Wood ramrods

[rfcbuf]

Why not use an aluminum rod? Not authentic for time period but they work. With a little work they can also be tapered with a file for use in the ferrules.

[Roger Fisher]

Why not use an aluminum rod? Not authentic for time period but they work. With a little work they can also be tapered with a file for use in the ferrules.

I have one U can have   Used it way back and using oiled patches my hands (etc) got so dirty with bp and gound in crud it was a time consuming session to get even partly clean, so I pensioned it off and the same with the oiled patching.

That rod is/was not very smooth and might even rank up/down there with fiberglass as a bore ruiner, don't really know...or care

[Daryl]

Aluminum will turn your hands black by itself - it needs no fouling on it to do so.  The aluminum itself comes off onto your hands, and is thought to be a prime contributor of Altzheimer's disease. Coatings only last so-long, then it's aluminum again.

If you want to do a simple test, take any material in a rod-shaped form, and stroke it (sawing motion), straight foreward and backward about 40 times, across a corner on an octagonal barrel stub- or a bottom corner on your gun's barrel and see what impression you make.  I did this with a variety of materials, and found normal hickory was the least abrasive, while nylon was a close second.  The various steels were worse by a considerable margin and fiberglass the worse - almost like using a find file.

[northmn]

I have used ramin ramrods with no problem but the technique is important.  I also only use the rifle rod out in the woods adn use a brass loading rod or a combination of two shotgun rods of the same brand screwed together to get a 40+ inch reach.  Barrel protector sleeves or funnels are also used.  The rifle rod is a very neglected rod for the target shooters and very important for a hunter as I do not carry an extra loading rod out in the field.  I also use a tapered rod that may be 7/16 for 50 cals and above and taper it down to 3/8 by the entry thimble.

DP

[Daryl]

We shoot most weekends, on the trail, 40 to 80 shots is normal. Most guys use only their gun's hickory rod, like LB, Taylor and Ross, but the odd time, I'll take along a range rod.  I can't be bothered with muzzle protectors and still do OK, even at long range so my muzles aren't worn too badly. Only my .69 shows any rod wear at the muzzle.  It has probably had 5 times as many shots through it as any other gun I have, maybe more times as many shots and rubbing wear can be seen in the bottoms of the grooves and land corners at the crown - but it's still shooting those 1 to 1 1/2" groups at 100 meters off a single front bag, so the muzzle wear from it's hickory rifle rod (original still being used), or the nylon cleaning rod I use must not be causing as much damage as we imagine.

[David R. Pennington]

Hickory is the traditional favorite because of its tough and flexible attributes. I have made them from scratch out of hickory trees but it is a lot of work. The thing about wood is it is not mass produced to exacting standards like wonder rods or some such. That is it's beauty and it's fault. If you make rods out of a nice straight grain four foot log you can split out the blanks and make sure you get grain that runs the length of the rod. You will get some nice rods, a lot of exercise and piles of kindling.

I made me a couple tools to turn ramrods by hand (5/16 & 3/8) sort of on the principle of an old fashioned pencil sharpener. I made a bit to drill a long tapered hole in a block of wood and fitted a blade in it on a skewed angle. I clamp this in my vise and get a split of hickory roughed out to sort of round and work a short piece through my cutter by hand. Then I chuck it (the ramrod blank) in my drill and slowly pull it through and watch the shavings curl up on the floor . I stop short and finish the last few inches by hand for a tapered rod.

I also soak my rods in kerosine in a copper pipe with a cap on one end to lubriccate them, I don't know if this really helps but it sounds good.

Also I never grab the rod more than 3-4 inches from the muzzle. The only rod I ever broke was one that came with one of those cheap imported kits that had a dowel rod rammer of questionable lineage.   

[dickert54cal]

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=740645&categoryId=0&parentCategoryId=0&subCategoryId=0&indexId=0&itemGUID=c46f371eac1070581203d0d6616e8d0d&WTz_l=SBC%3BBRcms196%3Bcat104491980&destination=/checkout/basket.jsp

[Daryl]

I see Taylor will have to adjust his prices accordingly.

[valongrifles]

David, Can we see a couple of pics of the cutter and such?

[Leatherbelly]

  I really like a tapered hickory ramrod. Every rifle/gun I own has one. Brass tip on
 the small tapered end. Three reasons,1) Function, I don't have to swap ends to ram the ball down,this makes loading quicker. 2)The thick taper near the muzzle helps hold the ramrod in place by slightly binding it on the first pipe and 3), looks. I like the looks of them. It fills that little carved gap under the muzzle, and when walking through thick underbrush, no brush etc. get jammed between said RR and forend of the stock at the muzzle.
 I don't know if Daryls mentioned this or not, but on our trail near the start,Taylor donated a little "kit" for haha,..little "accidents".It has a range rod, and several ball pullers of various popular sizes and a worm.So if you dry ball, double ball or triple ball, you can go to this station and fix your problem.
 I  have never packed an extra rod with me. I rely on my hickory rod that goes with my gun. An extra rod  is just too much to pack.

[Roger Fisher]

  I really like a tapered hickory ramrod. Every rifle/gun I own has one. Brass tip on
 the small tapered end. Three reasons,1) Function, I don't have to swap ends to ram the ball down,this makes loading quicker. 2)The thick taper near the muzzle helps hold the ramrod in place by slightly binding it on the first pipe and 3), looks. I like the looks of them. It fills that little carved gap under the muzzle, and when walking through thick underbrush, no brush etc. get jammed between said RR and forend of the stock at the muzzle.
 I don't know if Daryls mentioned this or not, but on our trail near the start,Taylor donated a little "kit" for haha,..little "accidents".It has a range rod, and several ball pullers of various popular sizes and a worm.So if you dry ball, double ball or triple ball, you can go to this station and fix your problem.
 I  have never packed an extra rod with me. I rely on my hickory rod that goes with my gun. An extra rod  is just too much to pack.

Well now some folks get kinda weak and worn in their 'golden' yrs seems like.

  Woodswalks find me with one in the bore and one in the pipes...

[Militant_Hillbilly]

Anyone have any tips on the best ways of drilling and pinning the brass tip to the ramrod?

[omark]

Anyone have any tips on the best ways of drilling and pinning the brass tip to the ramrod?

i use a pipe cutter to mark the rod where i want to cut it down for the tip. then i cut it down with a pocket knife (proffesional tool). then cut a few small notches where its cut down. then i take a tap that will put shallow threads inside the tip. then i mix up some two tube pine pitch (epoxy). glue it together. after it dries i drill a small cross hole and insert a cut off nail, then peen the nail on an anvil.  havent lost a tip yet.   mark

[Kopfjaeger]

Unbreakable Ramrods.  Thier wood with a metal core.




http://www.periodramrod.com/

[Don Getz]

As Dave said above, use short strokes.    As you become older, this is kind of a normal thing to do........Don

[Roger Fisher]

Unbreakable Ramrods.  Thier wood with a metal core.




http://www.periodramrod.com/

Wood with a steel core alright and I like mine; but not unbreakable. been there and done that.  Sure ruined a good string I had going on a Seneca "run/walk"

[Roger Fisher]

As Dave said above, use short strokes.    As you become older, this is kind of a normal thing to do........Don

[rsells]

I get my hickory ramrods from the same supplier as Simon.  I too searched to find a good source and started getting them from Steve Bailey at
573-547-4540 sbailey@brick.net.  I have been more than satisfied with the parts I get from Steve, and he pulled me out of the fire by shipping parts very quick when I let myself run out of 5/16 rods needed to complete a rifle for a show a couple weeks ago.
                                                                       Roger Sells

[JCKelly]

Whatever the wood it needs to be split, not turned on a lathe.

That is, the grain MUST run the long direction of the rod.
If the grain runs across the rod at some angle you may find it stuck in your hand.

Ash sounds good. Hickory traditional, wouldn't know which is better.
Maple horrible - have you noticed all the baseball bats that shatter these days? They switched from ash to the harder maple, to drive the ball further.

I began shooting old muzzle-loaders in 1954. Ramrods all worked fine, until . . in 2008 I took an otherwise decent Eye-talian rifle to the range. I think the rod was some odd hardwood, I'd guess maple, definintely turned, not split. Hadn't yet figured out how to load one of these new-fangled shallow groove rifles.
It was really hard to get that ramrod out of my palm. As I am unfamiliar with the procedure of wrapping a rifle around a tree I just took it home & made a new rod of something from Track. Probably it is no good either, as I can't say for sure which way the grain goes. Reading these posts about Ramin wood makes me want to get one of them thar hickory planks & start splitting.

[Daryl]

JC - Track sells dowled Hickory as well as Ramin.  The Hickory is 5 times the rod that Ramin makes, ie: break 5 Ramin rods for every Hickory rod.   Ramin breaks straight across the shaft - normally and quite easily. A little too long the stroke, slightly off centre and "crunch" - straight across at the muzzle. At least they usually don't break into sharp, tpered knives normally - but sometimes do.  Ramin starts to work OK at 7/16" and larger.

I've never had a split hickory rod - must be nice. Only one I've ever seen, is the one Dave Rase uses in his .28 cal. rifle.  I've been using bought hickory 9blanks) and rods for almost 40 years - they work great as long as you don't get carried away.(it happens)

A fellow comes to Helfey Creek rondy here in BC brings osme split-glued up shafts, like split bamboo fly rods in construction. I've a couple, but haven't made any up yet- must do that for my DR. It needs a good 3/8" rod. They are very flexible and tough too,just gudging by their feel.

[Harnic]

I bought 3 Hickory rods from Track last month.  1 is probably straight enough to use, the other 2 will get used as perches in my wife's bird cage.

[Leatherbelly]

Straighten them,Harry!

[Canute Rex]

The ramrod in my Isaac Haines style 50 cal flintlock is solid turned brass. The previous owner found the rifle too light in the muzzle - wandered a bit. The brass rammer gives the rifle a "bull barrel" feel. It also allows me to seat the ball uniformly each time by lifting the ramrod 8" out of the muzzle and letting it drop on the ball.

Admittedly, it has required me to build up the strength of my left arm. But no chance of splinters.

[Daryl]

I prefer a 5/16" steel rod in the Squirrel rifle. It's 38" 13/16" x .32 cal. barrel is too light with a wooden rod for good offhand shooting. I used the steel rod on Sunday's trail and missed only 2 targets, I think - for the whole trail. I did need a re-entry on the 100yard bunny, but whacked him second shot.  I do prefer a bit of barrel weight.
Taylor's new .62 Hawken holds VERY nicely with it's 36" barrel - around 11 weight with tapered hickory rod.

[Harnic]

Straighten them,Harry!

How Roy?  Steam them, then hang them from the ceiling with a heavy weight from 1 end?