steel ramrod

[leviathan]

Gentlemen,
     Have a 10 1/2" smoothbore barrel on my pistol. Would it be ok to use a 3/8 STEEL  ramrod or should I use Hickory? Would appreciate any wisdom from you fellows. 

[hanshi]

As long as you have a muzzle guard on it there should be no problem.

[Natureboy]

  Most of the steel ramrods I've seen have brass tips, to avoid the potential of the steel to cause sparks, I suppose.  Hickory would be more traditional, or you could use brass rod.  I made brass rods for both my Hawken and Jaeger.

[smokinbuck]

Steel rods have been used on both military and civilian rifles and pistols over the years, including jags and/or tulip shaped tips. The key is, as Hanshi said, use a muzzle guard and keep the rod centered in the bore, especially at the muzzle.
Mark

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I built my Hawken pistol with the captured steel rod as per the pair of originals in Baird's first book.  The rod is 1/4" dia. is 'upset' slightly on the inner end to prevent loss, and has a large bulbous brass button at the muzzle.  This pistol is .60 cal. and this little steel rod works just fine, not only for loading, but for cleaning the barrel too.  The brass button is just the right size to act as a jag for cleaning.  Obviously, the rod doesn't have a collar to centre it in the bore, but I have experienced zero appreciable wear at the muzzle from the rod in over 35 years of use.