How to straighten a ram rod

[Lori Ann]

Hi all, just looking for advice on how to straighten a ram rod. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Gary

[Dave Marsh]

I like them a bit warped so they stay in the rifle and don't slip out when in the field. 

Dave

[john bohan]

I just did one an hr ago, soaked it in a rain barrel for 10 min then heated it up with a propane torch. sight down the rod beforehand to see where to bend it .I only heated this one till the shaft was dry, hold till cool. you may need to reapete several times.

[Randall Steffy]

I am with Dave Marsh. Some crook helps keep a rod in the rifle and from my experience, as the rod spends time in the thimbles, it will straighten itself to a great extent. Remaining small crooks are then a benefit for retention. I would be surprised if, over time, a rod could stay very crooked.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I too use heat to straighten the serious kinks out of a commercial rod.  I use some oven mitts, a towel soaked with water, and a heat gun, a hot plate, or a propane torch for the work.  Wet the rod in the are going to straighten, apply heat until you cannot touch the wood with bare fingers, bend the curve in the opposite direction plus a bit, hold it there for a time, and release it slowly.  Once you have tried it, you'll see how easy it is.

[jerrywh]

Th Sioux Indians straightened arrows over a camp fire.  You don't really need steam just heat. The reason steam was used to bend wood for furniture is it is possible to heat a very long piece of wood if necessary  and they never had heat guns in the early 19th or 20th century. Heat alone won't raise the grain but steam will.  Steam definitely won't hurt anything but just isn't necessary. When I bend gun stocks I just use heat guns usually 2 of them.

[FALout]

I’m like some of the others, I like a little bit of crookedness so the rod doesn’t want to slip out while hunting.  I got one that is just enough under size of the thimbles and is so darn straight it just wants to slip out at the slightest downward lean of the barrel.

[jerrywh]

I have dozens of Oregon trail journals and in one there were two fellows who kept a RR in the bore of the rifle while walking along the trail. They kept it in the bore by using a cleaning patch on the rod. This kept dirt or mud from getting in the bore while walking. From reading their accounts They removed the RR when ever they thought they might need the gun in a hurry. I wonder how many times they shot the RR.

[Daryl]

Interesting journal's Jerry.
I find keeping the muzzle off the ground keeps dirt and mud out while I'm walking.
Shooting ramrods? - I've never done it (I bet they have) and hope I never do. With my loading & walking regime, THAT should never happen.
Wonder how many times they said, "now where in tar-nation did that rifle-rod get to?"

[jerrywh]

I have shot my ram rod a few times.  One time I looked for it for about 30 minutes until I realized what had happened. Then I found a small piece of it on the ground about 20 yards in front of me.

[Lori Ann]

Thanks for all the help, the heat gun and no water seemed to work the best for me
Thanks again, Gary

[Jeff Durnell]

I've straightened many wood arrows over the years, mostly hickory, my favorite arrow material, and never once used water or steam. Just dry heat from a heat gun. Just hot enough that you can't hold onto it.

[Top Jaw]

FALout, I guess you could heat one to intentionally put a little bit of bend in to keep it from being prone to sliding out.