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Well it happened, broke my first ramrod.......

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One aspect of wood ramrods I find interesting is that a wooden rod need not be perfectly straight, just mostly so. In fact, if the rod has a couple of small bends in it, it will stay in the stock better, due to the friction against the wood, and still act as a good rod should. You just need to get used to turning the rod so that it will find it's way into the pipe easier. This makes it much better to use hickory for a rod. Hickory is sometimes very difficult to get perfectly straight.
 
For those of you who don't know, and especially for those of you who own a Thompson Center rifle, if the wood has "grain runout" there is a very good chance that it will break or shear off along the grain when heavy pressure is applied to it when your loading your gun.
When it does break it will leave a razor sharp point that can easily go completely thru your hand or wrist.

Wood has grain, and the strands of wood fiber grow in layers. If these layers "break out" of the side of the rod they will form a distinctive pattern that is easily seen. If you do see these patterns like the ones in my sketch you really should get a replacement rod.
ramrodgrain1.jpg


I don't know why but every Thompson Center ramrod I've seen has grain runout. I guess it was because they were more interested in saving a few bucks by using machined dowels rather than wood that was split along the grain to make their ramrods.

Another thing to check on your ramrod is to see if the metal end pieces are pinned onto the wood.
A lot of factory made guns just use glue to hold the ends on and these will often fail because the metal piece pulls off of them.

Pinning the tip isn't hard to do if you have access to a 1/16" drill bit, an electric drill, a flat file, a small hammer, a pocket knife and a piece of 1/16" brass rod (available at most hardware stores).
Drill the hole close to the joint between the metal end and the wood. Use your pocket knife to remove the burrs and to form a small countersink in the metal. Cut off a length of the brass rod and push it thru the hole. Use the hammer to tap the ends of the rod down into the countersunk hole. File off any of the rod ends that stick up above the outside of the metal end.
It should look like this.

RAMROD.jpg
 
I broke my 1st rod too this deer season! I fired my morning 1st shot and was reloading and snap! I was "lucky" in that it was down near the bottom and I was able to stick the point of the rod in the barrel into the claning jag and go ahead and seat the ball. I will be getting new wood soon, 46 yrs and thats the fist I broke (cept a truly defective pedersoli that snapped in obvious grain run out loading the FIRST ball in a .45 flinter Blue Ridge. Gave me a bad taste and sold that one soon after.)

Anyway it made me overly cayious hunter as I knew I had no followup shot cuz last day of season and I didnt bring the range rod :( coulda hit a nice spike but he was further than my mental mind set of 40 yds for a no follow up shot shot. NEXT YEAR...........
 
In my experience ramrods only break when 1) the bore is not smooth or 2) fouling has accumulated.

for 1) lap the rifling with lapping compound or fine valve grinding compound on a lead lap.

for 2) use a tight fitting ball, thick patch, and plenty of lube. I can shoot till dark and never have trouble loading.
 
In my experience ramrods only break when 1) the bore is not smooth or 2) fouling has accumulated.

for 1) lap the rifling with lapping compound or fine valve grinding compound on a lead lap.

for 2) use a tight fitting ball, thick patch, and plenty of lube. I can shoot till dark and never have trouble loading.

There is some logic to that I think, partly why I wipe between shots. Makes for easier loading.

I think the bottom line on broken ramrods is one of two things,
Either your ramrod has a problem like run-out, or it breaks due to operator error.

Neither one is a "wooden" problem though, they are both errors caused by humans.
 
Mine broke due to age and run out (slight). Bore had one shot thru it and i pushed 8" at a time straight down. For the most part I agree with Rich, this time it was fate....deer 1, AZMNTMAN 0. Or maybe cuz Iquit chewing and the lube was off?? I dunno
 
If anyone knows a source of 48 in. rods that still has stock I would appreciate your feedback. Thanks in advance.

October Country: http://www.octobercountry.com/categories/Ramrods/

October Country has has good "alternative" rods for a long time.

Personally, I still like wood for my gun's ramrod in the field. I use brass or delrin at the range, but carrying custom flinters with a delrin rod just doesn't do it for me, personally. To each his own. I did have a Jaeger I built that I put an aged brass ramrod on I made. Looked good, but added weight.

NOW, there is another option, if I can find it. A guy makes (or used to) wood rods with a metal rod core.

UPDATE: I found an old post on this forum about the wood rod with the steel core and the old URL for the company, but it's not working. But, here's the conversation back then on that rod option: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/period-ramrods.106676/
 
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NOW, there is another option, if I can find it. A guy makes (or used to) wood rods with a metal rod core.

Nothing has the feel of wood.

The ramrods you are referring to were made by a retired man in California. I had heard he was having some health problems, I fear he has gone under. His website was http://www.periodramrod.com/ but it seems to be down.
Here's a snapshot.

46812954_258005101558864_6126593100522455040_n.jpg
 
I still like wood for my gun's ramrod in the field

For me, that is reverse of logic. Being alone in the woods with the sharp end of a wood ramrod sticking through your hand is a very bad deal. It could be fatal. The Delrin is the choice in the field, IMHO. OTOH, dying a slow, agonizing death alone in the middle of nowhere is very 'authentic'. :eek: We all make our own choices.
 
For me, that is reverse of logic. Being alone in the woods with the sharp end of a wood ramrod sticking through your hand is a very bad deal. It could be fatal. The Delrin is the choice in the field, IMHO. OTOH, dying a slow, agonizing death alone in the middle of nowhere is very 'authentic'. :eek: We all make our own choices.
Absolutely agree. In the field I reduce my risk of injury with aluminum or Delrin rods. Wood is for display or in character.
Walk
 
For me, that is reverse of logic. Being alone in the woods with the sharp end of a wood ramrod sticking through your hand is a very bad deal. It could be fatal. The Delrin is the choice in the field, IMHO. OTOH, dying a slow, agonizing death alone in the middle of nowhere is very 'authentic'. :eek: We all make our own choices.

