Is a spiral striped ramrod correct?

ronaldrothb49 said:

Was told 30 some years ago by John Schipper during his gun making class at Conner Prairie that striped ramrods were not original they were a Friendship creation from the 60's.

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That may be the case, but I’ve seen a couple of Ohio rifles with striped rods. I can’t say they were original with the rifle, but they sure looked original.

Tenmile said:

That may be the case, but I’ve seen a couple of Ohio rifles with striped rods. I can’t say they were original with the rifle, but they sure looked original.

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In talking with guys who were doing restorations the 2 pieces missing from originals were the ramrod and wooden patch box covers. anybody doing restorations worth their salt can easily make a ramrod look 200 years old.

In my opinion striped ramrods are ugly and not historical. If you like it fine it's you rifle. If you intend to actually use the ramrod for loading then please do not damage the wood by burning it. A better way is to wrap a spiral with electrical tape and then paint a solution of potassium permanganate on the exposed wood. You can also use this to artificially tiger stripe a stock

I've heard of soaking a string in alcohol, wrapping it around the rod and lighting it. I've never done it but it might be fun to try.

As long as the spirals on the ram rod go the same way as the rifling you're good to go.

I always thought they looked pretty asinine, it detracts from the intrinsic beauty of the rifle.

Sorta like tattoos on a woman or pinstripes on a Corvette.
Don’t detract from the original beauty of the art form.

So here’s the next question…when stored in the rifle, threaded tip in or out?

I use the tip to drive home the ball. Sometimes rods were plain, thought metal and horn tips are known.
Most military guns had a flat tip and the rod was reversed to load then reversed again to replace.
I THINK this is typical of use.
If your ramrod has a small end to screw tips on to for service of the gun I THINK they need be at the bottom. And a swelled tip at the end.
We use hickory or some other tough flexible wood to make RR out of. However you should never test it or trust flexibility. Drive home ball in short stokes so your rod is never bent in use. Six or eight inch strokes at a time keeps broken rod spears out of your hand

deerstalkert said:

if anyone has luck with AF on a hickory rod please post the results. i have not had any satisfactory results.

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I tried the aqua fortis on my SMR hickory ramrod. It did not darken much. I used two coats and that didn't darken much. I'll leave the contrast as is. It doesn't look odd.

64Springer said:

If you decide to do it, post up exactly how you did it. With pictures of course. Kicking this idea around myself.

I read about a jar filled with aqua fortis. With twine in the jar. The twine was wrapped wet in a spiral. The AF was allowed to seep in. The twine was removed and heat was applied. Sounds like it would work.

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It will work I did it with fair results.

sleepingbulldog said:

I ended up with a nice color on my ramrod using AF. It still seems to flex nicely, but I also applied a coat of Tried & True oil varnish right after blushing so maybe that restored the wood if it got dried out.

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Soak it in coal oil for a month. Stays real flexible

LME said:

Use a good brand of electrical tape, not the cheap stuff and wrap it around your ram rod spaped as you like then use a propane torch to char lightly the exposed wood. I have good results with this method.
I tried the cheap tape but it wasn't as heat resistant as tape like
"3-M".

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I've read of people using metal tape for duct work. Even more heat resistant than electrical tape.

Comfortably_Numb said:

As long as the spirals on the ram rod go the same way as the rifling you're good to go.

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Comfortably_Numb said:

As long as the spirals on the ram rod go the same way as the rifling you're good to go.

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That's not always true. Sometimes you want your ramrod spiral to be opposite of the rifling twist.

The counter rotation slows down the bullet.

Thereby preventing keyholing with lighter projectiles.

A stated above potassium permanganate works wonderfully on hickory. And it's a cool chemistry reaction, goes on dark purple and oxidizes the wood to a very warm brown, FYI it will do the same to your skin... Darken with more coats as needed.
I stained this bow with it, turned out just as I was hoping for. I've tried AF with poor results on hickory.

Buckskinn said:

A stated above potassium permanganate works wonderfully on hickory. And it's a cool chemistry reaction, goes on dark purple and oxidizes the wood to a very warm brown, FYI it will do the same to your skin... Darken with more coats as needed.
I stained this bow with it, turned out just as I was hoping for. I've tried AF with poor results on hickory.





View attachment 176930

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Nice bow!

I hadn’t thought of potassium pergamanate. I’ve used it on wood before and it does darken it nicely.

64Springer said:

That's not always true. Sometimes you want your ramrod spiral to be opposite of the rifling twist.

The counter rotation slows down the bullet.

Thereby preventing keyholing with lighter projectiles.

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I was just getting ready to do that very thing.
I'm glad I read your post. Now I need to come up with another game plan.

I did it on a rifle I built for my son in 1981. It was a later rifle, a J. Henry trade rifle. I regret it now but what the heck, it's his now so he lives with it.

Beautiful rifle, that curl is amazing!!!

sleepingbulldog said:

So here’s the next question…when stored in the rifle, threaded tip in or out?

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Not a question with my rods. They have threaded tips on both ends.