French fowler

[Robby]

I am about to put the ramrod groove into, what I hope will be a fairly good representative of a French fowler. I chose to buy a casting from the Rifle Shop for the entry thimble. It has an inside diameter of about a quarter of an inch, I might be able to ream it out another thirty thousandths. This is going to be for a sixteen gauge and I was wondering if maybe it was typical for the French to use small diameter, metal ramrods. I have no problem making a wooden rod tapering down to that diameter, It just seems too small to be used for the final ramming on any gauge fowler, and thought maybe they used small diameter steel rods. All I can find on the subject are pictures from auction houses, they show good profiles, but not good enough to answer my question.
Robby

[James Rogers]

Ram with the large end.
You can ream the pipe some also. Many of those fowling guns had small rods. The Griffin English set I have is small also. Many of those guns used a baleen rod with a horn tip.
You can do the ramming end like this.

[Stophel]

If the casting is thick enough, yes, you can drill it out, but be VERY careful, as the drill can catch, and jerk itself in and get stuck.

[Robby]

Capt. Jas, I plan to put some kind of tulip on the end, no matter how I go about this. that is a nice one pictured.
Stophel, I am well aware of the grabby characteristics of brass, and have the scars to prove it.
Thank you both. I probably didn't explain myself vary well. Because the entry pipe is cast from an original gun and has such a small diameter It has caused me to wonder if the French might have used small diameter metal rods in stead of wood. If so I will make the groove and other pipes to fit.
Robby

[Acer Saccharum]

A reamer with six flutes is MUCH less likely to grab than a spiral flute drill.

For drilling BRASS: If you do use a drill, grind little flats on the leading edges. The flats make the drill act as a scraper, and are much less likely to grab the brass. By all means DON"T HOLD THE PART IN YOUR HAND while drilling!

[rich pierce]

I haven't seen iron rods in French fowlers.

[Tim Crosby]

Ram with the large end.
You can ream the pipe some also. Many of those fowling guns had small rods. The Griffin English set I have is small also. Many of those guns used a baleen rod with a horn tip.
You can do the ramming end like this.

 Is that held on with wedges? I'm thinking that's what the + is. Nice job however it is held on.


 Thanks, Tim C

[northmn]

Another point on originals is that wooden ramrods were often tapered.  Your small entry thimble may be an example of that type of build.  There is less tension on a ramrod once the ball or load gets going.

DP

[James Rogers]

Tim, Yes it's held by wedges from the top and a shoulder on the bottom.

James

[Dave B]

I have a 1750's French fowler with a metal rod. It may or may not be original to the piece but it is clearly a vintage replacement if not original. It is about a quarter of an inch in dia.



As you can see the entry pipe is not very thick.  In your case you may want to use a rat tail file to open yours  up vs a drill.
You could use a fiberglass rod tapered down to size if you've a mind. I personally would love to get my hands on some Baleen to make a rod for my piece. 

[Robby]

Dave, I have heard of baleen being used, and may have been original to your gun, but it appears that a steel rod would have been an acceptable replacement, Thank you.
Robby

[Mike Brooks]

We use far larger rods on fowling guns than the French and English did in the 18th century. 1/4" to 5/16" was normal. I believe they were loading differently than we do.

[alex e.]

Mike is right .RR were smaller,It does not take much effort to load a dry ball & push some form of wadding[paper,,tow,wasp nest ,ect.] on top of a ball,I saw a long barreled Buccaneer musket at fortress Duisburg that had only  a 1/4" RR,& it fit the pipes.Patch & ball in smoothbore seems to be a  more modern thing,same with greased wads on top of ball,A  smaller rammer also helps to make a much slimmer forend/forestock ;)some thing i might do on my next fusil.

Alex............

[northmn]

Ramrods were also split out of a straight piece of tough wood with a froe air dried and rounded.  Today they are made on doweling machines.  There is a difference.

DP