• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Tow worm

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Thanks, I actually did think of that. I took the file to both ends. When I crank clockwise a tag of metal bites into the wiping stick and I sharpened the other side so it would grab a patch, wool, toe, whatever.
Again, thanks. I can't believe I didn't think of making one the way you mentioned. I suppose that's why this place exists.
I appreciate the guidance and info from all.
 
I made one from a piece of electric copper malleable wire that the telephone/power co. left at the end of my drive way. pointed one end and rolled it around a mandrill/ wooden dowel.
 
The wire would come from a forged strip of annealed iron, hammered more or less round. Then the soft iron strip would be wrapped around a mandrel to make the coils. The coils would be opened or twisted tight to the rod to fit the application. Often it would be simply grooves at the end of the ramrod to catch the wad of tow. Best in the grooved rod case to have the tow and toggle (ball of tow and a long string to pull the ball of tow back out).
 
Are these the coil types mentioned?

7-D60-F4-E5-0288-41-D0-B967-1-D2-B2-BA2-E5-D2.png


I am wondering if they are period correct, or a modern invention?
 
Technically, the tow worm coils are not springs since they were made of soft iron or copper. For most of our purposes the coils that Smokey has pictured above would be fine for being correct in all but the most stringent of juried events and even there would be accepted. The tapered one on the left is very good as well as the one on the rod.
 
Thanks! Seems the smallest I could find is this from Track of the Wolf:

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/851/1/WORM-PR-S

It says the large end of the coil is .40”, not good. It’d be scraping or very close to scraping the size of a .40 barrel.

Wonder if I could trim off one or two coils on the fat end then sand down my 3/8” rod for a tight fit?
 
I can screw these right over the brass tip that I screw other tools into on my northwest gun, my favorite go too tool
 
I've made them (they're not terribly difficult to make), but I often just use a hunk of tow (or rags or whatever), tied with a string, and pushed down with the rod, and retracted with the string..... or use a modern jag with a patch!

SB-towworm.jpg
 
I question how far back the wire type tow worms really go back. "Northwest trade guns" cover a pretty broad time period.
 
Just some heavy linen thread. ;)

I don't know who told me how to do this many years ago, but it's simple, easy, and works, without the use of any extra implements. Is it historically accurate? I have no clue.
 
Back
Top