Which replacement ramrod?

I'm looking at two for my GPR from trackofthewolf. One is a delrin nylon, the other is a phenolic resin. Anybody have any experience with either of these?

Get a straight-grained Hickory rod with no grain run-out from a reputable supplier.

Derlin is a workable product. People on this forum can sight all sorts of personal experiments on how good it is. Likewise people will sight experience with bad wood rods.
I use good wood and have no trouble with it. It’s what most muzzeloaders have been made to be used with for centuries. You can’t ram byy grabbing the end and try to push down in one long stroke.
Get good straight grained hickory use it right and it will give you no problems.

The mere thought of a gaudy looking plastic ramrod on my gun makes me want to puke...

I can't speak about track's fake rods...But I have tried some others...They all failed miserably...They either flex too much or are too light. For me it was easier to learn how to properly use a wooden ramrod.

I like a wooden ramrod because it allows me to feel every inch of the bore, every grove, every grain of fouling, the slickness of my lube, the pressure I seat the ball with. No other material offers the same tactile responsiveness.

Some people like fake rods.... :idunno:
To each their own and enjoy.
I wish you the best of luck though....

I have a couple of delrin rods that have been around a long time. I rarely use them anymore, they are just too flexible for my liking. But that is good as far as breakage is concerned. I prefer Hickory and deal with the occasional breakage as part of the game.

I have all kinds. I like Hickory bestest. Only broke one in my 45 years at this gae, it was on the frst loading of a new .45 blue ridge flint lock. Cabelas sent a new one and it lasted fine. Run out is key, if it has run out its gonna break. No run out and common sense usage and......well alot of mine are 20-30 years old now?

I have all kinds. I like Hickory bestest. Only broke one in my 45 years at this game, it was on the first loading of a new .45 blue ridge flint lock. Cabelas sent a new one and it lasted fine. Run out is key, if it has run out its gonna break. No run out and common sense usage and......well alot of mine are 20-30 years old now?

I've read the resin rods are stiffer. Are the hickory rods better than the stock wood one? I don't really care what material it's made out of, I just don't want to jam one into my hand. Sounds like hickory is best?

Robert J. said:

Are the hickory rods better than the stock wood one?

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A good quality rod without run out - Absolutely! Many stock rods are just dowels cut without any respect for grain direction.

Robert J. said:

I just don't want to jam one into my hand.

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Hence the importance of learning how to properly use one...

Statistically your chances of being injured are extremely low....lottery odds low.

Use a rod properly, inspect for grain run-out and grain lifting and those odds can be lowered to near zero...
Remember! The ramrod is not the dangerous part of the gun....
Hearing damage is probably #1
Eye injuries #2

My flint LRs have hickory RRs but early on pushed a broken one into my hand.....quite painful and never to be forgotten and a lesson learned when choosing hickory blanks.

Also hunt w/ a TC Hawken w/ TC's RR and it works well and my conclusion is that it's stronger than a good hickory RR. Let's face it.....some of the man made stuff is better than nature's stuff. eg....graphite arrows in lieu of wood......Fred

some of the man made stuff is better than nature's stuff. eg....graphite arrows in lieu of wood......Fred

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Fred, I use to do a lot of small game hunting with a bow. Wood is superior to carbon fiber and aluminum in durability....both get destroyed when they hit a tree....Wood just bounces off and is rarely damaged.

But, I know the point you were trying to make...

I like my delrin rod ive had it a long time of course its the only rod I have right now and since my gun is super plain and has in no way a finish or piece of metal of any kind that would be found on a HC gun it doesn't look out of place

Robert J. said:

I'm looking at two for my GPR from trackofthewolf. One is a delrin nylon, the other is a phenolic resin. Anybody have any experience with either of these?

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I use neither. All my rifles have good quality hickory ram rods with brass ends that are threaded for 10-32 accessories. They stay with the rifle but on the target range I use a stainless steel range rod with muzzle protector for loading and cleaning.

I have had no issue with wood rods.

See the post below by Smokey Plainsman titled "Excellent Hickory Rods Located "before buying from ToTW.

I went and bought delrin rods for all of my muzzleloaders. I retained all the wood rods, when hunting I use the delrin. nothing against wood. For the price of the delrin rod I couldn't help buying now I have extras just in case something happens

Thanks for the help guys. What is grain run-out you keep referring to?

Robert J. said:

What is grain run-out you keep referring to?

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Grain that doesn't follow the length of the rammer. If you see feather-shaped grain lines across the wood, this is a potential point of failure - happens when wood is cut rather than split to follow the grain. Run-out isn't uncommon in commercial ramrods.
https://www.bing.com/images/search...&selectedIndex=1&qpvt=grain+runout&ajaxhist=0

I have allot of different kinds of RRs. I don't care for the Delrin. It probably is just because it is so limp but that is the only reason because it does it's job. The other one, the phenolic resin, if it is what I think it is, wood impregnated with a resin, I would be leaning toward it but I have heard of them breaking. I would think it wouldn't break easy. I have one and it seems very strong. I don't know what the good hickory ones run for but That would probably be my #1 choice if the price is good. I'd like to replace most of my RRs with good hickory some day but that's another project.

Phenolic resin...If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of Daniel Boone rolling over in his grave... :haha: