Need tips on making new ramrod

[jackc]

It is embarrasing to admit, but in all my years of muzzle loading I have never made a ramrod. Got my new hickory ramrods from Steve Bailey today and am ready to start from scratch. Literally from scratch because I the old brass end and jag from my old rod away so carefully I can't find either.

So, getting to order new ones. I have several questions, what are your favorite styles and materials for jags and ends? Also, is there a good tool to taper the ramrod ends to accept these or will a Dremel tool do?

I plan to stain my new rod and finish it with oil. Will probably use fine steel wool to take off the raised wood fibers.

Any advice will be appreciated.
Rocky Point Jack

 

[Black Hand]

Taper with a scraper/small planer, small files and sandpaper. A dremel tool will probably go too fast to do the job and could get away from you on that small end. A ramrod does not necessarily need an brass end/jag. Some were made with a fat end and a skinny tapered end. Depends on the style of you gun.
Black Hand

 

[Birddog6]

You can taper it with a small planer, spoke shave, file, etc., then chuck it in a drill & sand it smooth...... Or you can by a $90. tool from Mike Lea, but to me hardly worth it for a couple of RR's, even tho it does an excellent job. (IMHO) As for tips, I buy mine as I don't care to make them for the trouble vs. the cost of $1-2 each. Probably 499 dif. ways of installing one, here is how I do it & have not had a tip come off in 20+ years.


Installing a Ramrod Tip........

I take the rod to a belt sander & sand off the measured end of the rod as I rotate it on the sander til I have it sanded down to where it will barely go all the way into the RR tip. Then I take a piece or emery cloth & roll it up & put it in the RR tip & twist the emery cloth in the tip to roughen the insides a bit.
Next I take a countersinking tool & I bevel the inside of the RR tip edges just a tad. This lets the rounded edge of the RR go into the RR tip nicer.

I take a round wood file & I make a couple light file marks in a spirial form (like a barber pole stripe) on the sanded wood surface where the tip goes over the ramrod.

Now I take a piece of posterboard & cut a small circle on it & put the small dot of paper into the end of the RR tip to block the end of it where the threads start. Mix up some Devcon2000 epoxy or microbed & put some in the hole & some on the sanded ramrod end. Push the ramrod end into the tip & twist it on tight forcing the excess glue out. Wipe off excess & let dry overnight. Stand the rod verticle on end with tip down.

After setting all night, take a auto centerpunch & make a light punch about 1/4" from the wood/brass edge in the center of the tip. Drill it thru with appropriate sized drill for same size hole as a #3 finish nail or use a piece of 1/16" brazing rod. Drill it thru & then take a countersinking bit & bevel the edges of the holes you just drilled on both sides of the rr tip. Insert #3 finsih nail & tap it in snug & clip off excess with a pair of sidecuts or needlenose pliers. File excess on same side til you have about 1/32" of nail sticking out. Put the nail head on your vice & on the cut side sticking up peen it over carefully with a small ballpeen hammer. File flush turn over & file down nail head flush. On the brass pin leave about 1/16" extra out of each side & peen over, then file it flush. DON"T peen it too hard of you will easily deform the RR tip. Now I sand the tip parallel with the RR as that is how the scrapes from use will be on it. Now stain the rod just a tad darker than the stock. Hand rub in 3 coats of Tru-Oil to seal it up, rubbing it lightly with 0000 steel wool between the sealer coats.

:results:

 

[Stumpkiller]

http://www.bowyersedge.com/stock.html

Rather than a large spokeshave, I taper ramrods with a Bowyer's edge, or an X-Acto razor plane will do, too. Set the blade to the thickness of a dollar bill.

A 36" +/- long block of wood, maple or oak work well, with a 1/4" "V" groove the length of it serves as a working surface to hold the rammer. I draw a pencil line on the rod just ahead of the entry pipe, and at just ahead of each thimble. Starting where you want the narrowest end, take one pass with the plane starting at the pencil line to the end and turn the rod until the entire penciled line has been removed, then move back to the next penciled line and repeat. Each full revolution will remove about 1/64". So, a 7/16" rammer with three steps will be reduced to about 25/64" at the small end. Burnishing or scraping (or sandpaper or steel wool if you're using modern materials) to smooth the shaft will produce 7/16" down to 3/8", which is just perfect.

I use the same method to make tapered cedar arrows. Takes about 15 minutes to taper a rammer, and once you've used one you'll want all your ramrods tapered.

 

[Birddog6]

Hmmmmmmmmm........... Just goes to show ya everyone has the druthers. I don't like tapered ramrods at all, to small an end, hurts my hand to load with them & too flimsy fer my liking......... But then again, everyone has their druthers. However, sometimes ya have no choice if the RR hole or lock bolt is a problem.

:results:

 

[jackc]

Thanks for the replies and help!

