Don't use wood ramrods!

[zimmerstutzen]

There are a few woods that are better than white oak. (And red oak is even less desirable than white oak.) For instance yellow birch would be better than either oak.

Hickory though a bit more costly for the material is a lot less expensive than an impaled hand.

 

[nhmoose]

Seeing a rod through a hand at a Fort Ty MLA shoot by one of the officials I got to say use a loading rod.

Unless you do not want to be out of work for a couple of months.

We need to weigh HC between reality here. When you can afford an accident like this to be HC do not use you Blue cross blue shield. Do not use benefits from where you work for pay.

Times for PC are nice but please no one is exempt for the problems that will occur, unless you are so PC you just DIE for the PC cause..

 

[Stumpkiller]

If you are only pressing on 6" to 8" of the rod at a time it's very difficult to break it - let alone jab it through your hand. Especially if you never place your palm over the rod (bad practice with ANY material).

It's less to do with "PC" than properly using tools. You can't fix stupid.

 

[cynthialee]

Not using a wood ramrod, might as well be shooting in-lines if your going to go all space age. I try to get molds that cast balls a little undersize so I don't have to force them down, and I've learned to wipe out the bore every so often, depending which flinter I'm shooting.

um sorry there dude...but a brass ramrod is not space age
There are many examples of period rifles and pistols with metal ramrods. Many examples come attached to the gun.

 

[longcruise]

When proper usage guidelines are followed such as stated by Stumpkiller, there is little danger.

In 35 years of jamming balls down bores I've had no problem with breaking rods. I've never owned a hickory ramrod! I've always thrown the rods away that came with the gun and made my own out of hardware store dowels. Originally birch, but those are no longer available in my area. Also used generic "hardwood" rods from the big box stores. Even though they are a poor quality, none of them have ever broken. Nowadays, any wood rods I make are oak dowels from the big box. They all have some degree of run out but they hold up just fine.

Two of my guns are outfitted with metal rods. One steel and one brass. Not for fear of using wood though.

So, all in all, I'm thinking that regardless of the inferiority of red oak, a split from a straight grained piece of wood will probably make a decent rod. Guess I better get to work on it! :haha:

 

[pab1]

If you are only pressing on 6" to 8" of the rod at a time it's very difficult to break it - let alone jab it through your hand.

This is the part that the anti-wooden ramroders don't seem to get. Every "accident" you hear of is from them not being used properly (along with poor quality ramrods). Might as well start a post "Don't Use Cars, Hammers, etc." because when improperly used, I or someone I know was hurt by them. I don't care what ramrod anyone else uses. If you like synthetic or brass use them. Don't steer people away from using something that's perfectly safe when used properly. There is enough misinformation out there about the safety of traditional muzzleloaders without us adding to it.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Metal ramrod yer. Such as the best rods, or the captive rods on many horse pistols. Never ever saw a brass rod on an old gun.

Saying not to use a wooden ram rod because a position rod broke is like saying muzzle loaders are lethal because somebody blew his face off by loading with black colored smokeless powder.

 

[Flintlock]

I understand brass in not space age, I was mostly speaking of the fiberglass and plastic rods of today. While handy hunting or at the bench, they do nothing for looks on a fine rifle or classy smoothbore. Brass rods are nice and I do have one for occasional range use but there way to heavy for hunting or extended walks. It's hard to beat a good hickory rod. It's also nice to make several rods for your guns so you can rotate and soak one in kerosene or your favorite oil.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I've never owned a hickory ramrod! I've always thrown the rods away that came with the gun and made my own out of hardware store dowels. Originally birch, but those are no longer available in my area.

Poplar (yellow - "Tulip Poplar") is common as is ramin for hardware store dowels. I had a catboat mast made out of yellow poplar and it had the straightest grain I'd ever seen. Ramin is pretty good but watch out for run-out in the grain.

 

[Rifleman1776]

If you are only pressing on 6" to 8" of the rod at a time it's very difficult to break it -

"If"??? Did you say "If"?
That is the key. When playing with guns there are many safety rules that have to be kept in mind. Not all traditional ml shooters spend a lot of time with their guns. Developing good habits may never happed with some. And there is even some bad advice out there. I as originally 'taught" to grab the rod at the top and seat the ball with one single push, not several.
Now.....lets talk about that "If" part again...... :slap:

 

[pab1]

Not all traditional ml shooters spend a lot of time with their guns. Developing good habits may never happed with some.

This may help them qualify for the Darwin Awards if they are not responsible enough to educate themselves when pursuing an activity that has risk of injury or death if done improperly. I was "self taught" shooting muzzleloaders and reloading ammunition. Both can be dangerous if done improperly. I put the effort into reading everything I could about both activities in order to do them as safely as possible. This was before I even bought a muzzleloader or reloading equipment. I didn't have internet then. I had to put the effort into finding books on the subject.

There is misinformation out there, but if people put the effort into research they will see correct explanations of how thing are done also. When I was educating myself on how to shoot muzzleloaders and reload, I read the same information over and over from many different sources. If I see two explanations of how to seat a ball with a wooden ramrod, one saying to push it home holding the end of the rod and the other saying the proper way and why, I can figure out pretty quickly which method I'll use. If someone pours powder directly from their powderhorn down the muzzle because that's what they saw in a movie then that's 100% their fault. They should have put the effort into learning how its properly done.

There are many dangerous activities in life. If you are going to participate in them then its your responsibility to educate yourself on how to do it properly and as safely as possible. If you don't then you have no one to blame but yourself.

 

[coloradoclyde]

The more idiot proof a firearm is.... the more idiots will be operating them...

And that's bad for everyone.....

 

[Twisted_1in66]

If you are only pressing on 6" to 8" of the rod at a time it's very difficult to break it - let alone jab it through your hand. Especially if you never place your palm over the rod (bad practice with ANY material).

It's less to do with "PC" than properly using tools. You can't fix stupid.

AMEN!

Twisted_1in66:thumbsup:
Dan

 

[Rifleman1776]

Shooters are not all like you. Back when I was a field rep, writing articles, teaching safety classes, etc. I met many-many Darwin candidates. Most had not a clue and/or simply didn't care. I seldom makes statements like that publicly because it can be fodder for the anti-gun crowd.

 

[Black Jack]

I have found that the brass rods add more weight to my rifles than I care for, so I use synthetics. I don't care for the synthetics that are black in color, but brown ones are available if you look for them. Dixie Gunworks, among other places, carries them. I keep the wooden rods in my guns for display but rarely use them at the range or in the field. To me, the composition of the ramrod has naught to do with the historical experience. But then, I am not a very HC/PC person and own mostly run-of-the-mill production guns.

 

[Dewey]

The more idiot proof a firearm is.... the more idiots will be operating them...

And that's bad for everyone.....

That explains in-lines ... and their users.

Among a lot of other things in general .....