where to find WELL MADE ramrods for hunting purpose

[adkmountainken]

i have a .40 with a rather long barrel and i want a couple strong, well built ram rods. the original that came with it is perfect but i'm really trying to save it as it matches the rifle exactly with stain and fit.  i bought a couple wooden ram rod blanks and finished them out but they are no where near stiff enough to seat a ball in that length of barrel. any recommendations???

[B.Barker]

The rod isn't going to bend much inside the bore. I make split rods that are quite limber and never had any problems seat balls in a 47" barrel .50.

[bluenoser]

Just in case you are not already doing it - choke up on the rod when seating the ball.  Reaching way up the rod is a good way to break a rod and drive it into your hand.

[snapper]

Are you set on wood?  Or open to modern materials?

For hunting I replace my wooden rods with manmade ones.   Or I carry a steel range rod.

Fleener

[Yazel.xring]

Brass is another good alternative. You can usually find rod through McMaster Carr.

[alacran]

All my rifles have steel rammers clad in wood.  You have to look really close to see the seam. 5/32 stainless is my favorite core but 1/8 stainless works well also.

[MuskratMike]

Been doing this for a very long time. I have only broke 1 ramrod (a .40 caliber if I remember rightly) because I was in a hurry. Don't take long strokes and they all go down. If shooting off a bench I usually use a range rod but that's it and I still shoot over 1000 balls a year. Straight grain hickory with no grain runout is all you need.

[Top Jaw]

Agree with Mike.  Good straight grained hickory is all you need.  2 rods I have broken =
1) Ramin Wood.  A poor substitute for hickory.  No where near as strong.
2) Hickory.  With bad grain run out. I replaced both these with a proper rod.   No problems since.  Typically use a stainless rod on the bench.

[Seth Isaacson]

All my rifles have steel rammers clad in wood.  You have to look really close to see the seam. 5/32 stainless is my favorite core but 1/8 stainless works well also.

This is a really cool idea. Do you make them yourself or are these available somewhere?