Stumpy, do you do anything to "recondition" your wooden rods? How often, what do you use, etc, etc?
Yes. I use them for cleaning and the soaps & alcohol take a toll.
I rub the rod with alcohol soaked on a cloth. Then I wipe it with Laurel Mountain stain (either Cherry or Walnut, depending on the gun). I then rub it a bit of tung oil. Then, after that dries overnight, I buff and then wipe on a heavy coat of paste wax and rub that well in (grab the rammer through a cotton rag and run it up and down so the heat works the wax in). I clean 'em good maybe once a year and wax them maybe every couple months. When they start to look "dull".
I leave a couple full length (48") with 8-32 and 10-32 tips so I have a cleaning rod to use with hot, soapy water at home.
I've never tried the soaking in kerosene method I've heard some use. I make spare rods (if you have one you'll never need one) that I use for cleaning and carry in the car "just in case". For these: I work it to shape (one of my rifles takes a full-length tapered rod) and use a propane torch to burn off the hickory "wiskers" (not enough to char the wood, just darken it slightly). I then rub wood ash in to darken the pores and rub stain in with a rag. Another pass with the torch, then I burnish it with a piece of antler (or the shaft of a screwdriver), stain again, burnish, and finally a couple coats of an oil stock finish (B.C. Tru-Oil or tung oil). I then wax it as above.
I taper my cedar arrows, so I have the fine spoke-shave/plane and tapering jig for that.
When choosing a rammer I order a couple at a time or select from the hickory stock carefully. About 50% of the doweled hickory "out there" is useless as rammers. Grain run-out all over. It doesn't matter if it is crooked (crooked ones stay put in the thimbles), so long as the grain is good. The torch further helps to raise the whiskers that might later form "meat-hooks" if they weren't removed. I had a cedar arrow snap along a grain arc and pierce my left hand long ago. I've got no desire to repeat that.
