The "Unbreakable Ram Rod"

[French Colonial]

I keep my wood ramrods "oiled" with Ballistol, just like I do for all the wood on the arm. If the bore is clean, you should not have to take a "sledge hammer" to seat the ball. Coming up with the right ball/patch combination would be your first step. When hunting, I use a delrin rod (Track of the Wolf) that is durable and flexible for seating. I use the wood for show and the delrin for go. It does not make sense to me to try and break the "Guinness Book of Records" to see how many shots you can get before swabbing the bore.

Quit shouting!

Learn to properly use a hickory rod and it will never break.

If you work up a load with a short starter and swabbing between shots, then that is what you have to do.

If you work up a load with the intention of never using a short starter or swabbing between shots......you will not have to. It is not rocket science, just takes some experimentation.

 

[rp77469]

Great article with terrific photos! I bookmarked it because I have a grandkid who may never learn how to use a ramrod properly. He likes to bend the rod when it is only half way out of the barrel, and it eventually cracks at the base of the ramrod tip.

Been many years since I broke a ramrod while loading. Every failure I've seen, mine and others, was due to abuse or stupidity. Abuse such as the grandkid mentioned above or a guy's that broke shortly after being slammed in a car door or shooting it out the barrel.

It is stupid to buy an inferior rod to start with. I have been making my own ramrods for decades, and have probably made every mistake known to man doing so. The most important rule for a ramrod is zero grain runout. The only way to get that is to split it out of a stave. That should last you a lifetime barring abuse. Continuous grain will not fail unless abused.

Easier, but more expensive, is to order a half dozen ramrod blanks. Use mineral spirits to dampen the rods and pop the grain. Examine the rods inch by inch under magnification for any runout. Mark the bad spots. Years ago I arbitrarily decided a ramrod had to have 50 percent continuous grain from one end to another to be safe. None of those have failed TTBOMK, but my minimum for continuous grain nowadays is 67 percent. I consider it normal to get 2, and great to get 3, 44" blanks that meet my standards out of 6 ordered. I cut the rejects into short rifle or pistol rods, or dowels to build camp boxes.

This works for me. No doubt some of you know other ways that work as well or better. Never trust or believe anybody who claims their way is the only way to do something, including me.

 

[Mike in FL]

I've always used a hardware store dowel for loading at the range. And a steel range rod for cleaning. My hickory rod is not used at all except when hunting. Re. the dowel, I use a correct size drill bit to carve out a "cup" on one end to fit the ball. Never broke a dowel. Get one of the correct diameter.

 

[Dale Lilly]

I have also put a wood rod through my hand - we should start a club designated to us survivors and support each other haha

How about a broadhead with the tip showing through the back of a hand. Uh huh! I walked to the hospital, three blocks from home, with the arrow in hand and broadhead through my hand, Ouchie! Wintertime in Alaska Polecat

 

[Cruzatte]

and if you don't have a hickory log handy, old (or new) axe, or maul handles , or baseball bat's are pretty fine hickory.

Good idea. Now to find a 48" baseball bat.

 

[user 34300]

Mild steel can bend. Music wire will not. I have used music wire for rods. The only complication is that you will not be able to drill it with an ordinary drill bits. I use an outsert of brass or mild steel that is soldered to the music wire. A carbide drill would work too for a cross pin.

Nice work OP.

https://ksmetals.com/collections/music-wire

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Dang I could have had all that fun, and I bought mine :-(

For those that might go this way. I would suggest going to your local 2 cycle chainsaw place and seeing if they have any line trimmer rods. They are flexible and have ridges on them so the glue will stick better.

 

[Shiloh]

Good idea. Now to find a 48" baseball bat.

I could be wrong but I think bats are made of ash.

 

[deerstalkert]

I could be wrong but I think bats are made of ash.

by jove you are right! along with maple and birch!
been probably 50 years since i held one .

 

[IT47]

I could be wrong but I think bats are made of ash.

Per the Louisville Slugger current data in regards to pro baseball bats, 75% are made from maple wood, 20% from birch wood, and 5% are made from northern white ash. This tells me that the strength comes from how the wood is cut according to the grain of the wood, as mentioned in this forum for the last few days. I learn something new from the forum everyday. Thank you ladies and gents.

