Ramrod stuck again @#%&

[retired fella]

yesterday while at our Sunday shoot I picked up on a really nifty gadget.  First let me say that I have always used a wooden range rod by preference.  But at times it jams into fowling when trying to run a cleaning patch through.  Then it becomes a 2 man operation to extract it. 
A shooting buddy introduced me to using a wire puller.  Works like Chinese finger locks, grabbing the end of the rod and you have better grip for pulling it free.  I'm sure it would be good for pulling an extremely tight ball also.

[mark esterly]

if your patches are the right size and not too big and  it is jamming in the fouling pour something wet down the barrel & it'll come out e z

[Black Hand]

Are your patches wet?

[smallpatch]

A wet patch won't get stuck.

[David R. Pennington]

I usually drill a small hole through the end of my wood ramrod just above where it would come out Of the muzzle with a jag on the other end. A nail or awl through this hole gives you some grip to pull a rod with a tight patch or a ball if need be.

[davec2]

I don't get a ram rod stuck very often, but I do have to pull a ball once in a while.  I put a 10-32 female thread in both ends of all my ram rods and then use the "T" handle part of this tool to pull on it if I need to.

[EC121]

If you can get a really good grip on a stuck wooden ramrod, you can pull the metal and jag off the wood.  Pour some water/bore cleaner down the barrel and wait a few minutes.  Then get a good grip and pull.  A piece of light rope and some tight half hitches around the rod will usually get enough grip to pull most rods.  A cable grip is a food idea though.  We used some that were 4in. or more n diameter.  You could pull a big rod with them.

[retired fella]

Thanks for your replies.  Yes, the patches are wet and can be extracted but sometimes requires a bit of effort with the assist of another pair of hands.

[m1garand_man]

I don't get a ram rod stuck very often, but I do have to pull a ball once in a while.  I put a 10-32 female thread in both ends of all my ram rods and then use the "T" handle part of this tool to pull on it if I need to.

Very nice. At first it looks like some sort of contrivance from the inquisition. Ha!

[Mike from OK]

If you can get a really good grip on a stuck wooden ramrod, you can pull the metal and jag off the wood.

That's a bad feeling when that happens.

Happened to me a while back. Tried several methods to get it out... No luck.

Pulled my touch hole liner and bought a grease zerk with the same threads and pumped grease into the barrel. Pushed the works right out of the muzzle. Then used compressed air to blow out the grease and cleaned her up.

It's a last resort method. But it's a trick to keep in the back of your mind should worse come to worse.

Mike

[Mike from OK]

The wire pulling grips are commonly referred to as "Kellum's" or "Kellum grips" and should be available at just about any electrical supply outlet.

Mike

[rich pierce]

I sneak up on the breech when running the first, wet, cleaning patch down. I insert the rod 2/3 of the way down, do some in and out. Advance inch by inch till I hit the crud ring. Then I do little in and out strokes till it’s easily going to the breech and back out.

[Turtle]

 Although I build all my guns with wood ramrods, when doing much shooting I use a hollow brass under gun ramrod. they lite,are stiff, don't get slippery, and the end won't pull of pulling a stuck ball. I haven't seen an original gun with one, but unlike plastic ones they are allowed on the primitive shooting line. I'm sold on them. I drill a hole in one end and put a short rod in it so the cord I use won't slip. I use them mostly to pull other guy's loads. I always use a cord and hook it on something like a tree branch so know one is in the line of fire.

[Hungry Horse]

Of all my muzzleloaders, the only one that consistently got a stuck ramrod was my tradegun. One winter when it was too wet to shoot, I decided to find out why just this gun had this problem. After pulling the barrel, and the touch hole liner, and finding nothing, I finally looked at the ramrod itself. This gun is an old Northstar built by Curly. The ramrod tip is kind of a combination of a shotgun tip, and a cleaning jag. I remembered that my previous trade gun never had this problem. So I took the ramrod tip off, and replaced it with a plain, short, button style, ramrod tip. It never stuck again. The trumpet shaped, long, ramrod tip was the problem.

  Hungry Horse

[Frank]

Of all my muzzleloaders, the only one that consistently got a stuck ramrod was my tradegun. One winter when it was too wet to shoot, I decided to find out why just this gun had this problem. After pulling the barrel, and the touch hole liner, and finding nothing, I finally looked at the ramrod itself. This gun is an old Northstar built by Curly. The ramrod tip is kind of a combination of a shotgun tip, and a cleaning jag. I remembered that my previous trade gun never had this problem. So I took the ramrod tip off, and replaced it with a plain, short, button style, ramrod tip. It never stuck again. The trumpet shaped, long, ramrod tip was the problem.

  Hungry Horse

Thank you. I was going to put this kind of tip on the ramrod of the Early English Trade gun I am building. Not going to do it now. I have been on this forum for as long as I can remember and shooting and building muzzleloaders since the mid 1970s and there is always something to learn.

[Daryl]

Never had a stuck rod.  I have had help to remove a ball, as in one pulling on the rod and the other on the rifle. NEVER had a rod stuck with a patch -

 with a smooth barrel interior & wet patch of proper size the jag, I cannot even think up with a reason that could happen.

Interesting problems that seem to crop up, to 'befuddle' people.

[Nessmuck]

Just drizzle some 4F in the touch hole....and shoot it out...been there ,done that.

