Ramrods Revisited
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I think a wooden ramrod stained to match the wood on a rifle is the best looking of all of them, without doubt. I do like the fiber glass ones better for actual work. I have a wood colored wonder rod for my Traditions Hawkins. From a distance it looks excellent, like wood, but it is much nicer to work with. I swear you could tie that thing in a knot and it would not break. The original wooden one broke one afternoon and tried to attack the palm of my hand.
TwoShadows
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without using a collar on the rod Fiberglass will wear into the rifling near the muzzle much quicker than wood. I feel that more rifling is worn out of the guns by cleaning than shooting. If the good Lord had meant for us to use fiberglass he would have invented fiberglass trees instead of straight grain hickory.
I have to go with the hickory rods... They just look good on traditional muzzleloaders... Metal rods are military in my opinion, and that is where I'm use to seeing them, on military muzzleloaders...(and some,,, dare I say it,,, early breech loaders) :nono: ('course, they used them for cleaning rods)...
Now those odd looking things they call "inlines", well they need to have the fiberglass ramrod so's you can wear the bore metal out faster and then it's just that much sooner you can get a real muzzleloader... :crackup:
eace:
Now those odd looking things they call "inlines", well they need to have the fiberglass ramrod so's you can wear the bore metal out faster and then it's just that much sooner you can get a real muzzleloader... :crackup:
eace:
I like a nice strait grained wooden rod best they look great and feel great.I love my bess but hate the steel rammer and would change it if I could.. nuff said...rusty
Shooting TC Hawkens as I do, with their brass furniture, I found brass ramrods to be attractive on these rifles.
After TC's plant fire 10 years ago, they lost their manufacturing process they used to make the strong, resin impregnated wooden ramrods normally shipped with Hawkens, so they started shipping them with basically lightweight, brittle, wooded dowl ramrods.
After reading a couple articles about them breaking easily and injurying your arm, to say nothing of being on a hunt and having one break leaving a ball halfway downbore, I replaced every one I had with solid brass rods. (I carry lightweight, quiet, nylon muzzle guides in my pouches).
They look good on the TC Hawkens, they're strong as an ox of course, and the extra weight has improved my accuracy.
After TC's plant fire 10 years ago, they lost their manufacturing process they used to make the strong, resin impregnated wooden ramrods normally shipped with Hawkens, so they started shipping them with basically lightweight, brittle, wooded dowl ramrods.
After reading a couple articles about them breaking easily and injurying your arm, to say nothing of being on a hunt and having one break leaving a ball halfway downbore, I replaced every one I had with solid brass rods. (I carry lightweight, quiet, nylon muzzle guides in my pouches).
They look good on the TC Hawkens, they're strong as an ox of course, and the extra weight has improved my accuracy.
Bluegrass
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I think a good old hickory rod looks best on a longrifle. I busted the rod that came with my Cableas Blue Ridge flinter and replaced it with a stronger hickory one. I sanded it some, put several coats of Old English on it, and sprayed it lightly with some polyurethane. Now I have a dark, sweet lookin', ramrod.
A bud of mine let me borrow his steel range rod(with muzzle protector!:thumbsupand something about it just makes it a whole lot easier to load with than my hickory rod. When it comes to range rods, metal is by far the best!:imo:
A bud of mine let me borrow his steel range rod(with muzzle protector!:thumbsup
and something about it just makes it a whole lot easier to load with than my hickory rod. When it comes to range rods, metal is by far the best!:imo:
Guest
I have to say I'm partial to wooden ones. :RO: Many's the military rifle that has been counter bored due to the use of metal rods. I tend to prefer natural wood colors. :m2c: But, when I put together my friend "Lucifer", I stained the ramrod red with oxblood leather dye. I wanted to match the description of the Hawken rifles in Hanson's book, "The Plains Rifle". Also, there's the weight factor. A solid brass ramod is a lot to carry around when trackin.
