Ramrod material

[Eric Smith]

 I have an abundance of hickory on my property. I live in Ga. How can I take advantage of this hickory to make my own ramrods? Is the kind of hickory grown in Ga the type used for ramrods? I know there are different varietys.

[rich pierce]

Any hickory will do but the best way to get good hickory ramrods is thru Steve Bailey who advertises in Muzzle Blasts.  But for fun,  take a thigh-thick hickory with a limb-free zone 6 feet or more in length, cut it down, shave off the bark, and split and rive it to pieces free of knots and 5' long and 1" or more at the thick end and half an inch or more at the thin end, tie a string around one end of each and suspend from the rafters somewhere till dry in about 6 months.  Then they can be made round.  Shagbark and pignut hickories are very good for bows and will therefore work great for ramrods.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Hickory saplings tend to grow tall and gangly here in GA. Look for one about 5-6 ft tall with no branches below 4 '.  I cut one about3/4" around at the base and about 3/8 near the 4' mark. pressed it straight with some boards and cinder blocks ...actually forgot it for three months and then hung it up to finish drying.... that winter I took it down ans trimmed it with a spoke shave and then sanded it to 5/16" on small end...chucked in my drill.  Put a tip on it and have been using it as a range and cleaning rod for 5 years. Have pulled 4 balls with it. It's tough!  A little crokked so it has built in spring to keep it secure in the pipes.

Usually I do what Rich suggests...  and buy the hickory dowels....its a whole lot easier and faster.

[James]

Just an addition to the advice Rich gives, the best, most flexible wood will be the white wood. I see commercial handles and ramrods made of the darker wood, but those lack the greater flex of the white wood.

[Glenn]

Thanks for the great advice.  I have often wondered the same thing myself.  I have used a brass rod and have not noticed any problems but of course that dont mean I wont have any in the future.

I dont mean to snipe a thread by asking this, but this is maybe a good time as any to ask;

Anyone use those "ramin" rods in place of wood?

If so, then what are the pro(s) / con(s) on using that material?

[The other DWS]

"ramin" is a tropical hardwood known by several names,  A wiki-search would turn up a bunch about it.
 it is the wood that has been sold as dowels for many years in hardware stores and lumber supply stores. archers have used it for arrows and also for bows of "beginner" quality.   I have been told that it has been over-lumbered and has become in short supply.  I personally have never seen it in lengths and sizes for ramrods and a lot of the dowels I have seen had grain run-outs the would keep me form EVER using it as a ramrod for fear of one splitting diagonally and the stub running through my hand or wrist.  Maybe I'm being a little paranoid about that, but I've damaged my hands enough over the years to run any risk.

[kutter]

I've used a ramrod  of Ramin wood in my 50cal F/L that I built 3 yrs ago.
Hasn't broken yet nor has it given me any reason to think it isn't suited to the task.

It originally came from TOTW I was told.  I bought it and a couple of others along with the bbl blank for the project at a gunshow.

No grain runout on the ones I have, but I'm some probably do. Just as some hickory blanks can have.
I have some hickory blanks too that I picked up at Dixons. You have to sort through those to get the right ones too.

Ramin,,Not the traditional Hickory rod,,but at least it's not fibreglass or aluminum!