Made a ram rod

[Dillon W.]

Well guys I made a ram rod after work today on the little tool room lathe. It’s made from Canvas Garolite (McMaster Carr’s version on micarta) and a scrap of 360 Brass. Turned out pretty slick I think. I also polished the muzzle. Cutting patches at the muzzle was rubbing off the bluing so I thought what the heck, let’s see. I kinda like it. Took it to 600 grit.

 

[Bnewberry]

Sweet! Your work is far beyond mine. I get a wood ramrod from some supplier and put a tip scrounged from a broken one on it!

 

[Dillon W.]

If my boss wasn’t so generous that’s exactly what I would’ve done lol!

 

[Zonie]

Hopefully, you pinned the end cap on the new ramrod?

 

[Dillon W.]

That’s next, got lazy and found my rear end in my chair lol

 

[J207]

Looks great

 

[S.Kenton]

Hopefully, you pinned the end cap on the new ramrod?

That’s pretty important, try pulling a ball with a unpinned ramrod tip.. bad news!

 

[Dillon W.]

I couldn’t agree more. But this rod was built only to send a prb down the bore and that’s it. I’ve got a brass range rod from eastern maine shooting supplies should that occur.

 

[Grenadier1758]

You still want a cross pin in case the tip gets tangled up in an over sized patch.

 

[S.Kenton]

It only takes a minute to pin the ramrod tip, it can save you a lot of grief. Years ago, I had a “ custom” flintlock made and the ramrod was not pinned, I almost had the RR tip come off just by swabbing the barrel with a tight patch. I caught it just in time.

 

[yonderin]

Very nice.

 

[Davey Boy]

I can't tell from the photo but it looks like the ball pusher outside radius comes very close to the barrel support.

If the ball pusher diameter was just large enough to engage the barrel support it would be a slick way to seat the ramrod tight.

For those that have that configuration, it would be an alternate method from a bend in the ramrod to keep it in place.

I have a pistol, tip the barrel down and the ramrod calls out. I am going to check it to see if I could modify it.

Anyways, a nice job from a scrap piece of brass. Really spiffs up the gun.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

Yes, always pin ramrod ends. Trust me on that one. Now, every time I see a ramrod, I check to see if it has pins. First mod I do to a new/used gun.

 

[Reno]

Always, Always pin the tip on the rod. You can not carry a bench rod when hunting or on a trek. How does the tip stay on the rod without pinning? Epoxy? Pin is needed even when using epoxy.

 

[oldhunter1954]

I have never worked with Canvas Garolite (McMaster Carr’s version on micarta) . Was it a solid rod ? Is it flexible?

 

[Dillon W.]

Yes sir it’s a little more flexible than wood but very durable tough stuff. It’s essentially layers of canvas with epoxy in between each layer and pressed until cured. You can get rods or flat stock. I’ve made many knives with it for handles. Good stuff

 

[S.Kenton]

Yes sir it’s a little more flexible than wood but very durable tough stuff. It’s essentially layers of canvas with epoxy in between each layer and pressed until cured. You can get rods or flat stock. I’ve made many knives with it for handles. Good stuff

Where do you get that material at? I’ve never seen it before

 

[Zonie]

For those interested, I use a 1/16" diameter brass rod for the pin. I form the countersinks at each end of the hole with my pocket knife.

 

[Dillon W.]

Where do you get that material at? I’ve never seen it before

https://www.mcmaster.com/garolite/multipurpose-flame-retardant-garolite-g-10-fr4-rods/

That’ll do ya

 

[S.Kenton]

I don’t see a brown one... I’m gonna order one... but I don’t want green or orange