Making a new ramrod - questions

[Tanglefoot]

I've only been doing this since the 60's but I've never broken one of my hickory ramrods yet. I own a brass sectional rod that a friend gifted me with and a couple of steel shop rods (ditto) but I generally use the one in the barrel pipes or a hickory "bench" rod that's 7/16" diameter with a brass cap and jags. Oh ... wait a minute ... I do have a one piece steel rod with an antler handle that a buddy thought we should have "in case" to use with my son's little .32 caliber Boy's Rifle because the wooden rod that came with the rifle was only about 5/16". It's out in the shop someplace and the steel shop rods are hanging on my tool rack out there too (I think ... ?). Got two or three pistol loading rods with ball knobs for handles but they're hickory too. One pistol I carried for a long time was built on the Harper's Ferry design but with a lanyard ring on the butt cap to use with a lanyard while horseback. The barrel markings said it was a .58 caliber, so I was loading a .575" RB with a thin patch and it loaded dang hard! Finally one rendezvous I was shooting in a match against ol' Two Bears and it went into extra innings. Didn't have a bench or a loading stand, just me and the pouch and horn with my loading rod stuck in my belt, kneeling on the ground in the woods where the match was held with the gun propped between my knees to load. After the first two shots, that pistola got downright difficult to load and I had to resort to pounding the loading rod ball-handle with a chunk of stove wood. When I got back to the shop, I disassembled that pistol and pulled the breech plug, then slugged the barrel. Turned out it was actually a .56 caliber --- which explains why it loaded hard with a patched .575 round ball!
Didn't break my hickory pistol rod, but I surely did mark up that ball handle with some dents and dings! I found out later that Bears was using a Bondini match pistol with a set trigger and all that foofaraw so I traded up to a Bondini .54 of my own but never could get that varmint into another shooting match!

 

[FlinterNick]

Soaking the rod in Kerosene means you have a good source of kindling if you need it. Not sure it does anything else?!

Agree Jedidiah ! Lol, that would be useful as kindling.

I’ve tried soaking rods in lemon oil, kerosene… i soaked them for days at a time, what ever it was supposed to do, it made no difference in the quality of my rods.

Once I tried black locust and Yew and Osage, the rods could literally almost bend from one end to the other without snapping.

Soaking the rods in heated pitch for a few hours does turn the wood into a pliable type of fat wood, which i suppose is beneficial, however my rods worked just fine without the trouble.

I honestly think most rods break because they likely have too much taper, the more heavy a rod the stronger it will be.

 

[deerstalkert]

just as a fyi, one can buy a good hickory sledge hammer handle at the local hardware store for 15 or so dollars. most are 42 inches long.
with creative sectioning one can get 8-10 RR sized splits. quality of these handles is superb.

 

[ronaldrothb49]

Years ago I read to soak them in kerosene for as long as you want and it will allow the fibers to slide and not brake as easy. Tried it and for what it is worth I am still using that rod. Don't know if it worked or not but it didn't hurt anything.

I have also always soaked my ramrods in kerosene. In over 40 years I have never broken a ramrod.

 

[holzwurm]

My 2 cents: I just acquired an old Contemporary Hawken which has a rod made from oak. Looks OK to me??

 

[Jedidiah]

Agree Jedidiah ! Lol, that would be useful as kindling.

I’ve tried soaking rods in lemon oil, kerosene… i soaked them for days at a time, what ever it was supposed to do, it made no difference in the quality of my rods.

Once I tried black locust and Yew and Osage, the rods could literally almost bend from one end to the other without snapping.

Soaking the rods in heated pitch for a few hours does turn the wood into a pliable type of fat wood, which i suppose is beneficial, however my rods worked just fine without the trouble.

I honestly think most rods break because they likely have too much taper, the more heavy a rod the stronger it will be.

My hickory rods have minimal taper only on the end that goes deep into the stock. It helps it to go in and out smoothly. Otherwise i sand, stain and seal them with LMF permalyn. I only sand enough that they fit through the 'pipes" without binding.

 

[FlinterNick]

My 2 cents: I just acquired an old Contemporary Hawken which has a rod made from oak. Looks OK to me??

Oak is a good rod.

White oak is better than red oak, but good luck finding it.

The french used holly oak ramrods on their very early muskets, but when I did research into what a holly oak was its more or less an evergreen oak much like that of Yew.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

I think it's pretty funny how so many HC/PC guys have absolutely no problem with using wood for everything from tool handles to tent posts and literally EVERYTHING in between but as soon as someone mentions wooden ramrods, HOLEY COW! WATCH OUT, that thing is going to wear out your muzzle and brake off and impale your arm, leaving you stranded on a hunt without a rod or at worst, in need of a hospital. You all seem like we're talking about using some old stick of pine or hemlock we found in the scrap barrel at a woodworking shop, not one of the strongest woods available such as hickory, and made of dowels that were selected for that purpose. I mean, it's laughable! As soon as someone mentions a wood ramrod, oh no, you need to use delrin or fiberglass or aluminum or brass or Kryptonite! Don't use that wood or you really will regret it! You'll hurt yourself! I've made and used many hickory rods for over the last 2+ decades. If I thought for a minute they were a common hazzard, I would be warning everyone. Instead, I posted instructions here on how I make wooden ramrods and range rods.

 

[flntlokr]

You must do a great deal of shooting if you can wear one out!

10 0r more years plus sometimes using them for cleaning will eventually thin them down a bit. I change them out if they start to show any signs. Bettter safe than perforated.

 

[FlinterNick]

You can always engineer a rod, I’ve seen this before where sections of wooden dowels are bored out to a diameter of 1/8-1/4 with a spring steel wire / bar stock in the middle. Sections are epoxied and pinned together and then tipped. Basically it’s a steel reinforced wooden rod. I saw a guy make this for an early brown bess musket with a rod he kept snapping at the small tapered end.

I don’t think this necessary work though if you make your ramrods correctly, but I’ve seen it done.

 

[maynard]

I watched a woiden ram rod break and the part that was in the barrel, went through the users hand completely. Right after that, i found a brown fiberglass rod and added the ends and never looked back. Some say that the glass will ruin the riflings. 40 + years and the rod still looks new

 

[ronaldrothb49]

I watched a woiden ram rod break and the part that was in the barrel, went through the users hand completely. Right after that, i found a brown fiberglass rod and added the ends and never looked back. Some say that the glass will ruin the riflings. 40 + years and the rod still looks new

I used to work at a factory that made fiberglass body panels for the automotive industry so I have seen first hand what fiberglass can do to metal. I have a fiberglass ramrod that I use as a range rod for my .54's, but it has a muzzle protector and that is the only way I will use one.

 

[RJW47]

I understand the "bone it" process, there is merit to the surface compression.
But the soaking thing is a myth with no benefit.
Been there/done that,,

And wooden ramrods don't pick up grit unless you lay them down in the grit. Put it back in the thimbles would ya please.

Great scrim of the Buff in your avatar!!
Is that your workmanship?

 

[Ames]

Great scrim of the Buff in your avatar!!
Is that your workmanship

Yep. Here is the other side. The barbed wire was the fun part.

 

[RJW47]

Ames very nice detail and shading.
I'm into scrimmed horns so I just had to see it.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[William G]

The strength difference between a rod that is split and planed following the grain as opposed to a machined dowel that has grain run out is extremely important. A straight grained rod will not suddenly break leaving a sharp point.

A straight grained piece of hickory will serve you well.

 

[2 shots]

as clint once said ' cant beat a good piece of hickory'

 

[LongWalker]

I have also always soaked my ramrods in kerosene. In over 40 years I have never broken a ramrod.

Other than a couple of test rods, I've never soaked my ramrods in any oil etc. In 40 years, I've never broken one either. We're probably both habitually careful about how we load.

The metal reinforced rods: the easy way to make them is to rip your stock on a table saw, then saw a kerf down the center of one side. The metal rod or wire goes there, then epoxy the two pieces of wood and wire together.

 

[Rob M.]

Always been curious as to how old-timers whittled down a 42" hickory stick to make a ramrod.

 

[Blitz]

I understand the "bone it" process, there is merit to the surface compression.
But the soaking thing is a myth with no benefit.
Been there/done that,,

I soak em in lemon oil , much more flexible. they do dry out after a few years, keep a spare.
Only you are able to discern if flexibility is beneficial to you.
I like it!

Buzz