Ramrods

[BrownBear]

One point worth raising-

I've learned not to get too carried away with the finish.

If a rod is too slick, it's hard to grasp with patch lube on your hands, or even if they're just cold and wet. Seating tight balls can be problematic, but an even bigger problem arises when trying to retract a tight cleaning patch.

Before I learned the lesson, I put a lot of time and effort into staining and finishing a really purty "decorative" rod. Sure looked good on the gun, but it didn't take long before I recognized the difference from a field rod and replaced it.

 

[Black Hand]

I finish ramrods with a coating of beeswax melted in with heat.

 

[Einsiedler]

Yeah. Generally all I use now is a smidgen of BLO and Turpentine mix. Like it's penetration and curing quality for This area. Just enough to shed the moisture. Not looking for slick finish, Just moisture resistant. (Example, humidity here this balmy morning 86 percent!). Typical for here.

 

[Einsiedler]

I finish ramrods with a coating of beeswax melted in with heat.

BH, like your beezwax idea. Gonna try that. Have just the candidates out in the shop. And lots of wax.

 

[Black Hand]

Beeswax has the advantages of being quick, easy, not requiring a dry-time and is easily reapplied when desired.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I taper mine with sanding. I use a lathe to turn but before I owned a lathe I just chucked up in a drill. Takes some time but works fine.

 

[Einsiedler]

Taper mine with the old "pair of scissors in the vise" method. Then finish with sandpaper. But I do appreciate the old Atlas 618 lathe when installing tips. Although That poor man's lathe worked for years!!!! 😁

Other day I fabricated a simple tip pinning jig for drilling pin holes thru the tips for all sizes rods, 5/16 thru 1/2 out of a piece of 2x4. Not that I needed it but I get bored. So I make stuff. (Sound familiar?). Im retired but I had to quit the part time job gunsmithing and stay home to Be a caregiver for the wife.

 

[AZbpBurner]

Do ramrods get any kind of "finish"?????? Just wondering cuz I got one in a kit and it seems a bit "raw".............Daniel

Lyman Kit?

I just got a Lyman Trade Rifle & the rod looked to be just slapped together & dipped into some dark stain. Simply rubbing it out with a medium 3M pad, then rubbing in some Permalyn sealer made it feel properly smooth & also look a little classier.

Now, on to drilling & crosspinning those rod tips - nuthin' more embarrassing than a trip to the range & having a detached rod tip stuck in the bore while swabbing out fouling & a couple of cuties are waiting to shoot it ...

 

[hanshi]

I taper mine with a knife and finish with sandpaper. I then stain them. A friend took my rods and soaked them in kerosene for a few weeks. Might not have made them any more flexible but it also didn't hurt them at all.

 

[AZbpBurner]

I taper mine with a knife and finish with sandpaper. I then stain them. A friend took my rods and soaked them in kerosene for a few weeks. Might not have made them any more flexible but it also didn't hurt them at all.

Why would you want a more flexible rod :idunno:

 

[Stumpkiller]

The old method of soaking rods in coal oil made them more flexible and so less likely to snap.

But modern kerosene is not coal oil. Dissolve some asphalt in kerosene and it's closer.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Stain and then I put Tung oil on it....I also give it additional coats of oil periodically over time...

Same here ... though I've replaced tung oil with a 'wiping varnish' from Arm-R-Seal. An excellent easy-to-apply finish that is an excellent value, weather resistent, easy to touch up ... got turned on to it by a professional/historical custom furniture maker.

I use it on the muskets & rifles too - base coats of gloss with final top coats of satin. The depth of chatoyance imparted to fancy tiger-striped maple is unreal!

 

[tenngun]

Well when done shooting I clean my gun, put a few drops of oil on my finger tips then rub down the stock, wipe down my rod then oil it the same as my stock. Last Rr I broke was in the 70s.

 

[hanshi]

I bought a bunch of hickory rod blanks and didn't immediately need them. A friend said he'd soak them and I said okay; otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. Didn't hurt them and he'd aired them out so they didn't smell, either.

And when I said I used a knife for tapering, I have a number of times. But the last couple rods I used a wood file.

 

[Mickc01]

I've never put any finish or sealer on mine, but I give them a light wipe with wood or leather stain when first made, and from then on give them a rubdown with the paste lube I rub the gun with every time it's cleaned. I have had a rod swell and get stuck a bit in the thimbles, but not since I started this routine.

Spence

Sounds like a great plan, Spence. Going to do that with next RR....Thanks,Mick