Nuthin' like a good piece of hicory...

[Bountyhunter]

Ash would have worked similar to hickory, and might have been on the river by Council Grove. If the settlers would have cut off some green trees, the stumps would have had shoots......they were rather ingenious in those days, hard to tell exactly what they were up to.

I keep telling my wife that there is nothing new in this day and age. The early people did it too. We just have the internet to find out about it quicker.

 

[BrownBear]

That looks like a smart move, Johny. Thanks for the link!

Hey Roundball-

I like your idea and have done it with my 32 and 36, but how do you deal with rod rattle on small rods or weight full dimension versions for larger cals? Seems like a small rod would keep coming out of big pipes, even if it didn't rattle. I'm talking 50,54 and 58 cal here. The rifles all weigh 9 to 12 pounds as it is.

Well, I use a brass tube ramrod on a 54. Outside diameter is very close to the same as my wood rod, so there's no rattle. Solid rod pieces soldered and pinned in both ends, and drilled and tapped for jags. Weighs a lot less that a solid brass bar, and is still a lot less likely to break than a wood rod.

The tube sounds like a good idea for me. My new 58 feels like it already weighs a couple of pounds more than my GPRs, though I haven't weighed it yet. The thought of adding a pipe-sized solid brass rod to that has me imagining wheeled carriages suitable for field use. Golf carts anyone? :grin:

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

brown Bear, you can also solve the rattling problem in your ramrod thimbles by tying a piece of leather lace through them to take up the space.

 

[Walks Alone]

La Longue Carabine; Brown Bear ---

Easy answer as to what many of the frontiersmen probably used anywhere in North America - shoots of one of the Viburnum species. They are fairly well distributed in all of North America (including Alaska), and their long, straight and strong shoots were/are widely used by Native Americans for arrow and spear shafts. Hence the common name of Arrowwood.

It's common enough in the right habitat just about anywhere in the west (even on the desert) that I've used it for all sorts of projects when out trekking, camping or hunting. Would be a very easy fix for a broken ramrod, although I have never had the need.

WA

 

[Allan Gray]

I've often thought that Eucalyptus would make a great R.R. I know from experience, splitting it as firewood, that it's very fiberous, flexible and straight grained. Also full of natural oils which lend to the flexibility. I'm not sure how it would behave in small diameters though.
Around here it grows like weeds. You folks in S. Africa and Aus. should also have a good supply at hand.

 

[DVanVorous]

Man, wouldn't I love to have local woods suitable for making my own!

But I don't.

So the practical side of my location is to order up a handful at a time and keep them on hand. No sense paying shipping for just one. And any time I order up a gun, I'll have extra rods put in the same box for some "free" shipping.

Not sure what our ancestors did for a solution, but I keep a "pack" cleaning rod in my possibles bag. It breaks down into six or so sections about 6" long each. Nope. It's not an alternative to a good ramrod for regular use, but I sure feel better having it along in case of problems.

On the break it down note, "the rest of the story" is that because of the break I was sans method fer cleaning said toy. We bop down to the local sporting goods purveyor in a panic and what do we find? Taint nothin' that'll clean a 36" barrel, plenty of 31.5 in various calibrations.

Serendipity smiled upon me and I asked the sales guy iffen he had a tape measure so armed with said toy we do a little measuring and manage to piece together several items that would suffice. After the clean, we set down and order up several new pieces of hicory from TOW which with that outfits typical excellent expediency, I'll have several 42" rods to make replacements out of tomorrow. Thats how this "modern" MM handles the panic... :grin:

More topically, wonder iffen a willow switch of appropriate diameter/length might work...

Keep yer powder dry,
D.