel]

I take a high quality , jobber length drill and cut off about 1 third of the twisted part, I then grind the drill concave so the cutting lips cut first, then I grind the drill web to 1|64. You can put the drill on the rod anyway you choose, but it has to be the same size as the drill or a little smaller and run true with the drill. Rod has to be dead straight. I think most run out problems are caused improper line up. Clear the chips about every 1|4 inch.

[David Rase]

I have never had a gun drill run off unless AIMED wrong or care is not taken is starting it. I just drilled a hole for a class at our guild meeting in maybe 5-8 minutes with my Dewalt and it ran just as aimed, again. But if the rod CHANNEL that guides the drill is off 1/32 or worse from end to end it will be multiplied at the end of the hole. The rod groove needs be parallel with bore centerline  in all respects unless the barrel is straight sided. Otherwise strange things can happen. Also use is Ivory soap to lube the shaft of the drill.
If the drill binds and the hole is straight there are a couple of fixes. I make my own, the one I used a couple of weeks back was made from mild steel rod case hardened after it was grooved and shaped. Its possible to burnish a slight burr on the cutting edge side of the groove to make it cut just a little larger so the shaft has a little clearance if needed.  Its also possible to flex the shaft slightly and cause the drill, especially a twist version that is more than a couple of inches long in the flutes to run off, since the twist portion will easily flex and can cut aggressively on the side of the hole behind the point.
If the gun drill shaft is flexed by the weight of the drill motor or the users hand or body misalignment  at the start it may not start straight, and this will cause binding and run out of the hole even with a gun drill.  If one end of the rod is pressed down it will tend to force the other end down as the shaft is flexed since its prevented from moving by the blocks holding it in the groove.

Dan

I am with you 100% Dan.  A gun drill (deep hole) goes where it is pointed.  The transition (start) from the groove to the hole is paramount. 
David

[Keb]

The trick is to have two equal and sharp cutting flutes - this applies to both wood and metal for deep drilling.

That picture tells the whole story. If your drill is sharpened like that you'll never have any problems. Never. period.

[Daryl]

I just lined it up by hand and drill it by eye - I only did one but it went perfectly, so that must be a good method, eh   what's all the fuss about?

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye!  We drilled nearly two hundred stocks when I worked for Robinson back in the late 70's, and only had one come out the bottom...all the rest went perfectly.  We used a twist drill silver brazed to a rod.  The buggered stock was retrieved and a 'wear plate' covered the boo-boo, but the stock did not go into a commercial rifle.

I had 100 % success with a twist or brad point drill system for about 100 rifles, until one went very bad;  twice on the same stock.  I immediately purchased TOW's deep hole drills and am very pleased with them.