Spiral burn on wooden ramrods?

[Eric Kettenburg]

OK, yes that's the piece that he wrote up in MB.  I'm pretty positive it's a German gun and Bill Kennedy (rip) thought the same.  I'll have to try to see if I still have a copy of the article; I'm pretty sure, going from memory, that at the time he wrote it, he or someone was positing that it was an early Angstadt.  I very strongly doubt that, even if it is in some way American.

I really do not believe a rammer on a rifle prior to the latest 18th or more likely early 19th century would have been spiral finished.  I think it can work aesthetically, imho, on certain rifles, but I think you need to consider the big picture before deciding to spiral lest the piece just end up looking too crazy.

[rmnc3r]

Historical or not, I like the look and usually do it for a new build.

I use heavy bias tape, of the type used for sewing. I wet the tape, tie it on to one end, then spiral down the rod, finally securing the tape to the other end. I've been using the same length of tape for many builds. It's singed in some places but still serviceable.

I use a propane torch, set low, to burn in the spiral. I finish by burnishing the rod with 0000 steel wool or non woven abrasive pads then seal with some type of finish oil.

Finally I wipe down the rod with Wonderlube 1000 (or some-such) for a warm glow.

[thecapgunkid]

"  OK,  OK...whose ramrod is this?  Colonel Morgan gets apoplectic when he sees somebody lost their ramrod..."

"  It's probably Jabez Renfro.  He likes fancy stuff..."

" No...no...Renfro splits his rod front end dark and back end white.   He don't do spirals.   It ain't his."

"Maybe it's that new guy from the city...y'know...the one who dresses like a woman trying to get out of the Rifleman Battalion?"

"  That ain't him.  Nobody gonna do that for at least 140 years or so..."

" Yeah, besides, there's that feller that  says we're goin' to the moon someday.  Looney, he is, thinks the spiral ramrod makes the ball go down better..."

'"God's Holy Britches, I know him... a real dreamer, always looking for a better way to do things and such.  Even says someday we won't need fire to cook."

"Y'know, it's jackasses like that who'd do that to a wiping stick just because he thinks blokes are going to look back someday and dress like us!  He thinks it's a big joke so he can be funnin' them and  so's he can flummox 'em..."

"Put it in the fire."

[Daryl]

  "put it in the fire".

[flinchrocket]

This is ( a partial) photo #7 of Wallace Guslers article on Shenandoah Valley Rifles. Text doesn’t say if it’s a original ramrod or not, but if it’s not original,the owner must be comfortable with the idea of a striped ramrod. I might add that the rifle was on loan to the Williamsburg Foundation from the Joe Kindig Collection.

[Craig Wilcox]

My favorite cordwainer is also a skilled writer of fiction!

""  OK,  OK...whose ramrod is this?  Colonel Morgan gets apoplectic when he sees somebody lost their ramrod..."

"  It's probably Jabez Renfro.  He likes fancy stuff..."

" No...no...Renfro splits his rod front end dark and back end white.   He don't do spirals.   It ain't his." "

And you probably came very close to the mark in your tale!

[kutter]

 I remember being told the spiral stripe was to make the ramrod more easily  seen.
As in the case of the RR being placed  on the ground or lying up against a tree, bush, etc after loading, and not back into the rifle's RR groove.
I guess if plink shooting or even during cleaning, the ramrod can be misplaced especially out in the field.

Wouldn't be the first time a shooter/hunter put down something next to them and then couldn't find it..

Don't know if there is any fact to what I was told.
I gradually developed my own idea that the candy striped ramrod was a Disney idea.

I'm not a fan of the look. Never have done the art work on one.
Plain with a little stain to it looks good. They get a nice look to them from loading and cleaning chores anyway.

Haven't lost one in the wild (yet) either.

[Birddog6]

I always thought it pulled the looks from your rifle.  May see on on old Daniel Boone series. Got popular in the 1960's & 70's.

Take a sheet & tear it into strips. Fold it to the width you want the Uncharred part, iron it flat..  Wet it good & tie it to the RR tip, wind it down & tie the other end. Lill propane torch will work. Heat &  turn RR while scorching it.