Loading with a Steel Range Rod

[Larry (Omaha)]

43 years of muzzleloading. Never broke a rod.

Three safety items for me on wood RRs. Good straight grain Hickory to begin with. Inspect and care for the RR. When loading, use short tapping strokes, with the hands close to the muzzle and no long hard strokes.
Steel is OK for me, but I only have them on muskets. Ha, then I use my wood range rod to load.
Larry

 

[Johnny Tremain]

The question is WHY are they breaking.

Everyone Ive seen break is from sludge in the barrel.

No sludge, no breaky

 

[Butch Martin]

When using the wooden rod I use looser load combinations.

Another option is fiberglass. Cover it with shrink tubing that has the hot melt glue inside. Maybe 9mm fiberglass with shrink tube, there are places that sell fiberglass and carbon fiber rods that look promising.

A naked fiberglass rod is abrasive and may injure your hand when worn. I was able to wear a coned muzzle into a TC with a fiberglass rod in a dusty environment. I shot that rifle a lot when I was a kid.

I now use steel rods I make. I make a muzzle guide out of brass. I prefer polished hardened steel. 1/4" is plenty strong. It is spring temper. You can not bend it. You can get that at music wire. It needs to be cut with carbide to add an outsert that is drilled and tapped for the accessories. Golf balls make excellent knobs.

https://ksmetals.com/collections/36-long-music-wire
I have heard it argued that aluminum and brass can pick up grit thus acting like a lap.

I just went to the K&S link that you posted. I will be ordering stuff from those fine people, and thank you very much for posting the link.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

I suspect many people have never been taught to properly load with a wood rod. I do use a steel rod with a collar to load at the bench and to clean with. I use the wood rod in primitive shoots and hunting with no problems.
Excessive use of a wood rod will cause muzzle wear without a guide at the muzzle...in fact any rod will cause wear at the muzzle without a guide.

 

[Flintlock Whiskey]

After having a ramrod break off and stab through my hand 1.5 miles back hunting in a swamp and having to wrap my hand in a cut up t-shirt and walk out dripping blood and getting 7 stiches from it - I now never load any of my muzzleloaders with a wood rod. If I'm on a range or woods walk I always load with a steel range rod, or if I'm hunting I have a synthetic rod i use. The wood rods are just for show for me at this point in my life as I simply don't trust them.

Anyways I had a fellow muzzleloader guy (self proclaimed) tell me last night while I was practicing for Friendship coming up in a few weeks, that its very dangerous to use a steel rod. He said the steel from the rod rubbing on steel muzzle can create a spark and ignite the powder. I asked him how it would get past the tight fitting patch and round ball to even get to the powder in the first place and was told that I couldn't load with a steel rod on the range, and that's why "Unmentionable ML's" use aluminum rods, and that a steel rod is designed for cleaning the barrel only. I finished ramming the last ball home fired it off and left. I guess I won't be back to that range anymore. Question is am I wrong? It's also not a written rule anywhere to be found for the range either that are posted up everywhere.

PS this was a local state ran range and the guy worked for the state, and came down to make sure I paid my daily fee to shoot.

Sounds like a self proclaimed expert with an authority complex. Never ever heard of a gun being set off by a range rod. Most steel rods are plastic coated or have a brass crown insert to preserve the crown.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

The question is WHY are they breaking.

Everyone Ive seen break is from sludge in the barrel.

No sludge, no breaky

Some guys grab way at the top and go overboard on the stroke. They are lookin for a problem without sludge.
Your point is one to consider for sure.
Larry

 

[ord sgt]

Use of a muzzle guard with any metal rod is advised while cleaning. There is another option for rods. Brass rods are softer than steel. I do have a brass muzzle guard on my dedicated carbon fiber cleaning rod.

 

[Tanglefoot]

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I've been doing this thing since the early 60's ,,,, the 1960's, not the 1860's .... and have tried most of what has been mentioned. Generally I use hickory ramrods, but I own three steel range rods that were gifts from a friend and one sectioned brass one that I built and I've used all of them for cleaning at one time or another. Hunting or out in the field I use hickory. Never broke one, but it's only been what? .... 60-odd years so far.
I do recall a time when I thought ol' Jim "Moses" Bell was fixin' to break the steel ramrod in his Mississippi Rifle. We were hunting a swampy area on St. Vincent's Island off the Florida Panhandle, taking turns leap-frogging past each other from hummock to hummock. I was out ahead when Jim's rifle went off. I squirreled around to where I could see him --- It generally wasn't hard, `cause he was about 5 foot 18 --- and he was loading so fast his hand was a blur on the rammer. I swear I could see the sweat drops a-flying off'n his forehead too. "You shoot a deer?" I hollered. "No!," he yelled back, "Big boar!" "Did you get him?" He kept ramming a new load down. "NO!" "Where'd he go?" Moses fumbled a cap onto the nipple and raised the rifle, peering around as fast as he could. He had stuck the steel ramrod into the ground at his feet. "I don't @@#! know!" he answered. Apparently the boar was late for an appointment because he just kept going. We followed his tracks for a quarter mile and found no sign that he had been injured.
Somewhere along that quarter-mile Jim found the time to replace his ramrod under the barrel. We never did find that hog.

 

[Joemolf]

A good wooden ramrod won't break if you know how to use one.

I agree; short strokes and when hunting otherwise I use a TOTW steel loading rod at the range. I’ve seen guys on YouTube hanging on their 5/16 wooden rod asking for trouble! I think if you are going to rely solely on your wood rod you should wipe after every shot IMO.

 

[Sam squanch]

I never use a ramrod. I use the power of telekinesis to move the ball down to the breech……then I use said telekinesis to guide the ball where I want it to go…..

 

[hanshi]

I have two steel range rods with muzzle protectors and a few other rods made from other materials, with muzzle protectors. But I mostly use the wooden ramrod on the rifle.

 

[Sam squanch]

I own a cleaning/ loading rod made by Ashly outdoors. It is in sections you screw together. I’ve used it for years now and it’s rock solid. Good range rod.

 

[Cavalry Joe]

Sparks from a steel ramrod ? It’s what my French military musket came with… and so it shall remain.

 

[Blitz]

GEEZE Edith!

Your friend is a moron!
Tell him military muskets all had steel ram rods.

He is not a friend, he works for the state. That saye it all/