Looking to restore a rifle gifted to my Grandfather

[AZbpBurner]

Looks to be a short section of ramrod already in place. Remove it and measure the diameter. You can get blank wood specifically intended for gun rods from Track Of The Wolf, either hickory or ramen will work. Don't use hardware store dowel material, since it's not made to withstand the stress of loading, and the woodgrain may be such that it will break under pressure of use. A sharp broken end of ramrod can impale your hand & ruin your afternoon.
Once you have a proper length of ramrod, yu can determine of the rifle is loaded. When you drop a wooden rod vertically into an unloaded bore, it will bounce. If dropped in and it thunks with no appreciable bounce, it's hit a lead ball & is loaded. There is plenty of info on-line and all over this forum about building a rod to stow under your rifle barrel, and also a longer Range Rod for actual shooting use.

Ramrod tubes usually have a tab running the length of the tube for pinning to the stock. On your rifle, look for areas under the stock where tubes may have been fastened; look for pinning holes in the wood. On many low-end imports, tubes without tabs were often glued in place; look for residual glue . Also, for replacements, be sure to measure the ramrod channel diameter and also ramrod diameter to ensure yu get the right size tube(s).

 

[oldwood]

Hey AZBurner...................A question... What is RAMEN wood???
I can sometimes get a kind of a wood from my local salvage store. It's browner than hickory and just as springy and tough as hickory. Also , I've been told it's a foreign wood perhaps from Southeast Asia.

 

[NorthFork]

@oldwood your last sentence answers your question. It's also spelled ramin. It's actually on the CITES list as threatened so I'm not sure how much of it we will be seeing in the near future.

 

[oldwood]

Thanks North.....I'll buy a considerable supply of ramin wood as it comes into the store. Personally , I think it is as good as expensive hickory..oldwood

 

[Pete G]

Thanks North.....I'll buy a considerable supply of ramin wood as it comes into the store. Personally , I think it is as good as expensive hickory..oldwood

It's NOT!

 

[oldwood]

Pete.......Been using ramin wood , and hickory for 15+ years. On the frontier they made r/r's out whatever straight stick from the woods they could get. The way I cull the good from the bad is the same way I would cull the good from the bad , if i was buying hickory from a hickory r/r dealer.
First...look the straight stick over for worm holes, knots , cross grain , and any other defect visible. Next , this might cost you the price of a r/r blank , but better to find out now, if the stick is real r/r material. Do this: Slowly bend the 48"stick about 8" off it's axis and twist between your fingers at least one revolution or more . If no cracking is heard , and the stick returns to it's straight axis , you might have a cantidate for a r/r. The bend -twist test is revealing enough to rule out most defective sticks , hickory or whatever. Give it a try....oldwood