 

[Shiloh]

Per the Louisville Slugger current data in regards to pro baseball bats, 75% are made from maple wood, 20% from birch wood, and 5% are made from northern white ash. This tells me that the strength comes from how the wood is cut according to the grain of the wood, as mentioned in this forum for the last few days. I learn something new from the forum everyday. Thank you ladies and gents.

I didn’t know birch was that strong. I too learned something.

 

[IT47]

by jove you are right! along with maple and birch!
been probably 50 years since i held one .

Happy Birthday, ****y Lee, January 19, 1807. Salute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

Thoughts on rods made of 3 different materials:
Your mileage may vary....

 

[LRB]

I have also put a wood rod through my hand - we should start a club designated to us survivors and support each other haha

Maybe. As bad as my hand may look, it only hurt for a few minutes but had much swelling. Happened afternoon on a Sunday. I spent the entire day Monday watching movies and soaking the hand in warm Epson's salt water. Epson's salt is near a miracle cure for punctures. Tuesday, I was back to working on knives and able to use the hand almost as if nothing had happened and have no scar to show now.

 

[longcruise]

I spent two weeks on a float hunt in AK a few years ago and knew in advance that a broken rod would turn it into a fishing trip. This bothered me right up to the day before departure and at that point I decided to make a steel rod.

So, got a 5/16 cold rolled steel rod and fit each end with 3/8 rod tips that are cupped and tapped 10-32 (they have a 5/16 ID). Drilled each for pins and soldered as you would a copper pipe. A little heavier but not problematic.

A hollow thick wall brass rod would have been better but I didn't have time to track down the hollow rod.

 

[Sparks of Dutch Glory]

I soak mine in coal oil for years before I use them. I don’t know if it helps but have never broken one. I read it in the back of a Dixie catalog 25 years ago and thought I would try it. Now I just do it. I usually buy a few at a time of different sizes for when I build guns or for replacement rods when I fix someone’s rifle. I built a long tube from pvc with caps on it. I haven’t looked in it for some time but there’s probably all different sizes in there that have been in there for years. Still on all the originals for the rifles I have built myself over the years. I don’t know if it works or not because I am careful loading anyway. I think the reasoning in the catalog was it made them more elastic. They stink for a couple days then air out and have no smell and turn a color that looks nice.

I have the same thing I add some turpentine to it as well
Same thing with reliability

 

[Relic shooter]

Best & safest ramrod options;
-For the range, a military surplus .50 cal cleaning rod with a sliding tapered brass collar to protect the bore.
For
-Black poly carbon fiber round stock;
This unbreakable & self-lubricating material resembles Ebony used in high quality firearms when finished & is ideal
for use with any ML rifle, pistol or shotgun.
Black poly carbon round stock can be purchased at Plastics Supply stores.
Note; Due to it's self lubricating qualities this material is difficult to taper but is well worth the
effort to have a rod that will last forever.
-This semi-flexible material is slightly heavier than wood & when finished provides an excellent grip for loading &
is not affected by cleaning solvents & will require serious intent to break.
Relic shooter

 

[Cvkotvkse]

Decades ago, I tried a slightly-oversized sparkleberry arrow shaft as a replacement ramrod. Made from a long, straight shoot, gathered in early winter after sap was down. Concentric rings, so no grain run-off...
IT'S STILL ON THAT .50 CVA ST. LOUIS HAWKEN... Still loading, etc. Like its sibling arrow shafts, it doesn't have to be ABSOLUTELY straight to work well, but it does need to be straight enough. Bacon fat, heat, and the correct-diameter hole in a piece of antler will dress it up fine...
Scouting out stands now to see if I can find straight-enough shoots in the 44" range for the flintlock longrifles I picked up over the last couple of years.
No documentation available, but I wonder if my 'skin ancestors ever did this in preference to split dowels when ramrods had to be replaced...?

 

[Rob M.]

....Split hickory then tapered to fit....easy peezy and tough

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

Dang I could have had all that fun, and I bought mine :-(

For those that might go this way. I would suggest going to your local 2 cycle chainsaw place and seeing if they have any line trimmer rods. They are flexible and have ridges on them so the glue will stick better.

I sell 2 cycle tools. What the heck is a "line trimmer rods"? never heard of such a thing in 27 years in bus.

I didn’t know birch was that strong. I too learned something.

My archery friends used to make arrows from yellow birch 11/32 diameter. They would bounce them off iron plate time and again without breaking.