starter shaft length

[WadePatton]

For those of you who load with a starter, do you have a preference as to the shaft length?  I have misplaced the store-bought jobbies i had and am making one from hickory and bodock (osage orange). Planning a rounded mallet shape with brass nub, hole, and hickory shaft of 5 or 7ish inches.

Thanks

[WadePatton]

I found this.  Good enough.

Not to beat this to death; but it is important.   We asume you will check that short starter length to be certain it will push the patched ball beyond your lug notch and of course the frt sight notch.   I know I changed mine...

[Candle Snuffer]

Mine run about 4 to 4.5 inches.  I don't bother with the little nub anymore, I just use a short piece of hickory glued and pinned into a piece of antler.

[WadePatton]

My antler pile doesn't have any suitable pieces (the mooses run small down here), so I'm using some 25-years sawed bodock.  It's time to use it for something.

I'm whittling the hickory from new wood.

Does anybody else "end mount" the shaft rather than "T-handle" it?  as per Daryl.  I've used a "T" shape and a full-round shape back in the dark days.

[Daryl]

I only have one or two mounted on the side of the antler top. The rest have the shafts on the ends. Note the tips ar eall cuped to prevent damage to the ball.

Note also the rods have cupped ends to prevent damage to the ball when loading tight combinations. The third rod form the left, has a 19th century worm on one end, and the other has the brass cupped rod tip.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Wade, I use a starter - have to - because I load a tight combination.  I make the knob out of antler usually, sometimes the base which is heavy, dense and homogenous and sometimes a tine, if it's for a small bore.  The rod is hickory ramrod material and the rod tips are either turned on the lathe or cartridge brass with the rim cut off.  I cup the end of the brass with a ball end mill in the lathe to approximate the shape of the ball.  I have used wood for the knob many times - sometimes the end of a tool handle or the grip of a baseball bat, for example.  Osage Orange will make a great knob as it is both very dense and heavy.
I usually set a peg into the starter, again with a cup in the business end, to start the ball below the surface of the muzzle.  And I always drill a hole which fits loosely over the end of the ramrod so I can ensure that the ball is firmly seated against the charge.  It really saves wear and tear on the palm of the hand over the course of a long day shooting.
The rod varies in length from ~ 5" to over 9" depending on which gun I'm making it for.  I make a long one, for example to load a pistol, so that I don't need to use the ramrod.  The rod also varies in diameter less than 5/16" for a .40 cal. rifle and ~ 1/2" for a 20 bore smoothie or Hawken.  The key there is to have the starter tip small enough that it does not jam against the patch and bore when you start the ball.
As you can see in the photos, sometimes the knob is short and fat and others are long and skinnier...whatever I have in the shop.  I never make them with a "T" knob to use like a hammer.  I want the ball seated on the powder with as little upset or damage as possible.  If you tap away on the patched ball to get it flush with the muzzle, it will most certainly end up flat on top.  It may not matter, but it doesn't make good sense to me.  So I use the peg and a sharp wrap with the heel of my hand to start the ball.  Then the rod send it down it's full length with another sharp wrap.  Now the ramrod has a guide in that six or so inches of barrel to keep it straight and make it easy to seat the ball.
Starters are a great loading tool.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

That's funny Daryl...we posted almost at the same time.  Couldn't resist!

[hanshi]

A few that I've made from munchkin size to up around 4".  The red ball is a vent pick carried in the handle.

[WadePatton]

Thanks fellas.  I decided 6.5 is where I'll start in case i care to shorten it, and that's way plenty past the bbl cuts.

Now what to do with the other 5,783 pieces of cartridge brass i've hoarded all these years. 

I'll bring a pic to show-and-tell (that's what the innernets is right?) when it's done.

[William Worth]

Not very traditional, but I use a golf ball with about a 1" piece of 3/16" copper wire protruding and dished out in the drive end for a .32 starter. 

[WadePatton]

Not very traditional, but I use a golf ball with about a 1" piece of 3/16" copper wire protruding and dished out in the drive end for a .32 starter. 

I use golf balls for file/tool handles.  and targets.

[Old Bob]

Old doorknobs make nice handles. I have a silver plated brass knob in my range box for my .40's and a big ceramic (?) in my chunk box. Have seen a few real nice glass knobs on starters and will probably make some myself. Take a piece of ramrod and fit it in the socket and tighten the setscrew. My chunk knob has a piece of turned brass rod in it.

[WadePatton]

Old doorknobs make nice handles. I have a silver plated brass knob in my range box for my .40's and a big ceramic (?) in my chunk box. Have seen a few real nice glass knobs on starters and will probably make some myself. Take a piece of ramrod and fit it in the socket and tighten the setscrew. My chunk knob has a piece of turned brass rod in it.

They certainly do.

I use the door knobs for range rod handles-no stud or divot needed. I'm quite interested in the consistency of compression the "palm tap" can give to my loading.  Was always more of a guessing game before-somewhere between bouncing the rod and once smooth crunch.  Maybe this changes all of that. 

Just to equalize my range rod tap to my starter-atop-hickory-rod tap... nearly have furniture finished.  just a few more daze!