Expedient sapling ramrod works fine

[Rifleman1776]

I have a fair amount of Persimmon here. I’m going to keep an eye out for the right size.

I'm not a fan of persimmon for any wood project. Take yer eyes off of it for a few seconds and it will be devoured by wormies. DAMHIK!

 

[Rifleman1776]

Here is a painting of an Assiniboine hunter, by artist Carl Bodmer:

Interesting painting. But, I am not a fan of using paintings from the period to use as something being 'pc' or 'hc'. There is often too much artistic license involved to accept something shown in a painting as to how it really was. e.g. dogs taller than teepees, etc.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Interesting painting. But, I am not a fan of using paintings from the period to use as something being 'pc' or 'hc'. There is often too much artistic license involved to accept something shown in a painting as to how it really was. e.g. dogs taller than teepees, etc.

A lot depends on the artist. Carl Bodmer was the artist hired to accompany Prince Maximilian up the Missouri in 1832-1834. His patron insisted on accuracy, and his paintings are known for almost photographic realism. In this case, we have a painting of a native man holding a rod exactly like the surviving one in the photograph of the trade gun. We have photographs of native people shooting breechloaders (e.g. the Modoc War photo) using a wiping stick for a rest. How would he carry the stick, if not in his hand? There is no provision for carrying it under the barrel of his Spencer carbine. Jim Beckwourth didn't mind carrying a spare rod around with him:



Harry Yount carried two, along with his Sharps...



There are multiple references to native marksmen in the west using "crossed gunsticks" to steady their aim. John Palliser wrote this about a companion: "...while Boucharville knelt on one knee at the edge of the cover, a position in which he could shoot very well, for he used to make a rest for his rifle, by sticking his ramrod; and loading-stick firmly into the ground across each other..." (Solitary Rambles, p. 211). The man clearly carried two rods. Only one would fit under his rifle barrel.

I think we all have some measure of confirmation bias. There is nothing wrong with questioning the accuracy of a single painting, and the comments are appreciated. However, in this case we have a reputable artist, a surviving artifact, corroborating evidence in the form of photographs, and written descriptions of an extra rod. How else would one carry a spare rod, except in his barrel or in his hand?

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[user 49399]

This evidence would suggest that range rods might actually be historically correct.

 

[Jay Templin]

Thanks, again, Notchy! I had always interpreted that Assiniboine fellow’s wiping stick as a light spear for ice fishing or muskrats. Unfortunately, the museum that owns it doesn’t allow the picture to be blown up, but when I expanded your copy, it’s pretty clear that it’s a wiping stick with a worm.
Going sapling hunting tomorrow!
Jay

 

[Crockford]

Nice job on the wiping stick/ ramrod. The pictures are great too.

 

[TDM]

I saw a long straight cherry sapling about thumb size at the base and for fun made an expedient ramrod for my .69 fowler. Works a charm. I roughed it on the a jackknife then scrapers and rasps. A couple hours by the fire and it’s not too noodle-ey to work. Rough jag filed on the fat end works for cleaning. I figured this would be the quickest solution for a broken or lost ramrod. About 2 hours of work.

Just to show that I didn’t forget about your idea. I didn’t find a suitable persimmon but I cut this little gum sapling a week or so ago. Have it drying by the fire box. I’ll shape it when it’s done.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Just to show that I didn’t forget about your idea. I didn’t find a suitable persimmon but I cut this little gum sapling a week or so ago. Have it drying by the fire box. I’ll shape it when it’s done.

I’ve been using a walking stick made of a fire-killed sweet gum sapling. Been using the same one for 10-12 years. This is an under-appreciated wood, with a a very high ratio of strength to weight. The young saplings also grow very straight.

In fact, since this thread got started, I’ve had my eye on a few little gum saplings out where I like to hike. I’ll bet a sweet gum sapling would make a very good ramrod or wiping stick. The persimmon stick I cut a while back has a few minor bends that will need to be straightened. A lot of the sweet gum sprouts I’ve been seeing would only need to be shaved down a bit.

Looks like @TDM found a good one.