Statistically, your chances of dying from your ramrod are virtually zero. The gun itself is more dangerous, claiming less than 100 lives annually from hunting accidents in the U.S. and Canada combined (according to the International Hunter Education Association) though I'd be more worried about being struck by lightning or accidental drowning, both raise your chances of dying 20 fold over firearms. :D
 
Statistically, your chances of dying from your ramrod are virtually zero. The gun itself is more dangerous, claiming less than 100 lives annually from hunting accidents in the U.S. and Canada combined (according to the International Hunter Education Association) though I'd be more worried about being struck by lightning or accidental drowning, both raise your chances of dying 20 fold over firearms. :D
True, but I am speaking to injury. In an excited state of reloading under adrenalin, your chance of breaking a wood rod increase when compared to a calm state of casual shooting.
Walk
 
For me, that is reverse of logic.

If we are talking "logic" I'd be in the field with a scoped plastic stocked "unmentionable" with a sealed breech and plopping a couple of pellets down the barrel and using a copper jacketed hollow point pistol bullet in a plastic sleeve instead of messing around with this traditional stuff. ;) :D But since I'm talking about trying to get back to the old times as much as possible and having a pure love for beautiful historical firearms and accouterments, I'll stick to my flinter with the wooden ramrod. Someday I may walk out of the woods with a big hole in my hand, but...probably not. More likely, I'll get killed in a car accident on the way to my hunt location, or fall while climbing into my tree stand and break my neck, or break my leg slipping down a steep hillside, or get shot by another hunter, or have a buck attack me and maul me with his antlers, or....or.....or. GEEZ, thinking about all that, I'd better just stay at home in bed! Of course then a meteorite could come through the roof and hit me, or...... :p
 
True, but I am speaking to injury. In an excited state of reloading under adrenalin, your chance of breaking a wood rod increase when compared to a calm state of casual shooting.
Walk
I can agree with that but,
The statistics remain similar, but it still is not the fault of the ramrod. A person that excited becomes a danger to themselves and possibly others. I also keep a close eye on someone whenever I see an unbreakable rod in their thimbles.

I have often hunted from a tree, getting excited or loading fast will bite you in the butt by dropping something or worse, then you really get to slow down.

IMO, unbreakable rods are not a substitute for a lack of shooting discipline.

They do however make fantastic range rods.
 
Got my blanks from Log Cabin shop today. First time I've ordered from them. Will do so again. Only took a couple days. I made up one rod already this evening. Glued the tip on. On to the second rod after Jeopardy goes off. I'm reusing the old tip from the broken rod to make up the second rod. Heated it up slightly with Mr. Sparky, and the tip easily came off. Wasn't glued though. I heated it thinking it was. Just friction fit with a brass pin. Actually not sure if I'll pin the brand new tip as I've always only used the wooden rod for ramming a ball down the bore. Never pulling anything. I have the stainless steel rod for that...The glue should be enough in this regard. The old tip I will have to pin as its got the hole in it already and wouldn't look right without a pin in place..
 
Actually not sure if I'll pin the brand new tip as I've always only used the wooden rod for ramming a ball down the bore. Never pulling anything.

I highly recommend to pin them. Even if you're just using it to ram the ball home they can detach when you pull the rod back up if the glue has loosened over time. Had it happen once on a production gun rod that was not pinned. Fortunately I just put the rod back down into the tip and by gently twisting and pulling it up, the tip came back out so I didn't have to mess with other means of trying to get it out (not sure I'd want to try to shoot it out). Net, pinning is easy to do and pretty much guarantees the tip is not coming off.
 
Had it happen once on a production gun rod that was not pinned.

Me too, I've also had it happen on rods that I made and epoxied the ends on, eventually they can work loose.
I like to wipe between shots, so my rods get pinned.
I have one rod right now that the tip wiggles (the glue let go) but the pin is still holding it. I'll have to remedy that some day, but until then the rod is still functional.
Pinning the rod makes for cheap insurance. Just don't use a pin that is too big.
 
That is probably, statistically the most probable. If only cars were unbreakable. :D
Reducing risk is always wise. But, we adventurers use traditional style muzzle loaders. That is a choice and risk. But injury from them is reduced by following good safety rules. Not using a breakable rod is one of those rules for me. BTW, the single biggest cause of fatality for hunters is cardiac arrest.
 
Pinning a brass tip on a ramrod is a good precaution, and it's a simple operation. As far as plastic ramrods, composite ramrods, fiberglass ramrods, or just about any other than straight-grain hickory ramrods go, my choice is to avoid them. I've got one brass loading/cleaning rod that's sectional and travels in a buckskin sack with my camp gear, and a couple of steel shop rods with T-handles that a buddy made and gifted me with that don't travel anywhere but I do use sometimes to clean barrels in the shop. Under the barrels I only use hickory rods with pinned brass tips, and I pack a variety of rod-mount tools like jags, worms, scrapers, and such in my possibles sack along with spare flints, leather and lead flint wraps, spare nipples, a nipple wrench, some tow, and a few patches. But then, there's a trade awl in it's case on the pouch strap and a mold, and a couple of turnscrews in the sack, and a hank of sinew and one of waxed linen thread too. I'm a traditionalist. I'm also allergic to being burdened with a 10-12 pound rifle that I can't fire, especially if it's miles back to where I can solve the problem. You pays your money and makes your choice. Then you gots to live with the results.
There floats my stick -
Tanglefoot
 

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