[rollingb]

Never had a stuck rod.  I have had help to remove a ball, as in one pulling on the rod and the other on the rifle. NEVER had a rod stuck with a patch -

 with a smooth barrel interior & wet patch of proper size the jag, I cannot even think up with a reason that could happen.

Interesting problems that seem to crop up, to 'befuddle' people.

Me either,.... whenever I get a new shooter (and during it's first cleaning) if I notice any indication that the jag, or tulip tip, seems to "drag" too hard during the the out-stroke with a dry patch in the clean barrel, I'll chuck the jag (sometimes even the whole ramrod when using a pinned jagged tulip tip) in an electric drill and lay a file to it.
Sometimes it takes a couple applications of the file to get the fit you're looking for.
After that, the jag (or ramrod) stays with the gun. 

[Gary W.E.]

I have had that problem and was concerned the jag would break off in the barrel when I went to clean it. I suspect your problem is not just after one shot. Please understand I target shoot and shoot a LOT before I give my gun a good cleaning at the end of the day.I now brush and swab with a wet patch between shots and no longer have the issue.

[Daryl]

Taylor and I size our 'jags' to use a doubled flannelette patch for cleaning. This ensures good cleaning in the bottoms of the grooves.  The doubled patch IS difficult to pull out of a perfectly dry bore as in the last patch when drying. I have had to put the barrel in a vice to finish pulling the patch out. Spraying WD40 or some other oil down the tube would make this much easier, of course.

Jags straight from the 'maker' having brass threads are just asking for trouble, as in pulling the head off the threaded section with a tight patch.  I cut the brass threads off, then drill and tap for an #8x32" or #10x32" screw,  then put a drop of CA in the hole and screw in the appropriate screw, cut the head off and done.  The steel screw will never wear out, break off or strip out.

[thecapgunkid]

Rich Pierce...I sneak up on the breech when running the first, wet, cleaning patch down. I insert the rod 2/3 of the way down, do some in and out. Advance inch by inch till I hit the crud ring. Then I do little in and out strokes till it’s easily going to the breech and back out.


Yup.

Out in the woods on the trail walks most of us in my group will swab.  I always try for  after the fifth shot or so.  Don't try to clean through the breech fouling all at once, keep a wet patch and nurse it and the problem will not occur.

Um Juss Sayn

[Daryl]

Rich Pierce...I sneak up on the breech when running the first, wet, cleaning patch down. I insert the rod 2/3 of the way down, do some in and out. Advance inch by inch till I hit the crud ring. Then I do little in and out strokes till it’s easily going to the breech and back out.
 
Um Juss Sayn

With the breech in the water container, I also 'sneek' up on the breech, almost all the way dowjn, then up which sucks water into the bore, then down all the way up, then down/up, down/up, down/up until I think it's clean- then out the muzzle, tip the bore down to drain the water while I grab a towel and patches to drying.

[Hungry Horse]

I do agree with Daryl about jag size. A jag that fits too closely will hang up a lot quicker than one with some extra room. Long jags in my experience are more likely to bind up, than shorter jags.
 I had an old kitgun years ago, that was 44 cal. Instead of the more common 45 cal. that would get stuck regularly. I had a long brass jag that was designed for a .45 cal. Barrel. Suspecting the jag was the problem I sawed the jag off leaving four grooves. It would still hang up at times, and finally really got stuck one day. When I finally got it out, I chucked it up in my drill, and turned it against a fine cut file to reduce the diameter a little. It never hung up again.

  Hungry Horse

[alacran]

Hello Everyone.
This is as good a time and place to introduce myself. I've been looking through this site for a couple of years, at the urging of Little Joe. I have other friends on this site like Smallpatch whom I've known for close to 20 years.
I've had muzzleloaders since the late 70's. Didn't start seriously shooting them till about 20 years ago.
I'm a hunter first a shooter second and a builder third.
At the first Rendezvous I went on, a fellow broke his wood ramrod and it went partway through his hand. Needless to say it ruined his weekend.
I knew there had to be a better way than carrying a range rod or having an ugly plastic rod in the rifle.
I started at first using 1/4 inch stainless rod laminated between two pieces of hickory. That was ok with 7/16 rods. but difficult to do with smaller rods.
I now use 5/32 piano wire or stainless rod for all my ramrods. They are not hard to build, but are labor intensive.
They are great for trail walks and for hunting. Best of all they look good on the rifle.
This is the first time I'm posting so hopefully I can get a picture of my latest ramrod  and rifle to come through.
It is 3/8ths at ebony end tapering down to 5/16th. It has a 5/16 brass tip at the bottom cross pinned through the 5/32 piano wire. The top is ebony again it is cross pinned.

[thecapgunkid]

Daryl...With the breech in the water container, I also 'sneek' up on the breech, almost all the way dowjn, then up which sucks water into the bore, then down all the way up, then down/up, down/up, down/up until I think it's clean- then out the muzzle, tip the bore down to drain the water while I grab a towel and patches to drying.

Daryl...obviously this is with the barrel out of the stock...right?

The stealth approach down the barrel and getting water in the breech is the best way when at home and you can feel the breech fouling dissolve.  I bought one of those rubber-hose-and-brass-clamp thingies and it works like a jet.  So much so that on my own keeper rifles I have cut a small notch opposite the touch hole above the side plate to keep the clamp firm.

Thanks

Capgun