Yes, the solid brass does add a lot of weight but I find it works to my advantage...and in the case of my TC Hawkens with comparatively shorter barrels than "longrifles", it's nowhere near as heavy as they would be.
My standard 29" barrels are not too heavy with solid brass rods, but the 32" round ball barrels will start to let you know their weight if I try to still hunt or have a long "walk-in" carrying them...but since I hunt from tree stands and don't still hunt with them, I've put slings on those rifles to get up the trees anyway so that's not a problem.
I do have one .45cal round ball rifle set up as a squirrel rifle, hunt from the ground, have a half hour hike in to where I can hunt squirrels, and don't have a sling on that one...so I use a 'tubular' brass ramrod which is no heavier than a wooden one but it's still stronger.
My standard 29" barrels are not too heavy with solid brass rods, but the 32" round ball barrels will start to let you know their weight if I try to still hunt or have a long "walk-in" carrying them...but since I hunt from tree stands and don't still hunt with them, I've put slings on those rifles to get up the trees anyway so that's not a problem.
I do have one .45cal round ball rifle set up as a squirrel rifle, hunt from the ground, have a half hour hike in to where I can hunt squirrels, and don't have a sling on that one...so I use a 'tubular' brass ramrod which is no heavier than a wooden one but it's still stronger.
flaming canvas
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Did you ever try making one out of a brass tube? A few of the guys at the rondys around here have them. Got a 3/8 tube at a radio control hobby shop for myself and a friend.
He got his finished and is using it. Mine is still on the to-do list.
:results:
Roger
He got his finished and is using it. Mine is still on the to-do list.
:results:
Roger
QUOTE:
I do have one .45cal round ball rifle set up as a squirrel rifle, hunt from the ground, have a half hour hike in to where I can hunt squirrels, and don't have a sling on that one...so I use a 'tubular' brass ramrod which is no heavier than a wooden one but it's still stronger.
END QUOTE
Yes, the ML suppliers make then in either solid or tubular with pinned ends...I use a tubular one with a .45cal that I carry more than the others that I use from deer stands
I do have one .45cal round ball rifle set up as a squirrel rifle, hunt from the ground, have a half hour hike in to where I can hunt squirrels, and don't have a sling on that one...so I use a 'tubular' brass ramrod which is no heavier than a wooden one but it's still stronger.
END QUOTE
Yes, the ML suppliers make then in either solid or tubular with pinned ends...I use a tubular one with a .45cal that I carry more than the others that I use from deer stands
Herb
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Musketman, You are more right than you know. There is a small, straight tree, very common in Iowa woods at least, and certainly farther east, which we called "ironwood". It is Ostrya virginianum, also called eastern hophornbeam. It is harder than hickory, very common, of no commercial value, and should make really good ramrods. In fact, a friend near McGregor, Iowa and I cut a 6" tree in his woods a couple of years ago, and I brought it back to Utah (5' length) and tried to split it into smaller pieces and then split and shave them into 3/8 ramrods. Gave it up as a bad job, but I still think that ironwood would really make good ramrods. We also sawed a chunk out of a big hickory that had blown down, split that with wedges and a maul, but there was nothing straight in it.
Guest
Steel hydraulic tube is very strong and rigid for it's size and can be had in 10' lengths. Turn brass tips to fit both ends and brown the tube to match the barrel. This is heavier than wood but not as heavy as solid brass.
Herb your right... that is some tuff wood. We have it here in northern wisconsin. Some claim to see sparks off the chain of their saws when they cut the stuff at dusk. I never have. If your going to do anything with ironwood you have to never give it a change to dry out.
We used to make clubs out of it. Once that club is dried, it is really strong. We used to make small throwing clubs out of the stuff too. Peel it and shape it, then throw it in the rafters of the garage and after a month you have one tuff chunk of wood.
We used to make clubs out of it. Once that club is dried, it is really strong. We used to make small throwing clubs out of the stuff too. Peel it and shape it, then throw it in the rafters of the garage and after a month you have one tuff chunk of wood.