Notchy Bob

 

[rich pierce]

Sweet gum is also quite resistant to splitting, so an excellent choice for ramrod, ball boards, and tool handles like for a through-tang knife, drawknife, and so on. It doesn’t seem to grow in the wild here in New England. If I recall the wood on mature trees is a nice reddish color too.

 

[TDM]

I used to cuss Sweet Gum because it didn’t really have food value for any animals and I always heard it wasn’t good for firewood. But my attitude has certainly changed over the years. While I wouldn’t want to split a lot of it by hand, with my hydraulic splitter it’s not a problem. And it burns long and hot. It’s very common here and is about the only tree that has any fall color.

 

[TDM]

I let my sapling sit by the fire through the winter. It dry, but developed a bit of a curve. I’ll work with it some more, but I think it will work in my .62 trade gun just fine.

 

[Rancocas]

I like those photos, Notchy.
I, too, use a walking stick/hiking staff since I have become somewhat unbalanced in my old age. I use a staff of shoulder height that I cut in the woods. It does double duty as a staff to help my balance, and also as a shooting aid.
Some years ago while on a backwoods deer hunt in northern Michigan, I accidently stepped on my ramrod and broke it. I cut a sapling and whittled it down to make a functional replacement. It worked fine for the rest of the week long hunt. When I got home I made another ramrod.

 

[Notchy Bob]

This thread wandered a little back and forth from the original topic of sapling ramrods to a discussion of native ramrods. With that in mind, I found a couple of interesting comments while reading today.

I was reading about shields, and found a good article in the Penn Museum Journal, Vol. XVII, No. 1, "Some Shields of the Plains and Southwest." This comment from that article got my attention: "It is also interesting to recall in this connection the statement of Maximilian of Wied referred to on p. 33 here, about the symbolical use and the decoration of the ramrod among the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Teton Dakota, remarks which seem to indicate that the ramrod, in virtue of being the implement which was used to charge the musket, had come to represent itself the superior death dealing power of the charge which it appeared to control. I infer that the decoration of the ramrod attached to the gun was symbolical of its magical energy, since the purely decorative treatment of an essential part of the marksman’s equipment could scarcely be regarded as important enough in itself to justify rendering that object so useless for its original purpose that it had to be duplicated and the marksman burdened with an extra piece of equipment."

So, I dug deep and looked up the passage from The North American Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied. In review, Maximilian was a German aristocrat, explorer, naturalist, and ethnographer who famously came to America in 1832 and traveled up the Missouri, visiting native people along the way. He was accompanied by the artist, Karl Bodmer, whom the Prince had hired to document the trip with paintings and sketches. Regarding guns (and ramrods), the Prince wrote this:




The pertinent comment was "Besides the ramrod, they carry a special rod for loading in their hands, as all Indians do; this is the one they usually use." On a different page, he wrote, "They carry the ramrod beside them in their hands, a powder horn and hunting bag around their necks. The powder horn, studded with yellow nails and painted with some colorful stripes underneath, is sold to them."

Maximilian described Indians decorating their guns with "yellow nails" (brass tacks) and red cloth, and they decorated their powder horns, obtained from the traders, with "yellow nails" and paint, but I didn't find anything about Indians decorating the ramrod, as mentioned in the Penn Museum article, and in fact I had not heard of that before. Maybe the author of the Penn Museum article inferred a little too much in that respect. However, Maximilian did make it pretty clear that the old-time Indians he met carried the primary loading rod in their hands.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

 

[Jay Templin]

Nice find, Notchy Bob!
I guess they were probably using the made rods so if something happened to it, they had a backup (the original one) that they knew would work right away.
Jay

 

[kansas_volunteer]

It's been a long timesince reading it, but as I recall it was in Commerce of the Prairie, there was specific mention that traders bound for Santa Fe stopped at Council Grove to make a supply of ramrods.. There is oak there (like the Post Office Oak) and I've noted quite a bit of it in the area. I haven't seen hickory around there, but noticed more ash than I would have expected. In those days there would have been more woodland around Council Grove, and plenty of saplings to chose from.

 

[NorthFork]

You guys probably know all about making ramrods, but I happened on this method a couple of years ago when I had to turn down a fiberglass rod. I don't recommend fiberglas ramrods, but they don't break...

AWESOME!