Bending a ramrod

[scottmc]

Ok, I never thought I'd ask this but is there a way to get a little bend in the rod so that it holds tighter in the pipes?  I picked one so straight that it starts to slide out when I'm hunting.  The rod is finished.  Next time I'll make sure I pick em with a little curve.  I just finished the rifle last spring and have been hunting with it in the PA cold this winter so maybe that's shrinking it somewhat.

[iloco]

Hold the rod over an electric eye on your stove where you want the bend to be. Flex the rod when hot and hold.  Should solve your problem.

[scottmc]

Excellent.  I'll  give it a try.

[Dave R]

Years ago when HH removed his .36 cal Colerain swamped barrel and installed a new .32 Colerain his thimbles were too small and the ramrod slipped out! He took a piece of leather like a shoelace and trimmed it down to an acceptable size darkened it and inserted it thru the middle thimble and tied a square knot which held the ramrod in place.It added a little Woodbury charm to his rifle!

[Flint62Smoothie]

We used a round metal screw-in ‘eye’ to straighten ceder arrow shafts by forcibly rubbing the grain opposite the bend ... so the opposite should work. FYI, it compresses the grain ... and is a neat trick!

... never tried it on a ramrod though ..

[Pukka Bundook]

Dave R,

I recall seeing a picture of that rifle. 

[Daryl]

Years ago when HH removed his .36 cal Colerain swamped barrel and installed a new .23 Colerain his thimbles were too small and the ramrod slipped out! He took a piece of leather like a shoelace and trimmed it down to an acceptable size darkened it and inserted it thru the middle thimble and tied a square knot which held the ramrod in place.It added a little Woodbury charm to his rifle!

You meant the thimbles were too "large" and the ramrod slipped out. That's ok, it happens in the 'twilight' years.
Something else that works, is a tiny pad of leather, crazy glued onto the rod channel, anywhere, to help hold the rod.


get picture url

[hanshi]

Gluing a piece of leather in the RR channel worked great on one of my rifles with loose RRs.  If a RR has a modest bend, it won't need anything to hold in in the ferrels.

[Flint62Smoothie]

One can also tie a piece of heavy thread, cord or lesther through and around the ramrod pipe.

Leave a tag end long and tie off a small feather on light thread. This is VERY useful on a hunting gun to let you know where the wind is coming from ...

[Black Hand]

Ok, I never thought I'd ask this but is there a way to get a little bend in the rod so that it holds tighter in the pipes?  I picked one so straight that it starts to slide out when I'm hunting.  The rod is finished.  Next time I'll make sure I pick em with a little curve.  I just finished the rifle last spring and have been hunting with it in the PA cold this winter so maybe that's shrinking it somewhat.

Tie a thin piece of leather through your front rammer pipe (you may need to loop it a couple of times) - takes up the slack and the rod stays put.

[iloco]

I have used the heat method to straighten a rod that had to much bend that it would hit the side of the last entry thimble.
Also used this method to put a little bend in the rod so it would have pressure when in the thimbles.