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stuck ramrod help

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steve hill

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I have a ramrod stuck in my barrel any sugestions
on how to get it out it broke off so i cant get hold of it
to pull it please help
 
First, next time you find your ramrod stuck in the barrel remember it often helps a lot if you pour a little water or thin oil down the barrel. Water works best because black powder fouling is water soluble. This will often let the rod/patch pull out without any problems.

If you can't buy a CO2 discharger, and you can't dribble some fine powder into the chamber (by removing the nipple) and shooting it out, you might try the following.
Take the barrel out of the stock. Remove the nipple.
Take the barrel to a filling station that actually has people who work on cars.
Ask to speak to the manager and tell him what your problem is. Ask him if he would use compressed air to apply pressure to the nipple. This will often blow the ramrod out.
If they do this, remind them to point the barrel in a safe direction as the ramrod may have a lot of velocity when it exits the bore.
 
I have shot my stuck ramrod out several times (you would think I would learn from my mistakes a little better?!!). Remove the nipple, use some 4f powder if I have it or carefully grind or mash some larger grain into fine dust, pour it down the nipple hole, I usually have to slap the side of the rifle to get it to trickle in. Two or three grains is all it takes. Nipple back on, cap and shoot. The ram rod usually goes 50 or 60 yards or so. Kind of humbling to walk down the range in front of everybody to pick up your ramrod.
 
I've had it happen more than once. I once exchanged a Xmas shoot blanket gift with someone and I received a ramrod puller! It's a cast device that sort of resembles a cork remover except hand pressure pinches the ramrod between 2 leather pads and you have to pull. (Usually it's a cleaning rod with a patched jag). Once on the range when I didn't have it, I used a fixture available that had a slot to wedge the cleaning rod handle in to pull it out, but not until after I went and sprayed Slick 50 into it. It worked without ruining the aluminum rod. Rather than use a ramrod, I use a handled cleaning rod with a .41 jag (about 5/16th's) and use appropriate homemade cleaning patches to help minimize the "accidents". However, I never thought about shooting it out.
 
I'd shoot it out in a safe direction with a tiny amount of powder in the flashchannel under the nipple.
 
Oh yes, I too am new too muzzle loading. I have a used t/c Renegade. I have got my ram rod stuck many times. I bought a new ram rod, drilled a 1/8 hole on the end of it. When the ram rod is stuck, I go home, hang the ram rod and gun on the nail in the floor joist in the ceiling, either pull down on the gun or take a piece of bronze round stock, use a hammer and pound the bronze on the muzzle of the gun muzzle until it come unstuck.
 
OK, I have a question: "How the @$## do you stick a ram rod in a barrel?"
I've been shooting my Hawken for 30 years and haven't stuck a ram rod in it yet and am not sure how I would if I wanted to.
 
I can tell you how to stick a ramrod, but I'm not recommending that you do it. When you're shooting swab the barrel with bore cleaner and get it good and clean. Then take a couple of clean patches and get it dry. Now take a couple of dry patches that fit pretty snuggly and run it in just to make sure it
 
A good way to get your ramrod stuck is to put a cleaning jag on the end of it and then proceed to shove a 12 gauge size (or larger) patch down the bore.

The large patch will go down easily, but when you try to pull the ramrod out, the material will get "bunched up" on top of the jag.
As was mentioned, even the right size cleaning patch can jam if it is in a dry bore.
The best way to unstick a stuck ramrod which is jammed with a patch is to pour some water down the barrel. Let it soak for a minute and then pull it out. This usually, but not always works.



Another way to get a ramrod stuck is to install a oversize brass bore brush on it and ram it down the bore.
These things work great in modern cartridge guns where both ends of the bore is open, but in a muzzleloader they often get stuck.
The problem is the bristles bend backwards towards the muzzle when it's going down the bore. When you try to pull it back out, it's kinda like the Chinese finger trap so the harder you pull, the more they wedge in place.
If this happens, try rotating the ramrod clockwise while applying just a little pressure. This turns the bristles so they can bend downward towards the breech. The brush usually will come free if you do this. :)

Of course, the extreme way of removing a stuck ramrod is to pour some powder in the breech and shoot it out.
Newcomers to muzzleloading who are shooting a side lock style gun may think they can remove the breech plug.
On most of these guns, using this approach will damage the barrel (and often void the warranty). The breech plugs on sidelock style guns is not made to be removed. :boohoo:
If this is the only option, take your gun to a gunsmith who knows about working on black powder guns .
IMO Many gunsmiths out there who know all about modern cartridge guns, don't have the foggiest idea of what they are dealing with when it comes to muzzleloaders.
 
I replaced the nipple with a grease fitting a pumped the stuck ramrod out with grease. It was really messy but did trick all the same.
 
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