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How do y'all deal with a loose ramrod?

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Palustris

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Howdy, Foax. I've just replaced my flintlock's wooden ramrod with a synthetic one for the 2008 - 2009 hunting season, but I've somehow managed to retain an annoying characteristic: the tendency for the rod to stealthily slide out at the first, smallest opportunity. Do any of y'all Nimrods have a slicker'n snot technique for rectifying this problem?

Thanx & best regards,

Walt
 
Waltr said:
Howdy, Foax. I've just replaced my flintlock's wooden ramrod with a synthetic one for the 2008 - 2009 hunting season, but I've somehow managed to retain an annoying characteristic: the tendency for the rod to stealthily slide out at the first, smallest opportunity. Do any of y'all Nimrods have a slicker'n snot technique for rectifying this problem?

Thanx & best regards,
Walt
Click to expand...

TC and GM barrels have a small sort of flat blue spring steel mounted on the under rib in front of the nosecap ramrod hole, to put tension on ramrods to prevent, or at least minimize that.

Short of having such a spring, something as simple as tieing a small length of rawhide boot lace through a thimble so a length of the lace is inside the thimble taking up space and will keep the rod wedged in place.
 
I agree. A lace, or even a small piece of leather taken from an old shoe, or ladie's purse, or wallet, glued into one of the pipes will provide enough friction to hold that rod in place, and keep it from rattling! :thumbsup:
 
I use a large blue diamond match to keep my zouves metal ramrod from rattling. Comes in handy as a toothpick and firestarter too.
 
My .50 caliber GPR's ramrod used to back out on me all the time until I epoxied a short length of 8-32 machine screw down in the end of the rod hole. With the rod secured by the screw, it doesn't go anywhere until I unscrew it. The under rib of the barrel provides enough "stand-off" clearance for the rod that it can easily be grasped betwixt thumb and forefinger to either tighten or loosen as needed.

This fix cannot be seen on the exterior of the rifle. On one occasion during an extensive Seneca run, it prevented a less-than-scrupulous competitor from "borrowing" my ramrod, as was done with my range rod which was in the bore, while the rifle was on a rack (required for safety purposes at the particular club which held the event).
 
-----the rod on my GPR was slipping--it has a tension spring--so I took a round file and put a shallow ring around the ramrod where the spring lined up with the ramrod when in the ferrels --doesn't slip now-----
 
All ya gotta do is bend the rod ever so slightly so's the tension in the bend hold it in place. The problem with adding all sorts of screws, springs,and thingamabobs to thimbles is that both the rammer and stock will swell when subjected to damp weather, over a day or so. What all those additions intended to tighten up the rod do, is make it harder to impossible to get the rod out of the thimbles.

Just put a little bend it the rod. The tension will hold it in place.
 
-----I went to Dixons and got the crookedest ramrod I could find at 42 inches and it still slides out---so I tried dental floss wrapped around the ramrod until it was big enough bulge to fit snug into the ferrel no slipping now-----
 
I've never had a problem with my hickory rods...
They are usually too tight and too crooked...
:grin:

With a synthetic one, I'd just wrap it once or twice with masking or duct tape and be done with it...

Or, you might try adding something like clear fingernail polish inside a thimble to increase friction...
 
Hawkeye has a good solution with the tape. I would use electric tape on the rod where it will make contact in the thimble closest to the muzzle. I wrap elec. tape on a Maglite so it will fit snugly in my barrel when practicing mounts and works like a champ.
 
...so I tried dental floss wrapped around the ramrod until it was big enough bulge to fit snug...

PC Floss?
:grin:
 
If your ramrod channel is exposed in the barrel inlet you can put narrow strips of black friction tape along the sides, that works well. Some production guns have this exposed channel, most custom made do not. If you have the latter go with the rawhide lace suggestion.
 
I had the same problem with my Renegade, and found one thickness of black electrical tape around the rod where it is inside in the front ferrule took up the slack just the right amount.

White Fox.
 
If your gun has removable thimbles, loosen them up and slightly offset them from "true" alignment, then retighten the screws.

This will add some friction to help hold the ramrod in place.
 

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