Ramrod hole drill

[JLayne]

Hello all,

I am working on a .45 cal. York County kit where I have come to find that the ramrod hole is about 2” too short (it should be to the depth of the blue tape in the attached photo). I don’t have a ramrod hole drill nor welding/machinist tools and skills to make one. I also don’t see any in stock online at the usual places (TOW, MLBS). Is there anyone on here who could make one for a fee that I could contact?

Thanks,
Jay

[Bill Raby]

https://www.drillbitsworld.com/Extra-Length-Drill-Bits-High-Speed-Steel-248.html

[JLayne]

Thanks, Bill.

[elkhart]

Another option may be to router out the last 2 inches near the breach. Or cut it by hand. It will be missing the web above it for a couple of inches, but you could replace it with some filler. Just be sure to put some kind of release agent on the rod if you go that route! Dixie used to sell stocks with the ram rod hole routered out.

[Pete G.]

Harbor Freight has 48” bits. Not very good as bits, but they will work for extending a rr hole.

[Daniel Coats]

Any chance the front lock bolt is blocking the hole?

[bob in the woods]

Any chance the front lock bolt is blocking the hole?

True wisdom at work 

[Roger B]

You might try my thread about rrdrills over on "over the back fence". Lots of info there.
Roger B.

[JLayne]

Hi Dan,
No, it’s not the front lock bolt. I checked it without the bolt in place, same result.

[skratch]

Jay, I'm new here at the forums and just wanted to offer my suggestion. My first build I made a drill from a long rod of the desired diameter, heated one end and flattened, filed the edges to size and put about a 20 or so degree point, then filed to a cutting point.
Worked great and I had it for later use.
Just a suggestion, and good luck!

Forgot to add, I flattened about 2" and after filing to size rounded the edges, it makes a guide that way.

John,,,

[parve]

MLBS shows all three sizes of ramrod drills they carry in stock, they are among items 101-125 or page 5 under the "Tools" category. I also lack the tools, knowledge, and confidence to build my own RR drill, so I opted for their 5/16" drill for my .32 build.

[elkhart]

Wow, $217 for a rr drill bit. Now I know why my brother in law stole mine!

[SDH]

Gun Drill type ramrod drill. Milled quarter flute, shaped end almost 90*, filed relief bevel. Cuts on the tiny flat end. Soldered 36" drill rod to extension for overall 42" length.

[JLayne]

Hello again,

Thank you all for your replies. Upon pondering the issue a bit more yesterday, I found that while inletting the mainspring, I had broken through into the ramrod hole. I drilled a small hole in the bottom of the stock just an forward of the trigger plate and a bit forward of where the face of the breech plug ends, and discovered that the ramrod hole is, in fact, deep enough. Further investigation revealed that a chip of wood had gotten lodged in the hole about and two inches forward of the bottom of the hole. A bit of scraping around in the hole with a dog leg chisel from inside the break though in the main spring inlet, along with a can of compressed air got the wood chip dislodged. All works well now.

In any event, the thread wasn’t a waste, as I want to try building from a blank in the near future and am going to need a ramrod drill for that project.

Thanks again.
Jay

[Dphariss]

You can move a Ramrod hole over or down as described here.

https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=258.msg5716#msg5716

I don't use anything but the gun drill type hole drills once properly started they will run where aimed. Just be sure its aimed properly.

RR hole scraper

[SDH]

Dan,
I have made and successfully used a similar tool on someone else's gun.
But my Gun Drills have always run true.
SDH

[Dphariss]

Dan,
I have made and successfully used a similar tool on someone else's gun.
But my Gun Drills have always run true.
SDH

So do my gun drills. I have some I have made from cold rolled rod from the hardware store and then either used soft or casehardened the tip. Last one I made was water hardening drill rod. But it was only 36” so I had to add some to the non-cutting end.
I first used the scraper on one I improperly aimed the rod on and it was a little high and interfered with the front lock bolt.
I just used it again on a Kibler Colonial to simply enlarge the hole a little to loosen the fit. Hole was fine I basically just did it for the heck of it. After tapering the rod to the rod tip.  Rather than take the rod down farther I did 5 or so passes with the scraper rotating a little each pass.

[petejc]

Elkhart,
That $217.00 bit is for the 3/4 " dia. bit....don't think he'll be needin that big a ram rod....lol

[john bohan]

I just ordered a ramrod hole drill from Muzzle loader builder supply,$33.