Black Hand, I agree that we CAN get by without the tips and ends. I've seated balls with nothing more than a dowel from a hardware store. BUT, since I don't carry a loading stick or any such thing while hunting I prefer threaded fittings. I have needed to pull balls and patches too many times in the field to go without such tools.

Bird Dog, I sure appreciate your thoughts and very detailed advice. Believe me, I will read your post many times over as I continue this project.

Stumpkiller: I have never considered trying a tapered ramrod. On your advice, I think I will try one just to see how I like the idea. I have a whole handful of 'rods to work with, I can make both kinds to see what I like best. Thanks for the idea.

Will let y'all know how this turns out.

Rocky Point Jack

 

[Stumpkiller]

Stumpkiller: I have never considered trying a tapered ramrod. On your advice, I think I will try one just to see how I like the idea. I have a whole handful of 'rods to work with, I can make both kinds to see what I like best. Thanks for the idea.

I can see Birddog6's point, as well. It leaves a small end when fully seated. I like what the taper allows up near the wide tip. I can push the 7/16" rod while holding it about 6" from that end and I don't need a seperate short starter even with tight patches. Having the taper it's less able to slip through my fist when I start the ball. To offset the tiny (3/8") tip I carry a piece of leather strap in my hunting bag. If the jag gets reluctant when cleaning I wrap the leather over the tip for added leverage. When pulling a ball (oh, every so often I have a brain f*rt and skip the powder :redface I tie a rolling hitch on the rod using the thong my measure hangs from and either use a stick or the measure as a "T" handle to pull the ball.

And a tapered rod makes a better fishing pole :haha:

Having a spare rammer is always a good idea. If you have a spare, you'll never break the rod. A variation of Murphy's Law.

 

[crockett]

Just a couple of thoughts from Ol Crockett. You can take a block of wood and drill a 3/8" hole in the end. Now accurately drill a second hole at right angles, this is to be the exact diameter of the nail/pin. The block serves as a jig. Insert the brass end into the hole and drill a perfect hole without any wobbling of the drill bit. Also, this hole should be across the grain rather than with the grain to more securely hold on the tip if it gets stuck in the bore and you have to really tug to extract the ramrod.

 

[canyonman]

Trying to pull a ball is exactly why I'm looking for a new ramrod. The twisting action, to screw into the ball, caused my ramrod to split :cry:. Not enough to break it completely, but I won't be using it again.
I finally shot it out by putting powder in through the nipple, and finished my shooting session, as I was cleanig up before going home I discovered the split!

Larry

 

[Mad Irish Jack]

I get my hickory rods already round and sized. I use a shallow thread cutting die about 1/16" smaller than the rod diameter. I turn threads down as far as the depth into the ferrel. I wipe on some epoxy and tap the ferrel or jag on. I prefer ferrels that accept jags. These are more versital. After the ferrel is on and set, I drill a 1/16" or 1/8" hole and then pin it to assist in keeping it on.
If you have access to machining tools (or a good buddy that does) and you have an old ball puller jag you haven't use for, aand also have a small broken drill bit (as most have kept), you can make a pulling aid. The jag should have a caliber size brass guide centering collar. Cut off the screw tip. Center drill a hole to accept a 1/16" or 1/8' drill bit. Use a broken drill bit tip if you have one. Insert it, pean the brass at insert point, and solder. Insert so you have it the same length as the ball puller threads. Use it to drill a giude hole in the ball. This item helps the threads bite into the ball with less resistance and the threads still bite enough to pull the ball out without the expansion pressure on the barrel walls that you get by forcing the threads into the ball. Like previously stated. When you have these items, Murphey seems to prevent you from needing it. But fellow shooters may need it. :m2c:

 

[rich pierce]

all good posts.

I have a beef with commercial ramrod tips. They are 1/4", 5/16", 3/8", 7/16". exactly the same size as a ramrod blank and exactly the same size as the ramrod thimble. Plus they are straight-walled. It would be much better if they were .410 or so for 7/16" rod, .350 or so for the 3/8" rod and pippes, .290 or so for the 5/16" rod and pipes, and .235 or so for the 1/4" rod. Then they could actually be used down in the ramrod hole. There at least should be intermediate sizes- the difference in mass and strength with every 1/16" is quite large. That's why I seldom use commercial ones. I often find brass cartridges that work well enough. Old rimmed cartridges are best, pistol or rifle. 45-70, 32-20, 38-40, nearly straight-walled stuff like that work well. Turn off the rim, clean and flux inside, pop out the primer, put some hard solder in the bottom, drill for 8-32, and you're good to go. The primer pocket is not substantial enough alone to give enough threads for the typical accessories.

 

I just spent a good part of the afternoon whittling and scraping a tapered hickory rod for the jeager I just finished.

I even hamered out a tapered sheet brass ferrel for the small end, threaded for 8/32.

Whittled a jag on the big end.

A work of art.

The ramrod looks better than the gun!

:front: