Well I knew it would happen

[1950DAVE]

Pulled the ramrod rip off with the cleaning jag on it. I should have pinned it a long time ago. I shot it out into a box of rags and proceed to fix my stupidity. Not having a bras 1/16 rod I did find a piece of 3/32 brass tube. I feel much more confident now.
Dave

 

[cynthialee]

another reason I love my solid 1 piece brass rod

 

[1950DAVE]

I hunt with this rifle.
Dave

 

[ord sgt]

My last ram rod tip was pinned with a piece if copper wire. But the wood rods are for show. I suggest getting a composite rod to use while hunting.

 

[david w]

Pulled the ramrod rip off with the cleaning jag on it. I should have pinned it a long time ago. I shot it out into a box of rags and proceed to fix my stupidity. Not having a bras 1/16 rod I did find a piece of 3/32 brass tube. I feel much more confident now.
Dave
View attachment 132337

I pin all my hickory rods. I learned from a friend's mistake. I recently had to pull a ball, but used a stainless steel range rod. I would not trust a hickory rod for that purpose.

 

[TreeMan]

I pinned all of mine and used a dab of that new fangled clear gorilla glue. I only use the wood rods for hunting but they are secured just in case.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
It is better to use a steel pin rather than brass. A finishing nail is perfect.

dave

 

[Ames]

Dont feel bad. We all have a story we would like to forget. Thats how ya learn. The hard way.
I told this story years back about checking the length of a rod with the brass tip on it during a build. With no pins. Ran it down the hole to the bottom, marked the rod for the cut, and pulled out a rod with no brass.
I sat down to compose myself. I was not interested in the least in preforming a C section to get the tip back. I let it sit. Too risky to dab epoxy and hope you fish it out.
A few things I've learned about wood after a lifetime of working with it is that it has amazing memory. I soaked the tip of the ramrod in water for an hour or so. Gently? crushed it in both directions in a vise. Just a bit. Slid it down the channel into the brass. I knew I was in from the pencil mark, and let it sit over a sleepless night. 12 hours later the fibers in the wood swelled back up to more than the original dimensions and the rod pulled out with the brass slicker than....well, I'll never do that again.

 

[bptactical]

This is why the ramrod that finds its home on the rifle is only used for loading said home rifle.
Anything other task is delegated to a dedicated modern rod- plain steel is best IMO- it won’t let debris embed like a wood or brass rod and is not abrasive like fiberglass or carbon fiber.

Fact- more barrels are damaged by improper/careless cleaning than any other reason.

 

[johnfrommd]

I used to use a fiberglass ram rod for hunting and I'll tell you why. After you take a shot, the first thing you want to do is reload in case the animal gets up and takes off again. Fast loading with a wood ram rod is the easiest way to get a broken ram rod through your hand. I know, I know, Dan'l Boone didn't do it that way but he may have if he had fiberglass rods.

I chose fiberglass over brass and steel as it is much lighter. I don't clean with anything but a stainless rod with a guide so there is no chance of it ruining the barrel.

 

[flconch53]

Ya'll really seem to like the non PC plastic rods. I would like to suggest a rod of brass tubing to carry in your gun. Much stronger than wood and looks period correct

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

My last ram rod tip was pinned with a piece if copper wire. But the wood rods are for show. I suggest getting a composite rod to use while hunting.

No, cant use them, they are not HC/PC. Cant have Opinel knives with a lock on them. Cant have composite ramrods. Might as well use stainless steel rifle with a composite stock.

 

[Timber Wolf]

I recently put my first end on a ram rod. An old Renegade I picked up somewhere had a fiberglass rod somebody cut to length and the “raw” end bothered me. I ordered the correct end from TOW and after a little trimming and fitting JB Welded it on. The next day I cross drilled it for a piece of 14 gauge copper wire. I tried a 1/16” drill but ended up with a 5/64” to actually get the wire in. Cut the wire a little long and peened it down. After a little filing it looks good and should be fine for any purpose I would use it for. I have steel rods for ball pulling, not that I would ever have to pull a ball mind you, just sayin.

 

[EC121]

By the time a rod is cut down for the tip and drilled for a cross pin there isn't much wood on each side of the pin to hold the tip on. Epoxy helps, but it will sometimes pop loose on metal if hit or the fit isn't snug enough. My wooden rods are "load only" rods.

 

[toot]

another reason I love my solid 1 piece brass rod

I too also use a one piece metal range rod at the range, at the bench. with it this will not happen, that being the name RANGE- BENCH ROD.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have pinned every ramrod tip I have installed, or so I thought. When I put together a Kibler SMR I epoxied the ramrod tip on and somehow got distracted and never pinned it. I was doing my periotic checking and swabbing of my stored rifles and working on the Kibler when the ramrod tip pulled off while was running an oily patch down the barrel. Here is the neat thing, the tip pulled off just inside the bore with just enough of the tip showing outside the barrel to get a grip on it with a pair of needle nose pliers, what are the chances of that happening.

I had just posted this rifle in the classified here, the potential buyer was buying it to give as a gift to a great friend of mine who lives in Clarksville TN., wouldn't it have been a kick in the pants if my friend (new to B/P) had lost a ramrod tip down the bore of his rifle shortly after he got it.

That happening to me would be no big deal but to a new guy who didn't know how to get it out it would have been devastating.

I pinned the tip with a finishing nail, countersinking the entry and exit holes ever so slightly then peening the excess nail into the countersinks then filing off the nail flush with the tip. A little cold blue rubbed back to gray to match the rest of the gun and the pin was impossible to see.

 

[1BadDart]

I too just did my first ramrod, it's for my .40 build. I chucked the rod up in my metal lathe and turned the end to fit in the brass cap. Then set the lathe to cut a 1 in 8 thread and made a couple cuts on the turned down of the rod. I then used a tap and cut threads inside the brass cap. After a good cleaning I epoxied the end on the rod with JB Weld Marine epoxy. After letting it cure, I drilled and pinned it with a piece of brazing rod. Before pinning I used a 45° countersink to put a small chamfer on the holes in the ferrule to allow a head of sorts to remain on the brazing rod after staking and filing smooth. I also annealed the ends of the brazing rod. Probably way overkill, but I had the time.

 

[Jason Jablonski]

Learned the hard way, newbie/stupid mistake of not using a bore brush on a wood ramrod. It was pinned, not glued though. Brush spun in bore and was thus, tighter, and ripped the end right off went I pulled back.

Luckily a friend has a spring worm, that actually grasped the end and we are able to retrieve after about 5 minutes of fussing.

Along with ordering new rods (replacement and a back up) and tips, I also ordered a range rod for cleaning duties. New wood rods were attached to tips with glue and a nail.

 

[Howard Pippin]

No, cant use them, they are not HC/PC. Cant have Opinel knives with a lock on them. Cant have composite ramrods. Might as well use stainless steel rifle with a composite stock.

I do.

 

[Packrat]

I don't care for the fiber glass one, with age they get hairy, tiny splinters rough on the hands