Help! Ramrod End?

[Smokey Plainsman]

Thanks, gang! Tulip tip on order from Track, along with a few more goodies.

Amazing info above. I LOVE this site and you all are my friends! Take care,

-Dillon

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Gang,

My tulip ramrod tip came in from Track and I got it installed today. I whittled down the end of the rod and secured it with epoxy:

I’m thrilled with it!! Can’t wait to test it with my blanket wads. Here’s the other end, it’s tapered to accept a coil type trade gun worm:

Thank you SO much to all who helped me!!

 

[skwerleater]

Do yourself a favor and file a point on that worm or you may have a hard time picking up a lost piece of wadding one the barrel.

 

[skwerleater]

“ in the barrel”

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Do yourself a favor and file a point on that worm or you may have a hard time picking up a lost piece of wadding one the barrel.

Great thinking, skwerleater. Will do!

 

[skwerleater]

I have the same worm, it was kind of blunt and I couldn’t pick up a patch in the barrel. I filled a slender point on it and now it works well. Hey another thing, when I use tow, I ball it up in my hand to compress it a bit, it seems to go down the barrel as a unit a little better. Enjoy your smooth gun, they are great fun!

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I have the same worm, it was kind of blunt and I couldn’t pick up a patch in the barrel. I filled a slender point on it and now it works well. Hey another thing, when I use tow, I ball it up in my hand to compress it a bit, it seems to go down the barrel as a unit a little better. Enjoy your smooth gun, they are great fun!

Just did it, and also blued the worm. Does it look okay?

 

[skwerleater]

Looks good. Try it out at home to see if it works. That way if it needs more of a point you can easily do it. If your out in the woods or on the range you might have a problem.

 

[BoomStick]

Nice job on fitting the bulb end -no chance of pushing a card or wad sideways down the barrel. Nice and shiny....Now go get it all dirty!

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

Nice job!

 

[Grenadier1758]

@Smokey Plainsman, the tow worm is looking good. I would still put a pin in the tulip tip even though you won't likely be pulling any ball or wads from the bore with that end of the rod. That's the conservative engineer in me to make an extra effort to retain tips by physical means as well as using epoxy. The coil will grip the rod really well. I would make some shallow grooves in the rod end to give some purchase to the coils. But, after a few uses, the grooves will begin to form.

Real tow from flax is the best, but fluffed up jute, hemp or sisal twine works pretty good too. Cut the twine into 4 to 6" lengths and fluff the twine into the individual strands. Make a ball and twist onto the coils.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

@Smokey Plainsman, the tow worm is looking good. I would still put a pin in the tulip tip even though you won't likely be pulling any ball or wads from the bore with that end of the rod. That's the conservative engineer in me to make an extra effort to retain tips by physical means as well as using epoxy. The coil will grip the rod really well. I would make some shallow grooves in the rod end to give some purchase to the coils. But, after a few uses, the grooves will begin to form.

Real tow from flax is the best, but fluffed up jute, hemp or sisal twine works pretty good too. Cut the twine into 4 to 6" lengths and fluff the twine into the individual strands. Make a ball and twist onto the coils.

Thanks! I added a pin made from an old nail last night and also lightly antiqued the brass. Also, I helped the coil impressions along with a needle file to deepen them. Works great!!

 

[tenngun]

I got a round horn slab for knife making from crazy crow, and mad this end, it’s not spin on a lathe son not perfectly round, I would think an antler tip would serve as well

 

[Grenadier1758]

Looks pretty good. I trust that the tulip is not interfering with the shot column and wads as the charge is fired. Seems pretty close from this side view.

 

[tenngun]

Looks pretty good. I trust that the tulip is not interfering with the shot column and wads as the charge is fired. Seems pretty close from this side view.

That’s my primary rod for this gun, but change it out for a different rod when running shot down the gun
Thigh used it at a smoothie shoot in May and didn’t have any trouble
And when I have a turkey load it works good

 

[IanH]

The brass tulips patina right quick with the first use. Here's the Track one I put on the 3/8" rammer for my 20-gauge, no glue just tight fit and a pin made from 12-ga solid house wire:

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

So I shot in the woods the other day and decided to try the coil tow worm to clean the bore with a wad of tow just as they would have done during the period.

Using a small puddle of water I found to moisten the tow, I found it scrubbed the bore EXTREMELY well. I would rinse and wash the tow off every so often and after just a short while, it was coming clean from the bore.

Followed it with some dry tow and then finished with some greased tow. I was really stunned how nicely and quickly it cleaned compared to normal cleaning patches and a jag.

They knew what they were doing back then for sure. If you’ve never tried cleaning with tow, DEFINITELY try it!!

Also, the tulip tip is working great! No issues at all like I was experiencing with the skinny bare rod!

 

[IanH]

Been meaning to do just that, I never tried cleaning with tow fibers before and even tight patches never seem to really scrub the rifling out very well. Thanks for the report.

 

[Britsmoothy]

View attachment 230003

Just did it, and also blued the worm. Does it look okay?

Dude, I'd of sharpened the other side! It may not be as grabby that way!

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Dude, I'd of sharpened the other side! It may not be as grabby that way!

I’m not sure I follow?