Wooden Ramrod ???

[torn moc]

Doe anyone know where I can buy a "wooden ramrod"?
Every where I have looked has the new spaceage
material ramrods or brass. I need one for my GPR,
spaceage stuff wont look "right" ya know?

 

[bwhoffman]

totw and dixie come to mind!

 

[trent/OH]

A decent sized hickory tree will have several dozen in it. Any of the merchants/sutlers will be far easier. You'll probably have to buy several at once for shipping purposes. Shipping just one would probably result in breakage.

 

[torn moc]

Thanks ! I found what I need at TOW
I never had ordered from them....totally forgot about them....is 52 the age ya start gettin
old timers disease? or is that spelled
altzheimers???cant remember worth a darn.
But I havent started DRY BALLING yet!!!

 

[mastrsgt]

Scalper,

You just jinxed yourself. Be very, very careful in your loading procedures next time you shoot.

Don R

 

[Twowithone]

Try Home Depot they got wooden dials. Youll just need the end compliments :hatsoff:

 

[dry ball john]

:hmm: Hey scalper, old timer's and age have nothing to do with DRY BALLIN, I just have a bad habit of talking to friends while reloading and guess what-- the flint strikes the frizzen or the hammer strikes the cap then PSSSSST--DONE IT AGAIN
your ol friend dry ball john

 

[paulvallandigham]

Scalper: Its called a " senior moment"' or simply CRS, for Can't remember --er-- squat! If you have made it to 52 without suffering this malady, you are far better off than I was at that age, or any of my friends.

If you decide to order a hickory ramrod from Track or anyone else, consider ordering several rods of different diameters, for different guns. My experience, limited by the fact that I don't break ramrods, so don't have to order many of htem, is that the dealers will take a good look at the wood and try to send you a rod with no run out of grain. They will be shipped in a shipping tube, so there should not be any problem with breakage, unless someone rolls a truck over the tube. Shippers tend to either stand these tubes up in a corner, or put them on top of boxes in the trucks for transport. These tubes fill in so many spaces in a truck where nothing else fits, truck drivers almost welcome seeing them.

Good luck.

 

[Pahaska]

I broke and had to replace a ramrod this past fall. I went to woodcraft and picked my own dowel. It is very straight grained, and is oak. The problem was how to thread the end. I sat down at the kitchen table with pocket knife. I cut it down to where the ends would begin to fit, and sort of screwed the threads on that way. Took a little while to get both ends to where the metal would completely seat, but looks as good or better than the one I broke.
I went to Cabelas to just buy one, but their choices were limited. I did get one of those fiberglass ones. I haven't ever tried it yet. My Hawken had a tight place just beyond where the ball starter stopped, and I'd get past it by ramming into a fencepost or anything else solid that was available. I brushed heck out of it, and have been doing extra cleaning an lubing, and it seems to be better. I've got some patches that are too thick and they still give me a fit once in a while but what can ya do, ya can't just waste 'em. Pahaska

 

[paulvallandigham]

I would trade those over sized patches to someone else, for thinner ones. But I would not use them, and I would have that barrel inspected to find out why it is so tight at that spot. Or send it back to T/C, since they have a life time warranty, and stand behind their products.

I would not risk getting a ball and patch stuck in the barrel, where I might have to risk breaking a rod, by thumping it against a tree, or hitting it with a hammer. After getting the ball just beyond the muzzle , it should go down the barrel fairly easily, especially when using a lubricated patch. Even a spit patch should work well.

 

[Shifty]

look for ramin wood dowels almost unbreakeable I use them to make arrows with. Or soak hickory dowel in kerosene for a few days

 

[mastrsgt]

I don't think I would use a wood dowel as a ramrod. From what I've read here they will break pretty easily and could cause some damage to your hand.

Don R

 

[Pittsburghunter]

Wooden ramrods are fine you just need to know their limitations and use them as ramrods only. I use a range rod for both range work and cleaning leaving my guns's wooden rod for use in the woods as needed.

The hickory rods sold at Home Depot are fine you just have to sand the closest size to get it to fit re-attatch you ends and it makes a fine replacement.

Good luck and good shooting.

 

[torn moc]

yes you are correct! I also had a brainstormin idea today! I could use a 33" wodden arrow shaft that I had not fletched yet....I tried it and it works just fine! Correct diameter and all!!
Now I just need the ramrod end for $1.65
As long as I use it within limitations it should work just Fine.....dontchathinkso?

 

[Musketeer]

What's the shaft made out of? Hardwood would be fine, but if it's cedar, it's not going to last long. :hmm:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Don R: Hiclkory ramrods are perfectly safe, as long as the grain of the wood does not " run out ". That means that to grain, runs along an axis different than the length of the rod, and some end grain is located on the side of the rod, rather than on the end of the shaft. Hickory grows very tall and straight, with often 4-6 feet between branches. This is the section of the trunk of the tree, when cut down, that makes good ramrod stock, and also good handles for axes, rakes, and other tools. You can also make pretty fair arrow shafts from such wood, however, it will be a very heavy arros to shoot. The reason that cedar is used for arrows, and certain west coast pines and spruces is because they also exhibit straight grain, consistent width between the growth rings, and lighter weight.

You can get lucky at Home depot, or Lowes, or Menards, or other hardward and home stores that sell dowel rods, if they carry a box of hickory rods. jUst inspect the rods yourself for straightness, and for straight grain that shows no run out.

 

[BEP]

I like dowels as ramrods. The garden variety dowel is made of ramin (ramen?) now and works well. It's important to look them over closely and make sure that the grain doesn't "run out" anywhere but runs the full length of the stick.

My Traditions and my Pedersoli both came with ramrods that are very soft - don't know what the Pedersoli Kentucky has but the Traditions Springfield has the same beech for the ramrod as the stock is made from. Strictly decorative. I've used dowels with both - the Pedersoli for 25 years or so, the Traditions for about 10. Just put a brass fitting on the end, soak in linseed oil for a few days and good to go.

And not everyone agrees, which is just fine. But it's worked for me for many years now.

 

[Zonie]

Speaking of grain runout gets me back on my soap box (just for the benifit of the newcomers). :grin:

TC builds one of the best ML rifles out there (for a factory built gun, that is), But , the ramrods they supply with their rifles have to rate amoung the very worst available.

Please check the ramrod on your TC (if you have one) and if you see grain runout like that shown in this picture, replace it with a new ramrod without grain runout.

zonie

 

[sidelock]

My experience with the TC supplied rod exactly. Back in 77 (thats 1977, not 1877 :haha: )TC offered a COMOPSIT IMPREGNATED rod back in those days (but no longer) and I bought one which looks just like wood (which it is) and it has been perfect for all this time. Wish they still offered one for folks in need of a super rod. :hatsoff:

 

[Musketeer]

You know, I made my most recent batch of arrows out of laminated birch shaft. They don't look "PC" for trad arrows or ramrods, but they're ridiculously straight and they've proven to be tougher than heck. Just a thought.

Geez! I'm not back on the forum for three days yet, and Zonie's already pontificatin' from on high! :haha: :blah: