Old school cleaning jags

[rich pierce]

Not sure if this belongs here or in the Shooting forum.

On another ML website Loyalist Dave shared pictures of tow worms and assorted other ramrod tips. The topic was about how long the sorts of jags we see now (turned brass with grooves) have been around. Consensus was they are seen in early 18th century cased pistol sets. That’s not my area of inquiry and hope we don’t have to discuss their “rightness” here and now.

This is.




I see 2 types that are new to me. One is a pair of sprung leaves like the business end of a pole for push boating or canoeing. Wow.

The other is what I’ll call “bell bottomed jags” made of iron. Pretty cool looking.

Have any of you seen these types? Any idea how the spring one works? What’s the slot for on the bell bottom type?

[Brokennock]

Not sure about the spring ones. I'm thinking that the slot in the bell shaped ones serves 2 purposes. 1st purpose possibly being to fit a small blade into as a breach scraper. Second purpose, assuming they are recent enough that they would be used with cleaning patches instead of tow, is to grab the patch a little when up against the breach face that the rod might be turned and this the patch turned with it in order to wipe the breach face better. I cut small notches in the edge corners of some of my cleaning jags for exactly this purpose.

While writing that I also came up with the idea that it might be for the removable of the jag from the cleaning rod if it gets threaded on too tight, one could then use a turnscrew to remove it.

[WadePatton]

Just glancing at the pic I see the slotted type with and without protruding bits-which indeed look like any old breechface scraper, perhaps there were/are other tools to use in that slot?

The duckbill ones look like a smoothie tool to me, but I know little of those fowling things.

[Mike from OK]

While writing that I also came up with the idea that it might be for the removable of the jag from the cleaning rod if it gets threaded on too tight, one could then use a turnscrew to remove it.

That was my initial thought.

Mike

[Collector]

Fowler? I was think'n more like artillery. Then again, it might be the scale of magnification in the photo.

[Notchy Bob]

Just glancing at the pic I see the slotted type with and without protruding bits-which indeed look like any old breechface scraper, perhaps there were/are other tools to use in that slot?

I saw that, too.  I wonder if the projecting bit was a piece that was soldered or dovetailed in place, and the tools with slots might be simply missing the bit.  I don't know... Just a thought.

Notchy Bob