Ramrod tips

mushka said:

What kind of wood are your ramrods made from? Asking everyone that makes them? Do you carve them yourselves or where do you get them from? I carved a pistol rod with the tips but it's mostly just to look at. Probably wouldn't hold up under regular use.

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I made the rod for my smooth bore from an oak dowel I bought at Lowe's. I searched until I found a really straight rod. Cost me maybe $3 dollars. I figured since this rod would only be tamping down loads of shot and not shoving a roundball, a cheapo rod would work. So far it's held up pretty well.

Thanks for the information.

I believe mine are Hickory. I scrape them down so the muzzle end has a bulb-like flare on it. On the riflegun I put a brass Jag end on the other. On my SB, i have a fixed tow worm on the narrow end.

mushka said:

What kind of wood are your ramrods made from? Asking everyone that makes them? Do you carve them yourselves or where do you get them from? I carved a pistol rod with the tips but it's mostly just to look at. Probably wouldn't hold up under regular use.

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I just go down to my local building supply once in a while and pick up a few dowels of whatever diameters I want. I have copper pipe that is a few inches longer than the dowels, and slip a dowel in, and fill the tube with kerosene, cork it shut, and park it in a corner for a couple of months. (there is a lot of debate about this, but I go with the good ol' boys, and believe it makes the rods tougher). Try to select dowels with little or no grain run-out. I fit them up with a tip(s) as described; always pin using 14 gua. copper wire. I never use anything but a wood rod, and have shot well over 15,00 rounds through various guns, all with home made rods. I have never had one break, but have retired a few when they got worn down from rubbing on the muzzle. If you can't load comfortably with a wood rod, your patch is too tight. I try to have at least one tempered rod on the shelf, and have supplied a few friends over the years. To my knowledge, none of them has ever broken.

I may have missed this being mentioned, but I did not see a comment about the best orientation for the pin. The pin needs to go through the wood perpendicular to the growth rings. It will be easier to split or tear out if the pin goes through the parallel growth rings.

Rifleman1776 said:

I do similar to what Zonie describes but no where as neatly, I'm sure. Word of warning: I have tried brazing rod for pins. Stuff is too hard to peen properly. Left over electrical wire copper works just fine.

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I have had good success with 4 penny finish nails. They peen easy, file off smooth, and the wood will fail before the nail.

All are good.I make my own ends with threads to take a cleaning spud or brush. The ends are rounded inside to take a ball with a relief for the sprue.
Be careful of dowel rods and get true hickory ram rods from TOTW or such. Grain is straight.

You can make a simple tool to get an almost perfectly round tip on your ram rod.

Take a price of wood, a 1x2 or something similar, and drill two holes of the size you are working with in it, one all the way through and one to the depth of the tip you are instaling. Next, saw down into the hole that only went part way through cuttin it in half, then remone one of the halfs leaving a half round hole with a bottom in it.

Start reducing the diameter of the ram rod in any way you chose start. As you go checking the diameter with the wooden tool. First rub the inside of the half hole with a pencil, then rotate your reduced ram rod against the side of the half hole. The pencil lead in the hole will rub off on the high parts you've left. Carefully remove the high marks and repeat the check until you get pencil lead almost all the way around the ram rod tip. Check the size of the reduced tip using the hole that went all the way through the wood. You'll have an almost perfectly round cut on the end of your ramrod of the correct size. You van do It all with a sharp knife with no need to turn in any way.

Another thing, I prefer cylindrical brass tips over flared tips. That way you can slide the brass tip into the ram rod hole in the stock. Then when you load you can simply pull the rod out, move it over about an inch and start ramming.

With a flared brass tip you have to pull the rod out, flip it end for end and then ram the ball. It introduces an additional move to the loading process, and sereves as a flag to game. It also slowes the reloading process, which cold be an issue if you ever use your muzzleloader in combat.

I have made several ramrods and range rods (wiping sticks) from red oak dowels. Some bought from Lowes, some from a lumber mill. The key is in your selection of a solid, good quality, straight rod. None of my oak rods have failed.

Pinning is very important for any tip that will hold a jag. I usually put metal tips on both ends with 8-32 threads in one and 10-32 threads on the other. I use 6 penny nails for most pins. The push only tips shown here do look really nice though.

I have made many, use hickory please use hickory, oak will split and splinter at some point and it will hurt