Pedersoil ram rods

[colt100]

I have a pedersoli 12 ga SxS shotgun. I bought a synthetic ram rod as a hunting rod and an insurance policy against the wood rod breaking during loading.

When I got the 12 ga attachment, it went on so tight to the shotgun, I had to use something to lever the rod against the barrel so it could be removed. The wood one had to problem. The rod I got had just a 12 ga jig on it.

Well, I addressed the problem with another retail company on the net and it was suggested that I use a 20 ga jig instead. Well, I went out and bought one and I can get it on and off the shotgun fine.

I was out shooting the other day and found that the 20 ga jig load the first shot or two fine, however, after the shotgun fowled a bit, the over shot/powder cards were hard to get down the barrel. The cards would turn going down the barrel, alowing the rod tip to go past. This is an undisreable effect as I plan on using this shotgun for hunting. Loading take long enough the way it is and I don't need complications like this. Note that I never have any problems loading with the fowling using a 12 ga jig (at the range) or with the origional wood ram rod.

Does anyone have any solutions? Duck season is coming up here in about 3 weeks and I would like to have something worked up by then. I am disapointed in Pedersoli with the make up of their rods. I would think that they would make a rod that would work well with their own product.

Thanks in advance

 

[Leon/Iowa]

Two choices here, as I see it. The new rod you have. You could turn down the 12 ga. end down to fit better on the gun. If memory serves me around .690 diamiter should do it. The second choice is to remove the old end from the wooden rod and install it on the new one. Best of luck. Leon

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you can chuck that jag that is too tight in a drill press, or even a hand drill, held in the jaws of a vice, or by a strong buddy, you can use a file to reduce the diameter of the jag so that you can use it to run patches down. You should not have that kind of fouling in the barrel after a couple of shots, unless you are not lubricating the bore with a lubed wad( use a 1/2 cushion wad, or use a second over powder card wad, that you wipe a good lube around the entire edge before putting in the barrel.

I don't see how you can get a rod with even a 20 ga. jag on it past a card wad, turned sideways or not, unless you are using card wads that are too undersized for the bore. Have someone help you measure the inside diameter of your shotgun barrels. They should be about .729-730. If they are much over that, you may need to buy 11 ga wads to seal the gases. The cardwad, which is about 1/8" thick, has to be large enough in diameter that it is pushing air out your nipples of your shotguns as you push it down the barrel. If you push your rod too fast, the wad should spring back on you. With a properly fitting wad, you seal the gases behind the shot, and you know your nipple and flash channel are cleared.

You will need a caliper, or micrometer to measure the diameter of the jag, but it really takes only a few minutes doing it slowly, to turn these down to a size that will work for you. Much faster and cheaper, than ordering a new jag. However, you can do that and get a proper fitting jag in the diameter you need( You will need those bore diameters, and not just the gauge of the gun, which we now know is not exact, right?).

 

[colt100]

As far as the barrels being oversized and the card not being the correct size, I don;t think this is the problem.

When I load, I can feel the card forcing air, so i believe that this is fine. The overshot card also forces air and will actually pop up a ram rod when forced down to the shot charge.

Like I said, I have no problems with using the origional rod that came with the rifle. The shot gun shoots fine. I have never tried seating a over powder card in the bore without a powder charge being there, which is the only way I assume you would check for air coming out of the nipples.

My loading procedures is as follows:

I leave hammers down on fired cap (or hammers on nipple for first shot)
Load black powder charge from measure.
over powder card 12 ga
1/2 inch fiber wad soaked in crisco/bore butter seated on top of over powder card
pour in shot
place over shot card on shot
cap and fire.

I found that after a few shots, there is fouling in the barrel. It;s not much and I don;t have to use a lot of force to load, espically after the fiber wad.

The over powder card is not lubed and appears to be scraping powder residue on it's way down barrel. On more then one occasion, when using the 20 ga jag, when the OP card is going down the barrel, the cardboard card would bend, allowing the ram rod past it. I assumed that from the cardboard being pressed past the chokes, scraping the powder fouling, and being pushed by an undersized jag, it would bend the cardbaord to the point that the jag slipped past the cardboard.

It happens much more frequently with the over shot card as it is thinnner.

I thought of using the origional end off the wood ram rod but it is pinned on the wood and I can't figue out how I would take it off and secure it to a fiberglass one. This is part of the reason I was disapointed with Pedersoil just selling replacements with 12 ga jags on them.

Again, I have had no problems with the origional wood rod set up. I actually just ordered one of those unbreakable rods advertized here. I spoke with the owner who told me that he would make a 12 gage end for me that should work and fix my problem.

I hope I can get this problem resolved as I love hunting with this shotgun, but it's rather frustraiting when ducks are flying and you can't get your OP or OS cards seated because they keep bending.

 

[arcticap]

You already have much better replies than I can offer because they offer permanent fixes with your available materials.
However, I'd still like to suggest that maybe a cheap 1/2 inch thick wooden dowel can be carried separately and used as a temporary field ramming rod. Because the dowel shaft is always uniformly thick at the muzzle as you stroke downward, it places even pressure on the card as it's pushed down the bore (Maybe that will help the card not turn). It doesn't work with a jag and can be used only as a [loading] ramrod, but it's available very inexpensively at any hardware store.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I would take those spent primers off and leave the hammers on half cock during loading. You want air to clear the nipples and flash channels when you load that overpowder wad.

I would also suggest that you take an awl, or small nail and poke a hole in the center of the over shot card, or wafer. to allow air to escape out that hole, rather than on the side. That should help end the tipping of the card in the barrel. I do a bunch of cards while sitting in front of my TV watching the history channel in a evening. I keep several hundred around so I don't have to do it at the range or before I go out every time. A block of wood on the knee, my awl and a bowl full of overshot cards and an empty bowl for the ones I put holes in and I am set to do as many as are in the bowl that night.( Moron work, don't you know. Even I can do it, and I am just a lawyer!)

 

[colt100]

That's a good idea about the holes. I'll start taking the spent caps off and loading with the hammers at 1/2 cock.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[silverfox]

Colt I shoot a 20 and it seems to stay one shot dirty all day long. Everything goes down the barrels with a sucking sound and scrapes the bore going both ways. The only difference I see along with the good advise is you mention (chokes) mine is just plain cylinder bore. Are yours screwin's if so, what cyl, mod, full, or jug choked these could be a part of your problems. Any of these could be causing your wads to be deformed just enough to cause fowling and or open patterns also. Just a thought.
Fox :hmm:

 

[colt100]

I don't really have a problem with pattering, just loading when I use the 20 ga tip. When I use the 12 ga tip, everything works wonders. A few grouse fell to my shotgun last year and it seemed to pattern just fine at about 30 yards.

I only ran into this problem when I tried to order a replacement ram rod as I didn't want to break the wooden one when hunting.

My shotgun stays one shot dirty all day long also. Fouling is not the problem. If I have problems seating the wads, ect, they go away if I use the 12 ga jag. The only problem is that I can't use the replacement jag because I can;t get it off the shotgun without considerable prying pressure as the replace rod is stiff. That's the only thing I can think of. Hopefully, the new rod I ordered will be fine. At least it's wood and I don;t have to worry about it breaking.

Also, as far as chokes, I'm using the Imp. Cyl in the first barrel and the Mod in the second. I have a full but that won't be used until I get a turkey tag.

Thanks