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Plain wood ramrod, no corkscew.

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Runewolf1973

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So I made a new wiping stick/ramrod for my .62 cal trade gun. It has no brass fittings, just a plain wood 7/16" rod (birch). I don't have one of the coiled wire corkscrew things either, so I thought of something a little different to aid in cleaning my gun. It's just a simple notch that I carved in at the end of the ramrod...

Take a piece of cloth patch and some linen string or thread (I just used waxed linen leatherworking thread) and tied the cloth to the end. The notch combined with the string keeps the patch from sliding off. Simple.

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Very nice.

There are reports from the fur trade era and earlier, including period paintings, showing evidence of people carrying spare “wiping sticks” in addition to the ramrod under the bore. I recall some carried them in the bore of their rifle or smoothie, a coil worm and tow keeping them in place, and sometimes with a bit of cloth tied to the end sticking out the muzzle most likely to serve as a reminder to remove the wiping stick before firing.

When one considers how important the ramrod or wiping stick is, and if the ramrod was broken, it isn’t a surprise having a spare rod could be useful especially in the wilderness.
 
One can carve/file a jag tip in the end of the rod, if the rod is close to bore size.

Lately, I've been using plain rods, and clean with a wad of tow or rags tied to a string. Push the tow down with the rod, pull it out with the string.

This is a good method, but one must use very strong, stout string. Ask me how I know that. 🤭
 
I use the same tow-on-a-string trick.
For my string, I braided three strands of flax thread for sewing leather.
Have gotten tow wedged enough to have to nudge it down a bit w? the small end of the rod, but the cord hasn't threatened to part.
 
I use real heavy flax linen thread for the string.

I'm liking Runewolf's tied on patch idea more and more as I think about it.
 
If you taper more gradually, an inch or so, from the rod to the carved tip you won't need the string. It resembles, and works like, a tapered jag.
 
Aye. That's why I use waxed linen thread that is used in leatherworking for my method. That stuff is super tough.

My tow and toggle is a ball of tow. The toggle or string is 4 of the heavy waxed lined threads braided together to make my 50" long string for the Long Land Pattern musket. It works pretty good.

During one Woods Walk, we were at a station that required a lot of shots. The musket was fouling pretty much (Think Jack's Battle Powder) and the ball was getting hard to load. I needed the assistance of a tree to push the ball to the breech. I pulled out the tow, dampened it with some water from the canteen and pulled out a lot of fouling. The heat from firing dried the dampened bore quickly and the remaining fouling was soft. After that experience, I used the ball of tow and string about every other shot and at that station I was one of the last ones shooting as others were too fouled to load quickly.
 
If you taper more gradually, an inch or so, from the rod to the carved tip you won't need the string. It resembles, and works like, a tapered jag.

The thing with jags though I find...is rhat because they conform to the size of the bore they create too much suction when your trying to clean. I like being able to scrub the bore and go all the way down without squirting water everywhere. Maybe I'm doing something wrong I don't know,
 
The only time I get water " squirting" is when I am pumping water through the barrel and the jag gets close to the muzzle. To loose a jag in any case and you wountget into the grooves with the patch.
 
Nice job, RuneWolf! That's an interesting idea, tying the patch on like that.

If you taper more gradually, an inch or so, from the rod to the carved tip you won't need the string. It resembles, and works like, a tapered jag.

I have done this, and it works fine. You just need to get the diameter right. I like a tight patch, but I take RuneWolf's point about the pistoning effect, with excess water or whatever squirting out the touch hole.

Ned Roberts described the carved jag in his book, The Muzzle-Loading Cap Lock Rifle:

"The cleaning rod is made of the same kinds of hardwood [hickory or white oak], somewhat longer than the loading rod, one end having a small knob with square under-cut, and a narrow tapering shank... to hold the square or round cleaning patches. The other end should have a rectangular slot about one inch long by 1/8 inch wide cut lengthwise in it to hold the dampened patches for cleaning the bore after each shot." (pp.69-71)

That slot on the end opposite the jag works like the "loop" that screws into modern cleaning rods. I have made a couple of rods according to Major Roberts' description, but unfortunately can't put my hands on one at the moment.

Here is a picture of an old trade gun with its cleaning rod:

Assiniboine (Hollis) Trade Gun .1.jpg


Look carefully at the end of the rod on the left and you can see a jag tip carved into the wood just as Major Roberts and brother Herman described. The other end has a wire coil worm attached. These coil worms only cost two or three dollars from Track of the Wolf or R.E. Davis. I bought a couple of them a few years ago and found that when I installed one on a rod, it was more or less permanently attached. I put the first one on a ramrod, which (obviously) would not go back into its ferrules with the worm installed. I pretty much wrecked that worm trying to get it off... They hold very well! I believe the Indians must have had the same experience, as you sometimes see pictures of native people holding a rod separate from the gun. They probably just left the worm in place, as you see in the image above. However, for practical purposes, I still prefer a jag for cleaning.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob
 
IMHO, water squirting out the touch hole is like water squirting trough a nipple. Cleans both by flushing the water through them.
 
The only time I get water " squirting" is when I am pumping water through the barrel and the jag gets close to the muzzle. To loose a jag in any case and you wountget into the grooves with the patch.


I have a jag that I use on my rifle, but decided to try something different with my smoothbore.
 
Nice job, RuneWolf! That's an interesting idea, tying the patch on like that.



I have done this, and it works fine. You just need to get the diameter right. I like a tight patch, but I take RuneWolf's point about the pistoning effect, with excess water or whatever squirting out the touch hole.

Ned Roberts described the carved jag in his book, The Muzzle-Loading Cap Lock Rifle:

"The cleaning rod is made of the same kinds of hardwood [hickory or white oak], somewhat longer than the loading rod, one end having a small knob with square under-cut, and a narrow tapering shank... to hold the square or round cleaning patches. The other end should have a rectangular slot about one inch long by 1/8 inch wide cut lengthwise in it to hold the dampened patches for cleaning the bore after each shot." (pp.69-71)

That slot on the end opposite the jag works like the "loop" that screws into modern cleaning rods. I have made a couple of rods according to Major Roberts' description, but unfortunately can't put my hands on one at the moment.

Here is a picture of an old trade gun with its cleaning rod:

View attachment 31338

Look carefully at the end of the rod on the left and you can see a jag tip carved into the wood just as Major Roberts and brother Herman described. The other end has a wire coil worm attached. These coil worms only cost two or three dollars from Track of the Wolf or R.E. Davis. I bought a couple of them a few years ago and found that when I installed one on a rod, it was more or less permanently attached. I put the first one on a ramrod, which (obviously) would not go back into its ferrules with the worm installed. I pretty much wrecked that worm trying to get it off... They hold very well! I believe the Indians must have had the same experience, as you sometimes see pictures of native people holding a rod separate from the gun. They probably just left the worm in place, as you see in the image above. However, for practical purposes, I still prefer a jag for cleaning.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob


The interesting thing about that rod is that the carved "jag" tip seems a little smaller than the rod itself. How would that work as a jag? It looks an awful lot like the tip on mine. I don't see how it would even work unless cloth was tied on somehow.
 
I must say tying a patch on the end worked really well for cleaning. I had the trade gun out today. First time shooting this gun and first time using a smoothbore. Using bare balls and leather wads. At least I kept them on paper, lol. Cleaning was a cinch.

I made myself a new ramrod with a tapered ramming end like seen on many originals and the same notched out cleaning end as shown in my first post. Made it out of a straight grained hickory broom handle.

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