RamRods Ends

[jh45gun]

I would guess that most of you guys already know this but for the newby's who may not, and want to make your own Ramrod the 3/8 dowel's used are easy to find and 38 special cases with the heads cut off make reall nice brass ends to your rods.
A slight bit of shaving down the ends ( Or sanding) and the 38 case can be driven on for a tight fit and the case even with the diameter of the dowel and fits the ramrod thimbles and the hole in the stock just fine :blue:. I would gues you could even make your own thimbles out of the right size case. Jim

 

[TANSTAAFL]

AS I like my RR's with wood exposed at the muzzle and ends concealed, I make mine small from .30 carbine cases so they fit down the RR hole.

I sand off the head stamps, using low temp silver solder fill about 3/8" from the bottom, then drill and tap for a 8-32 thread, they are then JB Welded and pinned to the RR.

I also make my breech plug face brushes with the cases in same manner, except with a 8-32 screw. Then use some very tough bristles from an old tire scrubbing brush, bristles I fit tightly into the case with JB Weld and then trim to desired length.

Dang, takes about as long to write about doing, as the actual making of them.

 

[bioprof]

I like the idea of making your own, but for those of us that have a hard time visualizing from written instructions, could you post a picture(s)? :thumbsup:

 

[rayb]

Great idea on the breech face brush.. thanks for the post, i'm going to steal it (the idea) if you don't mind.

rayb

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Great idea on the breech face brush.. thanks for the post, i'm going to steal it (the idea) if you don't mind.

rayb

Help yourself. Here is a pic of different accoutrements I slapped together.

The breech plug face brush is first on the left. The .62 smoothy bore mop and wire brush are adapted shotgun cleaning attachments from Wally World , I just drilled and tapped the aluminum threaded ends 8-32 and ran in cut off 8-32 screws with little JB Weld to lock in place.

Little screw driver brass hammer combo. The lost patch worm made from a .22 brush with bristles removed, wire untwisted, bent and sharpened on ends for catching patch. The knapping tool made from a concrete nail.

The RR ends are a couple made from cartridge cases

 

[jh45gun]

Here's some more. The last two I have not stained yet I just made them. As far as the threading the end as was mentioned in the earlier thread I drill a hole in the end and then cut the end off of one of those cheap aluminum jointed cleaning rods and insert that then epoxy in. Then I just use a adapter that goes from regular cleaning rod threads to black powder rod ends. That way I can use regular and black powder cleaning stuff with my RR. Jim

 

[brubincam]

i also put a pin through the brass ramrod end to keep it from loosining or comming off the ramrod if i pull a ball..

 

[jh45gun]

Since my fullstock underhammer guns I am working on are more unconventional than average and since the triggerguard screws went into where the end of the ramrod goes I had to take a piece of dowel ( 2 inch Filler plug) and put it in the hole for some thing more for the screws to purchase. So my ram rods are about 3 inches shorter than they should be if they are to fit the stock with out sticking out 3 inches out the end of the stock. So I bought some 8/32 brass inserts that you get at the hardware store that are threaded 8/32 on the inside and a course wood thread on the outside. These fit perfect into the 38 special case so I took a hint from TANSTAAFL only instead of threading solder I put the 38 cases on the dowel so their was a space in the end just enough for the brass insert to fit. I then epoxied the insert and put it into the 38 special case that was left out for that purpose. I did this to both ends so one end I can add my attachments and the other end if I need a bit more length I can add a 4 to 5 inch extension that I made by makeing a couple short extensions with a 8/32 screw sticking out of one end. To put this together I drilled the primer pocket out until the 8/32 screw fit through put a couple drops of expoxy on teh screw head and drove the dowl tight against that. This way I got the length I need yet my ram rods only stick out a half a inch or so from the end of the stock. Jim